When I was a little girl my great-aunt and uncle owned a one acre lot on a red dirt road. It seemed secluded with one house diagonally across the road and a good quarter mile to the other neighbor. On this lot sat a tin can of an old mobile home, that my uncle had hauled all the way from north Mississippi to Crestview, Florida where it stayed for a few years before being moved to the lot with the dirt road surrounded by swamp. That address was Miramar Beach, Florida. It was our home away from home. It was our personal little get away that took us eight hours to drive, but worth every minute. We spent weekends as often as we could and vacationed more than should be allowable by law. We walked to Miramar Beach and over to the Choctawhatchee bay. The memories I have of Destin are probably nothing like what most tourist today see.
At the end of the road was The Museum of the Sea and Indian. It had plenty of baubles and oddities to keep me entertained. I was very sad when I heard it was destroyed by hurricane Opal in 1995.
Unfortunately, when my uncle started getting older, he decided that there was piece of property closer to home in Mississippi that was good for hunting and fishing. It didn't matter how much I begged and pleaded for them to not sell the property in Destin, I ended up sitting in a realtors office angry while drawing Snoopy for the receptionist while they closed the sale.
Today's travelers in Destin only know the hustle and flow of four lanes of bumper to bumper traffic and big, huge touristy spots with overpriced food.
My mother and I decided to try the best of both worlds.
On the north side of the Mid-bay bridge is a hidden gem. There is a campground at Fred Gannon-Rocky Bayou State Park that gives the feel of what Florida used to be like. It has Spanish moss hanging from the trees, a beautiful view of the backwater of the Choctawhatchee Bay, and gopher tortoises that like to come out on the trails.
So, for $16 a night, my mom and I shared a tent for four nights and saved our hotel money so that we could play tourist during the day to a home away from home with memories that no one else would understand unless they lived it.
DAY ONE started out with us leaving my home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with the sun rising in our faces as I drove east toward our adventure. We stopped in Daphne, Alabama to eat at the local Waffle House,(because after all no road trip would be complete without at least one meal at a greasy spoon).
(My Mom and Me)
Once we arrived in Destin, I took the scenic route down old highway 98 as we reminisced about how the scenery had changed drastically in the last thirty years. We ended up parked at The Crab Trap. While there, we enjoyed their famous smoked tuna dip and drinks. My mom had a fruity blue concoction that I'm not sure what was in it. I settled for a Yuengling. There is nothing like sitting back watching the waves lap the shoreline while drinking a beer. We left the beach and I decided to introduce my mom to what I call "The Land of Milk and Honey", AKA- Whole Foods. There isn't one for two hundred miles near her and she had never been in one. I ended up getting 3 bottles of coconut water. To me its like nectar of the gods
We killed some time there before making our first trek across the mid-bay bridge and forking over four dollars at the toll booth. My mom had brought a two-man pop-up tent that literally took us less than ten minutes to put up. She also invested in a 110 air conditioner for the door of the tent to be zipped up around. I was just going to bring a small box fan, but ingenuity has its advantages. After the tent was put together, I took her around to the bathroom and I walked down a trail to the edge of the water. I couldn't wait to get my feet wet.
We decided to leave and go back across the bridge, (another four dollars), to see the sites and sounds of the Destin. We drove around looking at everything and took mental notes of what we were going to go back to later. We went to the Destin Harbor to see what the catch was like. We walked down the Harbor Walk toward the Emerald Grand and I bought a fresh coconut from a street vender to cool off with. We stayed there for an hour or so and then it was time for dinner.
I had planned on the itinerary to take my mom to McGuire's Irish Pub. It's a big'ole tourist trap, but worth braving the crowds for. It's a huge building and shopping center all based on the Irish culture. People hang money from the ceiling for good luck and the waitress informed us the ceiling itself was covered in over one hundred and eighty million dollars. I really hope they have a lot of insurance. It's a fun place with plenty of memorabilia on the walls and they even have their own brewery. I recommend the shandy. It is quite divine.
If you decide to go to McGuire's be forewarned that the shenanigans they advertise are a real thing. Be careful when going to the bathroom. I went in what I thought was the ladies room and then while I was washing my hands I realized there were urinals behind me. Just as I turned to walk out, a man came through the door. After realizing I had made a mistake, I hurried out. I checked the sign and sure enough it had "Ladies" in big letters on the door. However, underneath the big bold letters were the words "not allowed" written very small. The lady in the gift shop laughed at me as I hurried back to the table.
When dining at an Irish steakhouse, by all means have steak. My mom and I opted for prime rib and we were not disappointed. Everything was delicious. They make a dark Irish sour dough bread that is served with ample amounts of honey butter that goes quite well with a Caesar salad. For dessert I ordered their Lucky Chocolate Brownie A 'La Mode. It's a big brownie packed with pecans and served with vanilla ice cream. It's called the Lucky Brownie because the recipe belonged to a former manager that resigned after she won the Florida Lottery for 3.5 million in 1991. I didn't win the lottery, but it was a really good brownie.
