Casey and I wanted to take an Anniversary trip.
It kind of evolved into a couples trip with his older siblings, and it turned out to be
one we will never forget!
I had been hearing and seeing on instagram all the hype of the white sandy beaches in Destin, FL.
Let's go!!
I don't think I have researched a trip more.
You type in Destin, but get a plethora of other places like Santa Rosa,
Seacrest beach, Alys beach which are all along a road called 30 A...
all claiming to be "Destin"... I was overwhelmed!
It also didn't help that most all places to stay were already booked!
This area is saturated in beach houses.
Which would be fine, but we really wanted to stay in a nice resort.
Lets preface by saying the 2 star hotels were $$.
And trying to find 4 rooms with availability was like finding a needle in a haystack.
I pinterest-ed the heck out of the area, googled, called hotels, messaged random strangers
on instagram, I wanted to get it RIGHT!
DAYSSSS, heck, probably weeks of research.
Somehow I did it.
I got our #1 picks of places to stay!!!!
We would have to split and move hotels.
It turned out better because we got to experience
2 totally different parts of Destin!
Here is a map of the area.
Destin is in the panhandle of FL, and it is GORGEOUS!!!!!!
Like, I would consider it better than Hawaii.
Our first half would be spent on Rosemary Beach.
We flew into Panama City because it was closer to Rosemary than the Destin airport.
Unfortunately, there are NO direct flights into any surrounding airports.
Which meant layovers, which meant time wasted on a plane.
I wanted to get there, stat!
Our fastest, and most logical flight left earlllly.
We were up and at the airport by 5am. Woof.
However, it was worth the sacrifice because it allowed us to get there by 2pm
and not waste a whole day on travel!
It was nice traveling with Justin because he is a pilot.
Our flight out of PHX was delayed about 20 minutes.
He could get on his app and see what was going on.
Only, he wasn't stressing about not making our connecting flight.
It was that he was going to miss out on the amazing breakfast tacos in Austin, TX, lol!
We didn't get the breakfast tacos, but we did get some good grub at Salt Licks.
Flying into Panama City was a hoot.
This airport from the air seemed like it was in the middle of a deserted jungle!
The airport itself was the smallest I've ever been in, and so old fashioned!
Like, something out of the Miami Vice show.
The humidity...hit you hard in the face!
We split up into 2 rental cars (ours was filthy dirty, dang rental car shortage), and
drove to Rosemary Beach to check into our hotel!
Welcome to, The Pearl.
Could it BE any cuter?!
I feel in love with it on the internet.
The black and white, such charm!
Rosemary in itself is very chic.
It has a style called New Urbansism.
It is designed to reflect the influences of Colonial Europe, West Indies, and the Caribbean.
In fact, many people say you wouldn't be able to tell if you were in Greece or FL while there.
Rosemary is also very small.
It is right next to Alys Beach which carries the same style.
We checked into our rooms which screamed 5 star right off the bat!
I am not used to this kind of luxury and service!
Our room fridge was stocked with all varieties of soda and juice.
And replenished on the daily.
This pimento cheese box and welcome card was a nice touch!
A little room tour.
The mirror in our bathroom had a tv built inside of it!
We had the town view.
This is considered "Main Street"
Super cute and quaint with the cobblestone street and shops.
We changed into our swim suits and headed for the beach!
It wasn't "on the water" but a quick 1 minute walk was totally fine.
A big grassy area for bike parking.
The hotel provided those black and white umbrellas and chairs for you.
When I put my foot into the water for the first time, my face winced anticipating the impact of
cold water like I'm used to in California!
It's warm!! I screamed.
Then I continued jumping and squealing in further amazement!
I felt like Sarah, the witch on Hocus Pocus, where she jumps on a puddle on the concrete thinking she will sink, but doesn't, so she keeps going in excitement.
This water, so hard to describe. So clear and inviting.
It's from another world. And the sand doesn't stick to you!
It's magical.
From the beach you can see the pointed top of the hotel with the clock underneath.
We walked back to hotel because it was about dinner time.
We had no plan.
Havana restaurant in the lobby was a popular option, but was full
already with reservations and a 2 hour wait.
We asked the front desk for options.
He made it sound like we would be waiting no matter where we went.
Then he remembered a newer place that might work for us.
It was called the Citizen.
Lets give it a try!
We checked out bikes from the valet guy and off we went!
It was about a 5 minute bike ride.
And our first time checking out the area.
We were oohing and aahing left and right.
I'm telling you, this place is like out of a movie.
Oh wait, IT IS!
Ever seen the Truman Show?
Filmed right where we were.
Lucky for us, we beat the dinner rush and only had to wait 10 minutes!
We did have to split up, but it was better than a 2 hour wait.
The appetizers were hard to pick from.
So many good sounding options!
What do you do?
Order half of them, ha!
From left to right: honey, buttermilk glazed skillet cornbread, whipped feta with naan bread,
and roasted carrot hummus platter.
Can we say YUMMMMMMMM.
Casey and I shared smoked short ribs.
Our bellies had never been happier.
Other half of the group behind us.
I got a kick noticing all the guys hats were tweaked to the side to block the sun!
On the way back to find dessert we popped into a few stores to look and shop around.
We discovered Kilwins, a homemade ice cream parlor WITH homemade treats.
Pretty sure we all dropped $100 on the caramel corn!
I got chocolate peanut butter ice cream, my staple.
Kristen couldn't stop raving about her toasted coconut ice cream.
I tasted some.
I was shook. SO GOOD!
Pretty sure I dreamed about it that night.
Cruising down main street back to The Pearl.
We were greeted to more 5 star service while we were gone!
Sandals by the bed and a homemade snack on the night stand, every night.
I could get used to this kind of stuff, wink.
We changed our clothes then went down the hall to
Stephanie and Justin's room for some card games.
Of course, the Phoenix Suns game was on in the background.
It was a great start to more fun ahead!
