When Friday rolled around, we were tuckered out and headed for home. We stopped off at the Panhandle

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It seems like Texans constantly flock to the Luckiest Fishing Village from Spring Break to the last weeks of Summer. With pristine, white beaches and clear, blue water, Destin beckons the hearts disneyland hotel anaheim of Texans year after year. While Texas has it own natural beaches, they simply do not compare to the sheer beauty of the Florida Gulf Coast.
Oddly enough, disneyland hotel anaheim our family began travel plans with Corpus Christi and South Padre Island in mind until we mapped it out and discovered Destin was the same distance from us as our Texas coast. Decisions, decisions.
Then, we cut eating lunches and dinners out, including my husband's office lunches. The boys and I skipped Starbucks a few times. The last two weeks before disneyland hotel anaheim the trip, we ate mostly out of the pantry and avoided the grocery store except for milk and bread. I even added my birthday money to the vacation fund. To round out the budget, my husband had a brief business trip compensated before we left.
Jake and I planned to have the family stay for 4 nights and 5 days, but hotel costs would have been a minimum of $800. We decided to camp at Henderson Beach State Park for right at $125 for the week. We planned on cooking our own meals from the fresh seafood found at Sexton's and from groceries purchased at the local Wal-Mart.
Our itinerary for the week included a scalloping trip to Port Saint Joe (South of Destin), a two hour snorkeling tour, kayaking a river (East of Destin), and visiting the Butterfly House in Navarre. However , the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry .
We knew the weather had rain in the forecast; originally, there was a 20% to 30% prediction. What we didn't disneyland hotel anaheim know about were the back-to-back lightening storms we would experience on Monday and Tuesday night (in a tent!). Monday night wasn't too bad, but Tuesday night scared Jake and I. I kept thinking please don't move Jake so we won't get electrocuted ! When Wednesday morning rolled around disneyland hotel anaheim and we were all still alive, disneyland hotel anaheim we opted for the Holiday Inn, especially since more storms were on the way.
The Holiday Inn at Destin is very much a family orientated hotel. They had a program every evening for the boys to partake in (family trivia, disneyland hotel anaheim a magic show, a birthday party, etc) as well as a kid's discovery room, arcade, game tables, beach front access, disneyland hotel anaheim and free ice cream and popcorn. What kid wouldn't love that? In our hotel room, we had a queen size bed and then an enclosed section of the room for kids that included a bunk bed set, a TV, playstation, disneyland hotel anaheim and a child sized table and chairs. The boys could also check-out games and movies for free. The hotel offered an indoor and outdoor pool, a cafe, bar, restaurant, and more for guests. Best of all - it was extremely clean and the staff was accommodating and friendly, especially those engaging children through the Buccaneer Program. (Next year, they are adding a lazy river and a zero entrance pool.)
We did, however, have a lovely time camping. We had a splendid tent site and the beach was nearly vacant. The facilities and showers of the park were immaculate and when we get a camper, I'd love to stay there again.
Now, most of the time when we are on a strict budget I'd start sweating every penny we spent. disneyland hotel anaheim Yet, on Monday night, when we were buying groceries, the boys decided instead of a snorkeling tour they would rather purchase their boogies boards, sand toys, snorkels, and goggles and have them for the entire trip than for only two hours. I budgeted for all the beach toys and some were on sale due to the end of the summer clearance, so by cutting out the snorkeling trip we saved 4/5 of the cost of one hotel night.
On Tuesday, we drove to Port St. Joe which is about an hour and a half South of Destin. An amazing drive filled with a different view of Florida (mostly dense woods encroaching upon beach), Port St. Joe was an interesting day trip. Although we were on a mission to find scallops, we were informed this was the year for the creatures to be nearly non-existent. Never to be too upset, we turned towards the beach and had the boys ride some spectacular waves on their boogie boards. To cap off the adventure, we spotted dolphins a mere thirty feet from us.
Wednesday was our day to take the snorkeling tour and I am so thankful we did not. We spent most of the morning disneyland hotel anaheim and early evening diving and snorkeling in the surf. We were delighted to see such a plethora of fish species; it was like swimming in an aquarium. I even found a gigantic hermit crab.
Thursday was our kayak trip to the Blackwater River - Florida's only sandy bottom river. We didn't go. We enjoyed the day before so much that all we wanted to do was swim! (That saved money for the rest of the first hotel day and a little on the second.)
The scariest part of the day occurred when Jake and I were in fifteen to twenty feet deep water diving disneyland hotel anaheim to the bottom. He surfaced and yelled, "Something just bite my ear." I looked under the water and saw a two and a half foot remora circling his torso and swimming with him. If you're not familiar with a remora, they eat the parasites that attach to sharks, disneyland hotel anaheim sea turtles, and rays. The bigger the remora, the bigger the host. We didn't stick around to see what else was swimming nearby!
When Friday rolled around, we were tuckered out and headed for home. We stopped off at the Panhandle Butterfly House (free admission) and let the youngest explore all the state's native disneyland hotel anaheim species. They also provided a great collection of species from around the world - I think the Blue Morpho is my favorite.
This was our first family vacation together. We have gone on vacations before with our extended family and we've also taken weekend trips here and there, but never anything like this. It was fantastic, and I felt the stress disneyland hotel anaheim of the past year melt away. It was encouraging to know the boys enjoyed themselves as much as my husband and I did; and we look forward to next year's trip.
Hello and welcome to my blog! I'm Michelle Norris and I'm a busy stay-at-home-educator whom vounteers for several disneyland hotel anaheim organizations, as well as at church. I'm currently working on composing disneyland hotel anaheim my first book while keeping my household running, and writing a blog all at the same time. My husband, Jake, is overly supportive in all my endeavors. He's even taken an interest in some of my new found hobbies. We have two smashing disneyland hotel anaheim boys whom keep life absolutely interesting. We've also traveled quite a bit over the past eight years, and are delighted to have settled in a lovely Texas community.