Weekend Escape from Atlanta: Destin, FL
Destin might not be close enough for a weekend trip but it’s definitely within a driving distance for a long weekend. We had such a great time when we went there, it became one of our most memorable vacation for our family.
City: Destin, FL
Distance: 333 miles
Est. Driving Time: 6 hours
To-Do:
- Enjoy lazy day on the beach. The sand is so soft. It’s perfect for little ones to enjoy building their own master piece.
- Window shopping at the Village of Baytowne Wharf. Kids will enjoy huge playground for hours while you can relax and listen to live entertainment after the sunset.
- Fishing at Okaloosa Island Pier. Or you can just watch them catch a big one.
- Take a scenic drive down to Seaside and check out the picture-perfect town.
There are many more things to do in Destin. Check out my blogger buddy Jen at Pensaloca With Kids for more up-to-date things to do and free or cheap events around town.
To-Stay:
The most popular family-friendly resort in Destin is probably the mega resort of Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. The resort has several buildings within their property plus the Village of Baytowne Wharf. There won’t be any shortage of things to do for kids whether biking, tennis, swimming or hiking.
However, I prefered Waterscape in Fort Walton Beach. It’s about 5 minutes from Destin but it has one of the best pools I have seen so far. There are lazy river, main pool, kid pool and 2 jacuzzi. Best of all the pools are right by the beach. The property is fairly new. We went there last October and everything is in top shape. However, this is a condominium unit so you will be renting from individual owner. But you can also check out ResortQuest as they are the main company who handles the rental units in Waterscape.
To-Eat:
Ah.. Food.. One of my favorite activity whenever we go on vacation is to find a great local restaurant.
For breakfast, headed to the Donut Hole for one of the best donut in Destin. The staffs are friendly. The food is good and huge. You can probably skip your lunch after a big meal here.
For lunch check out McGuire Irish Pub. Ok.. It might not sound very family-friendly to take kids to the Irish pub but it’s a fun place. With dollar bills attached to almost every single space in the restaurant, kids will be in awe looking at all the money. The food is amazing! If you go during lunch time, you will avoid the crowd. After eating, you can also check out the shop nearby for all things Irish.
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The sand beach looks great. I love the white sand that you can walk on for miles.
Yeah! Thanks for the shoutout. We love Destin…the beaches are gorgeous, McGuire’s has this amazing appetizer–fried mashed potatoes. Yum! We need to go check out Waterscape.
We love escaping to Destin, too. We love to eat at Harbor Docks and Dewey Destin…both have great seafood.
@Dominique – Yes. The beach here is so soft and so beautiful. I can live here 365 days a year. :)
@Jen – We love Destin. And we will go back in a heartbeat. Now that we have your site, we can explore more on local things to do
@Lucia – Hmm.. We will have to try that next time. I love seafood.
beautiful! the blues – gorgeous! we’ll have to come play sometime.
That is one cool swimming pool!
That is one very cool pool!
I read a post somehwere dedicated just to pools of different hotels, this could have gone there.