I'm Back! Here's my two cents!!

My first impression of Okaloosa Island around the Destin West area was that it was a little too urban. We like seeing pastel colored beach homes and condos and not so many low rise businesses. Destin West is actually quite close to the ';Boardwalk'; with two nightclubs. One of them advertised ';foam parties';. The beach and the entire area was TOTALLY overwhelmed with people but we expected that since it was Memorial Day weekend. After Monday, less than half of those people remained and we were glad to see them go. The water was rough and murky but it smoothed out and cleared up as the week progressed. Let me just clear up one heavily debated topic on this and the Fort Walton Forum: No, the water is NOT quite as pretty and clear as it is in Destin. That being said it was still gorgeous. I would not think that a person should come to Destin West to escape Destin crowds because the crowds are basically the same and the Destin West is very close to Destin -hence the name. My first impression of the Destin West was that it sort of looked like a hospital on the outside. It had no grand entrance or anything. Actually, on the gulf side you pull directly into the parking deck. However, the grounds are well kept with lots of tropical foliage. The lazy river is very relaxing and was not overrun with children. The large pool on the gulfside was huge, sparkling, and nearly empty everyday. The hot tubs were large and never crowded and everything was lit up romantically at night. Usually, I know I am pleased with my accomodation when I open the door for the first time to see that the pictures on the website do not do it justice because it is actually more inviting in real life. However, in this case I was definately dissapointed with our condo. We were under the impression that it was a three bedroom when in fact it was a two bedroom with a third bed tucked into the corner of the entrance to the condo. There was no door, no wall, no privacy at all, and not a single table, chair, television, shelf, closet, or storage of any kind. Since we were a group of all adults, this was a big deal. We did not complain because it was my fault for not paying closer attention to the details on the vrbo website. It did show three pictures of what appeared to be three bedrooms. I felt slightly misled even though it clearly states at the top of the page that it is a two bedroom condo-I thought that was just a typo. We are the type of people that turn lemons into lemonade so we made the best of it. The furnishings, especially the sofa, were a little worn but still nice. The view was beautiful and the beds were very comfortable. On our first day, we stocked the fridge with $200 worth of groceries. The next morning, we realized that the fridge was not set and therefore not cooling at all and hadn%26#39;t been the whole time. We figured out how to reset it and luckily our food did not spoil. Also during our stay, the air conditioning stopped working. We called the owners and they sent a repairman out to fix it. Other than those relatively minor issues, we had a great stay in the condo we rented (# 402-Gulfside.) We had alot of fun outside of the condo as well. We went to the Gulfarium which was cute and to Big Kahuna%26#39;s which was fun even though half of the park was closed. We spent some time on the beach at Henderson Beach State Park which was very peaceful and the water reminded me of the Caribbean. We browsed the shops at the Village of Baytowne Wharf and were shocked at the outrageous prices. We found some cute souvenirs at normal prices in the shops at The Boardwalk next to Destin West. The men went deep sea fishing for a day and were let down that they actually never got out of sight of land. That probably had something to do with gas prices. We had good times at the beach flying a kite and throwing a football. We loved the cleanliness of the beach even on the days it was crowded. A tractor comes through every morning and cleans the sand. My husband fished from the beach, the bay-which was too shallow and had no pier or dock or anything, and from the fishing pier on the beach every morning and again sometimes in the evening and never caught much of anything but I%26#39;m sure he still had fun trying. We loved watching the dolphins in the mornings from our balcony. One morning, we saw ten at one time. Now on to restaurants... Our first day, we ate lunch at the Crab Trap next to Destin West. It was perfect for lunch and the blackened Mahi Mahi sandwich was really good. Our first night, we ate at Floyd%26#39;s next to the Swamp nightclub. It was our worst meal but was still okay. Our second night we ate at The Back Porch which was to die for. The sauteed crab claws were the best I%26#39;ve ever had and everybody loved their meal and everybody got something different. The next night, we ate at Pompano Joe%26#39;s and it was really good too but our experience was soured because we had to wait an hour and a half for a table. You can call ahead there (we didn%26#39;t know that.) The next night, we grilled hamburgers by the bay which was a picturesque setting for a family barbeque. The next night, we ate at The Lucky Snapper which was very good and had a lovely view of the harbor. The next night, we ate at The Fisherman%26#39;s Wharf where they cooked the Red Snapper that the men caught on their fishing trip. It was delicious cooked blackened, the service was great, they had a salad bar, and it was very reasonably priced. On our last night, we ate at Captain Dave%26#39;s on the Gulf which was fancier than the rest of the restaurants but it was nice to enjoy the gulf view without the wind blowing in your face the whole time. The food was just as good as everywhere else. We especially liked the fried crawfish appetizer. We loved that most of the reaturants gave you the choice of having a regular baked potato as your side or a twice baked potato which was so good every where we had it. We cooked breakfast and lunch every day except one morning when we ate breakfast at Another Broken Egg. I had the bananas foster on french toast which makes my mouth water as I type just thinking about it. One day, we pulled into Dewey%26#39;s Destin to have lunch but it was just a little TOO casual for us even for lunch but the view was incredible so we took a picture and left. Next time, we will stay in the Crystal Beach area which is an ideal location for restaurants and upscale accomodations, and has a perfect beach with bright turquoise water. All in all, we had an outstanding family vacation and I hope that our memories together will help my brother get through the hard times he will face in Afghanistan. Oh, and we never had a drop of rain!

I'm Back! Here's my two cents!!

Great Destin post. I assume that you enjoyed yourself even though everything was not perfect. Hmmm---- perfection is very difficult to find. If you return home and feel that your trip was worthwhile, then you%26#39;ve had a good vacation. What more can you ask for???

I'm Back! Here's my two cents!!

Excellent report- lots of good details!

';One day, we pulled into Dewey%26#39;s Destin to have lunch but it was just a little TOO casual for us even for lunch but the view was incredible so we took a picture and left.';

That%26#39;s too bad, you missed a really great meal. You should put that on your to-do list the next time you%26#39;re in Destin. They may be casual (we docked there last year and ate in our swimsuits), but they are serious about what they serve you.

Great report, thanks for going into detail. Reports like this are why check this site out every day.

Thanks for posting, enjoyed the report, hope you have good memories of your trip. :)

We will definately do Dewey%26#39;s next time. Everybody%26#39;s food looked delicious. I hope we can get one of the picnic tables on the end closest to the water. The setting is amazing. We had probably the best family vacation ever despite any inconveniences. Nothing in life is ever perfect and we know that. Being together is all we need to have a good time and a bunch of laughs. We%26#39;re very lucky that our best friends just so happen to be related to us.