Scenes from an eternal summer

Destined for Heaven

There is nothing like spending time at the beach. It was the city of Destin, Florida along the Emerald Coast looking out to the Gulf of Mexico that became our summer spot for 2005. An early summer really, since we didn’t want to join the crowds come Memorial Day. Everything looked so new and fresh! Very much reflecting the feeling emanating from my chest as the car sped for about 7 hours through Interstate 65 from Nashville all the way through North & South Alabama onto the Florida panhandle.

Here was a place resilient to hurricanes and bad realty investments (3:5 homes were advertised for sale!) The Mediterranean villas with their brilliant stone architecture meshed with the cozy wooden beach homes and flashy condominiums and outlet malls. Our rented home was a heaven! I loved the heated pool, the porch swing, the tiny pond with its shy fishes and playful frogs and of course my third floor hideout.

This was both a vacation for tan and tummy! There was fresh seafood at the Fisherman’s Wharf and beachfront restaurants alternating with pancakes and boiled shrimp at home. My votes for best dine-out places are… The Crab Trap (dinner) and Another Broken Egg (breakfast).

The green coastline soothed my soul. Boats docking at the marina, endless boarwalks in the horizon, seeing green flags from the coast guard poles, seeing two dolphin fins jump out from the waves was definitely a highlight! The cool white sands felt like buttery sugar between my toes as I walked after sunrise. But they soon betrayed me as I fell off my skim board and left me a souvenir on my right thigh.

Mini-golf, car racing, shopping, reading Entertainment Weekly by the pool as Tyler took a nap, walking barefoot, sunbathing, Corona Beer with lime, pinacoladas, hazelnut coffee with rum, the relaxing hum and click of the ceiling fan at midnight, and the list goes on in my head…

Six days in Destin definitely brings an eternal summer of memories.

posted by SmellMyKnee @ 10:00 PM