Destin-ation

It's been a long while since me and the fam have brushed the dirt of this one-horse-town off and hit the open road. Due to the inhospitable economic climate it may be longer still before we're able to do any significant traveling so we decided, for my daughter's 11th birthday and just for the pure hell of it, to take a day trip. A day trip for someone living in Northwest Florida can be geographically limiting in options-sure you can get to New Orleans, Orlando (yuck), or even ATL in a day but it's really not very reasonable to return so soon (and why?!) I can remember when having 24 hours off was plenty of time to squeeze in a drinking binge to NOLA-sleep on the way back (if you were lucky enough NOT to have to drive) and return ready to work a double the next day. Regrettably I'm no longer 19, and nowhere near as resilient as I once was, so long story short, we chose Destin, Florida as our daytrippin' Destin-ation of choice (check out the name-play I'm sure that's original).

Destin is known for its beautiful beaches, swell shopping, and central location. It is not near as posh as Grayton Beach, Seaside, or Rosemary Beach along Route 30A, but not nearly as skunky as Panama City or Orange Beach either. It has plenty to occupy your time, or at least your view, as you crawl along the congested Hwy 98, wondering "are we there yet?" Destin was historically a sleepy Greek fishing village, the town is named for the first white man (of course) that came to the area in 1850, Leonard Destin. The borough became known as "The World's Luckiest Fishing Village" and really is an incredibly beautiful local, it must have been a site to see, before condos and Alvin's Islands rapidly reproduced everywhere.

Destin has lots to offer but here are some of the reasons we chose to visit: The Gulfarium, Commander's Palace, Fresh Market, and SilverSands Outlet Mall (I am an American after all and they have a Banana Republic, damnit). The Gulfarium (yes, that's an aquarium for you yankees) was spectacular. I'm usually too soapboxy to enjoy the circus or even a small zoo but the Gulfarium was pretty great. They have been in operation for over 50 years and have animals that have been born and raised there 30+ years. Everyone appears happy and healthy. Check out some of the pictures below, one of our traveling companions was moved enough to cry and baby talk to the dolphins, which was confusing but sweet. Unfortunately, Commander's was a bust and we opted to keep it real (real cheap) and instead go to The Donut Hole which is located on Hwy. 98 and has been apparently open since God was a boy. Instead of munching on Gulf fish and Blue Crab Courtbouillon I had a dry veggie burger and watered-down coke. The fries were good. After all the fresh air, sea spray (and last night's hangover) it really hit the spot.

The outlet mall was packed. So much for the suffering economy. Apparently, it was spring break (yea!) and the weather was turning a bit nasty, which brought all the pretty people out in droves to spend money. I did get a cute navy blue, boat neck cotton short dress from the Gap for $9.99 (which I could likely have gotten at home) but it fit the "luckiest Greek fishing village" theme so I decided to take the plunge. Returning home, we stopped by Fresh Market, which isn't quite up there with Whole Foods (which we don't have here either) but pretty damn close. I got some beautiful soft cheese (not as stinky as I would have liked), a few bottles of very decently priced red wine, fried okra (you heard me!) and a variety of other delicacies (mostly from the bins-I love those bins).

We returned home in the early evening and I got to wear the Greek fisherman dress to a small, intimate gathering where I met a group of visiting Hungarians who were enamored with the fried okra and became sentimental over tales of dolphin baby-talk. Only in America. All in all, a great day.