We just got back from the best week with the kids. Braun had a work retreat in Florida and we had to tag along. It went by in the blink of an eye which was really sad for all of us but we packed a lot in and had lots of fun together! One of the best parts of the trip {believe it or not!} was the terrible phone service. It forced us to put our phones down and just enjoy one another’s company.
Be sure and check out my travel essentials post here if you have questions about favorite things to pack!
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Some of our Airplane Essentials:
We flew into Destin, rented a car and drove to where we were staying in Rosemary Beach. We went to eat at the Great Southern Cafe in Seaside. I was joking around with my kids that they needed to order the Frog Legs on the menu and none of them were having it. We all tried grits for the first time and then headed to our AirBnB! I shared some videos of where we were staying and a bunch of you guys informed me that we were staying where they filmed the Truman Show. The street was so cute. Felt like I was in the Stepford Wives or something.
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I didn’t realize how popular of a place Seaside was. I had everyone telling me we needed to go there so it was fun staying 5 minutes away from there. Honestly, after we got to Destin for the 2nd half of our trip, we all wished we had stayed in the Rosemary/Seaside Beach Area! So keep that in mind if you go. Destin is super touristy & very busy. The Rosemary area was so laid back, people riding their beach cruisers around, lots of pretty beach houses, snow cone shacks, etc.
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Braun actually rented 2 homes down there. One for us and our friends and another for his teams. Our homes we stayed in are linked HERE and HERE. I preferred the first one as it could hold 30 people, was newer, had a pool in the backyard & a ton of bikes to ride around with. Our home though was right next to “The Hub” which is where a lot of food trucks hang out, they hold outdoor movies there, there is music, dancing and also had a huge, super fun community pool. When we moved up to Destin, we stayed at the new Hilton. The location was great, they have a wave pool, outdoor fire pits, games for the kids, xBox’s in the rooms and bunk beds too! The kids thought it was pretty fantastic there and they thought the breakfast was so good too!
My travel tip: When we travel, we loooove staying in an AirBnB. Hear me out on this… so that nice home we rented with the pool was $800 a night which personally seems outrageous to me BUT it sleeps 30 people. So pack a few families in there (it is more fun that way anyway!!) and split the rental cost between all of y0ou. It almost always ends up being cheaper than a hotel, is so much bigger and you get to feel more at home while you travel. Wins all around.
Don’t forget to go to “The Donut Hole” for donut holes while you’re there! Just promise me that you’ll eat more of your donut than Jett does, k?
One of the days in Destin, we went to “The Big Kahuna” waterpark. The kids loved it but it was a huge rip off in my opinion. You pay by your kids heights so for the 6 of us to go, it cost us just under $300 and we stayed about 4 hours. My girls cost as much as adults do to get in. I was told that if you book your tickets at least 2 days in advance it is quite a bit cheaper. So ya live and ya learn I guess??
We had SOOO many people tell us that we needed to go to Crab Island while we were down there. You rent your own boat (around $275 for a half day) and go out to all these inflatable water slides and mazes out on a shallow part of the ocean. It looked SO fun but our friends had a baby with them and it definitely isn’t baby friendly.
While we were there, we went and ate at McGuires. It was yummy! Plan on a REALLY long wait. Go put your name in ahead of time. I had hundreds of people tell us to go there. There is over $1,000,000 dollar bills on all over the walls and ceilings. It was cool to see! Our favorite restaurant down there though was Mellow Mushroom. It is the yummiest pizza place. They have super good GF pizza too. We went there twice in 2 days!
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The ocean was warm, crystal clear and the sand down there is as white as can be. I totally recommend Destin.. you and your family will love it! Oh and don’t forget to get the BLUEBELL ice-cream. Emery will be disappointed in you!
