Summer Road-trip 2018: Part 1

Last summer I described our road-trip as "epic."  This summer it wasn't quite so epic since we only had 2 destinations and both were in the same state, but it was still quite the undertaking.  We left early Tuesday morning (6/5)...and promptly got stuck in rush hour traffic.  Oops. 

10 hours later we arrived in Destin. We immediately changed into our swimsuits and hit the beach.

 I chose to stay at the same place we stayed at 4 years ago, Jetty East Condominiums.  We really like how family friendly it is. Plus, the location is awesome.

View from our balcony

Next time, however, I will not get a condo with only 1 bathroom.  It worked for us 4 years ago when our kids were small, but this time we needed one of the 2 bathroom units for sure.

Once in Destin, we quickly got into a rhythm.  We would eat breakfast in the condo and then go to the beach for several hours.

 Then, we would come back and shower. The kids would play on their tablets, Tom would nap, and I would sit on the balcony and read (and do laundry and cleaning). Around 3:00, we would go into Destin to explore and grab an early dinner.  This left us enough time to come back and play in the pool or at the beach for a couple more hours before bed.

Sam spent more time in the pool/hot tub than he did the ocean!

We would end each night with Tom and the kids playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch while I straightened up, did laundry, and got outfits and swimsuits ready for the next day.
  
Once the kids were in bed, Tom and I would stay up late and binge-watch Netflix.  It was the perfect schedule for us.

The kids' room

We learned after the 1st night to let Sam fall asleep in our bed before moving him over with the kids

Places we ate:

Lulu's - the kids' favorite, but very pricey

A.J.'s - we liked it last time, but this time we weren't impressed

Boshamps - great food, great view, and a beach for the kids to play on

Boshamp's awesome beach

McGuire's Irish Pub - no view, but huge portions and yummy food

Things we did:

Explored Destin Harbor Boardwalk

Dolphin Cruise

Dolphin cruise - we saw so many dolphins right near us

Crab hunting in the dark - we weren't very successful

Playing in the sand - Free sand castle lessons courtesy of our resort

We left Destin 5 days later, on the first bad weather day we had there.  We had fun in Destin, but were really excited to get to our next stop...Universal Orlando!

More vacation documentation - Destin, Florida

OK, I am finally getting around to blogging more about my vacation.  After I recovered from my violent but short-lived illness, the rest of the vacation was awesome!  The kids loved the beach and Tom and I rotated taking them out in the water to body surf while the other would stay with Sam.  After that first day, we never dragged the wading pool, beach toys, snacks, and towels to the beach.  Despite all the research I had done to the contrary on taking small children to the beach, I discovered that my kids were happiest playing in the water and didn't want all that other stuff.  It helped that our condo was right on the beach so we could run back and forth if needed.  So, yeah, more unnecessary stuff I packed.  Each evening we went into town for dinner and to explore.  We ate at some great places (Dewey Destin and AJ's) and some not so great (The Back Porch and Fuddpuckers).

 We did end up doing the dolphin cruise.  I envisioned it being one of those big, two desk ships I had seen in the water that said "dolphin cruise" on the side, but the one we booked was this small boat and no life jackets were issued, even though the driver was insane and the waves were crazy.  The driver (pilot? boat commander? I don't know my nautical terms) flew through the water, the spray soaking us and the boat at times full on air-ridden.  I thought for sure we would capsize and I was trying to strategize how to rescue all three kids.  Ellie and Jack were simultaneously terrified and thrilled.  The crazy part was the only time Sam wasn't crying.  When the boat was going slow so we could look at dolphins, he cried the whole time because he wanted to be free to crawl around the boat or climb over the side and throw himself into the ocean.  At one point, the captain (captain!), let all the kids come drive.  Ellie didn't want to, but Jack did and loved it.

I was sad when our four days were up and it was time to go, but I was so excited about the surprise we had in store for the kids...a trip to Orlando to go to Universal's Islands of Adventure, specifically, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Our cursed vacation

We are currently in Destin, Florida.  I have been planning and obsessing for this vacation for weeks now. I have a packing list that is three pages long. And I didn't just pin road trip ideas off Pinterest, I actually did them. Now that I know better, here is my advice: all kids need are some movies and electronics to keep them happy.  All those laminated books and fun craft activities just take up space. Besides, the kid you really need to keep entertained, the 1 year old, well, nothing on Pinterest will work for him.  Just pack Benadryl.

A couple days before we left, my car broke down and had to be towed from the school parking lot.  The very car we were taking to Florida.  Then my son, who is never sick, came down with an ear infection on Friday and was running a high fever. I started to wonder if this vacation was cursed. We bumped our departure date from Saturday to early Sunday and drove straight through to Florida.

Our condo is awesome.  Even better than I imagined.   However, I didn't imagine getting so sick the first day that I started vomiting on the beach and barely made it back to the condo without passing out.  I spent the rest of the day in a feverish haze in my bed, every inch of my body hurting.  I don't ever remember feeling so awful.

I feel better today and we have a dolphin cruise planned.  I am crossing my fingers and hoping our bad luck is behind us!