Destined to Visit Destin

Two weekends ago Joe and I got to take a little weekend getaway. Joe has been itching to take a vacation and Anthony and Julie went to Destin during the summer and recommended it. It was a 9 hour drive, which wasn't too bad. We left Thursday after work and drove for 4 hours to Covington, Louisiana for the night. It was nice to get to break up the driving time. It took 5 hours on Friday to get to Destin, which meant we were there by lunch time.

We stayed at a resort called Sandestin. The hotel we stayed at was about a 2 minute drive to the ocean. Our room overlooked the bay. It wasn't as pretty as overlooking the ocean, but it was a lot cheaper and we still loved being able to look out and see water.

It wasn't a super fancy place, but we really didn't spend tons of time in the room. The rates were a lot cheaper so it was totally worth it.

We drove out to the marina one morning and it was beautiful!

The resort had this little shopping area with lots of restaurants and fun little shops. We ate at a pizza place one night because they had a tv for Joe to watch the Rangers play in the World Series. It was lots of fun, and the pizza was fabulous!
One of the perks that came with staying at the resort was free bike rentals. We decided to ride around one day and we ended up having a blast! I love being outside when the weather is nice. Just feeling the sun on my face, listening to the birds, and being able to take in my surroundings makes me feel so happy!
One of the most enjoyable things we did was go to the beach. When Joe and I got married and I knew I'd be moving to Pearland and I found out we'd be close to a beach, I was pretty excited. I pictured beaches I had seen in movies--you know with the white sand beaches, and beautiful blue water. Well, the beaches here really aren't like that at all. What a letdown. It's still fun to go to the beach, since I didn't grown up around a beach. The sand here is more coarse and has a brown color......so does the water=) You will notice in the following pictures that this beach was more like what I had originally pictured. B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L!!!

We forgot to take our beach chairs, and there was a $20.00 charge to rent 1 chair. Joe decided he would just make his own chair=)

I loved just sitting on the beach and listening to the waves crash. It was just so beautiful! The sand was so fine. It felt like we were walking through powdered sugar.

Joe dug a hole and wanted me to bury him. He drew on his dream abs=)
Eglin Airforce Base was close and we got to see this helicopter fly by a few times while we were there. Pretty sweet!

The water was the perfect temperature to play in. We had lot of fun swimming out and jumping up into the waves as they rolled in. That person you see in the water is Joe=)

We stayed until sunset. I took this picture before the sun started to set, and the bird just happened to fly past. It turned out pretty cool!

I don't know why, but I always like to do this when we go to the beach.=)

We look pretty rough after playing in the water, but we had to have a picture at sunset. Isn't it just gorgeous!?

Our last day we went back again. It was a little cooler so we decided to just take a stroll along the beach.

We went to this Fish Market one night for dinner and it was SOO good! Being at the beach always makes me want seafood. We'd rate this right up there with Landry's.
The second day we were there Joe wanted to Golf. He had taken his clubs and had scouted out the different courses. I decided to go along for the ride=) I love driving the golf carts=)

Joe also made me his caddy. I had to pull the flag out when the ball got close.

Since being in Texas, I have fallen in love with Magnolia trees. There's just something so beautiful about them. Florida had tons of them too, and there were some of the most beautiful Magnolia Trees on the golf course. One day I want one of these in my back yard. LOVE them!
Joe played a pretty decent round. At times when he would get frustrated he said he was holding back because I was there. He said normally he would have started to throw his golf clubs!=)

So pretty!

The last night we were there we read some reviews about this restaurant called Fudpuckers. They had dinner and then a gator show. The reviews said it was pretty entertaining, especially if you have kids. Well, I happen to have one big kid.......Joe=) He LOVED it! They had this live gator that's pretty big here and then lots of smaller ones they kept in a different area.
They had different exhibits and when Joe saw the snakes in this one, he said "Oh heck no!" and turned and walked the other way. It only took me a minute to realize they were fake=) Joe HATES snakes more than anything!

They had lots of fun things to take pictures with.

Joe loves watching this show called Swamp People, which is about hunting gators. He's always wanted to do that, and to rassle one. This is as close as I'm going to allow him to get to fulfilling that dream!
After the gator show they allowed people to pay to take pictures with a real live gator. Of course we had to do that! Joe and I joked about making this our Christmas Card this year since we don't have kids. =) I've turned into a hillbillie=)

Attached to the restaurant is this arcade center. We decided we'd have some fun! Joe loves playing the basketball games.

I learned something about Joe while we were there. It's a good thing we don't gamble!=) He found this game kind of similiar to the claw game where you control it and try to pick up a stuffed animal or something. This game though you try to cut the string that's holding different electronics. In this case, he wanted to get the Ipad. He became totally addicted! He'd get SO close to cutting the string, and he just had to try again and again. I think we spent about 5 bucks just on this game alone! He was having so much fun, and I figured if he got it, 5 bucks wasn't bad for an Ipad=)
This picture says it all! Look how he's so focused, and has his hand pressed up to the glass and everything! I was just cracking up watching him! I finally had to cut him off and make him walk away! =)

Cashing in his tickets=)

While we were driving around one of the first days, we happened to see this! Shakes has the most amazing custard(concrete)! It reminds me of a place my dad used to always take us for dessert before we'd go to Hale Theatre growing up! There used to be one in College Station but the owner moved away and shut it down or something. We were so stoked when we saw this! It was just as good as we'd remembered it!

We had so much fun! We couldn't believe somewhere so beautiful was so close to us! We're so glad we went, and we plan to go at least once a year now! The drive home wasn't bad at all either. With scenery like this, I couldn't help but just be in awe of the beauty!
The morning we left to head home it was 56 degrees! We just soaked up the cooler weather! It's been cooler in Houston too and we have just loved it! We're so glad we don't have to deal with snow and freezing temperatures already!
Here's a video Joe took on our stroll at the beach. Just so we could always remember its beauty. We filled up every empty water bottle we had with the gorgeous white sand so we can decorate with it and always keep a piece of this trip with us.