We ended the night driving back across that four dollar toll bridge and getting ready at camp. I strung up the lights, but quickly realized the pump that my mom had brought with her for the air mattress was not the right kind so we found ourselves at Wal-Mart at 10pm. After we got back and aired up the mattress, we rigged up the air conditioner and went to bed with the sound of the air conditioner instead of crickets for the first night.
My mother is highly terrified of thunderstorms. Low and behold at 3am, the thunder started. I looked on the radar on my phone and realized we didn't have long to get out of the tent before it was on top of us, so we hurried to get out of the tent and into my mom's crossover. We never went back to sleep. We spent the rest of the early morning hours looking at the radar and contemplating our plan for the day.
DAY TWO had arrived under the canopy of cloud cover. I had made plans for us to eat at another tourist trap, The Donut Hole. It has always been my favorite donut shop and I have eaten at many. You just cannot beat The Donut Hole's Chocolate Angels. They are a powdered donut filled with a thick and creamy chocolate filling. A person could possibly go into diabetic shock from the amount of sugar involved in making them. The trick to getting the best donuts at The Donut Hole is get there super early. We crossed that toll bridge again and arrived in the parking lot at 6:30 am. We were seated and ordered omelets from the menu as well as coffee. A line was forming to get donuts so I got in line and ordered a half dozen before the good ones were gone.
We started our day driving yet, once again. The rain was coming and going in spurts. We drove up and down highway 98 trying to kill time until the Destin Commons Mall opened. I just kept driving until we ended up going out to 30A. I had it on the agenda to go to Rosemary Beach but it wasn't on the agenda for that day. It is my dream to live near 30A someday. All of the little shops are like walking into a Dutch village near the beach. If you ever visit Rosemary Beach, make sure to check out The Hidden Lantern Book Store and the Amveda Coffee shop.
It really is a magical little town that makes a person feel like they are inside the perfect snow globe. We left and started back toward Destin when I saw a sign that read Eden Gardens State Park Next Right. I had a spontaneous jolt course through my body and turned.
When entering Eden Gardens there are all sorts of trees covered in Spanish moss. It is a beautiful area. Sitting in the middle of Eden Garden's is the historic Wesley House. It is post civil war home built in a Victorian style in 1895 by a lumberman named John Wesley for his wife Katie Strickland. I had remembered the name Strickland from doing some genealogical research on my husband's family. I later found out that Katie Strickland and my husband Sjhon are from the same lineage, so in a coincidence, I actually drove up to my husband's cousin's house without knowing. It really is a marvelous place with lots of history. I wanted to take the tour, but it was too early still and we needed to get back on track. We left the park and started once again back towards The Destin Commons
. 
I had planned to walk with my mom all through the shops. We parked and went in the Bass Pro Shop first. We enjoyed looking at their aquarium and then headed down through The Commons. We only made it to a hot sauce store before what seemed like a monsoon hit. We ducked inside and checked out all of the eclectic types of hot sauce. They had an entire area dedicated to Carolina Reaper peppers. The rain slowed down again and we started back toward the car. We went in a jerky store and my mom bought my brother some to take back to him.
Just as we were about to leave, the rain hit again. This time it didn't look like it was going to slow down anytime soon. We stood on the sidewalk under the awning and contemplated what to do. I made the decision to just go for it and took off with my mother trailing behind me. We ran through several inches of water in the parking lot. When we arrived at the car, I burst out in a fit of laughter. She on the other hand was ready to kill me.
We decided to leave Destin and go back to camp as our campsite was only for one night and we needed to move to another site. We crossed the man eating toll bridge again back over to Niceville. The rain had all but stopped on that side of the bridge. Both of us were wet and neither of us felt like breaking down and moving a drippy tent, so I improvised and we lifted it to the top of the car and drove around to the other campsite while holding the sides of the tent out the window. I'm sure to the other campers that were mostly glamping, we looked ridiculous, but it was efficient.
After we reset camp, we decided to go get some lunch. I wanted to check out the Bass Pro Shop restaurant called Uncle Buck's Fish Bowl. It has a really neat concept to it. It's a sit down restaurant and a bowling alley that looks like an aquarium in one. I thought I was going to get my mother to go bowling, but she shut that idea down real fast. We did however only have a fifteen minute wait and the food there is great and the portions are huge. Both of us opted for the fish and chips. In all actuality we should have only ordered one platter and split it. We actually found ourselves looking for homeless people afterward to give the leftovers to, but we didn't find any so it all ended up being food for the raccoons at camp that we weren't suppose to feed.
We spent the afternoon at The Landing in Fort Walton Beach. I have many fond memories of that place as it was a favorite spot for me and my ex-husband. We would go crabbing at the boat ramp. My mother ended up rock hunting all those painted rocks kids are doing these days. We sat and enjoyed the breeze and then walked the strip to check out all of the little shops. My mother has COPD and that little walk was a bit of a struggle for her, but we made it. We took the scenic route back through Valparaiso to the camp. It's a bit of a stretch, but to me it was better than paying that $4 toll. We ended up sleeping in the car as the forecast was for thunderstorms, which incidentally did not occur.
DAY 3 started with us getting up and enjoying a local breakfast in Niceville at this little place called The Front Porch. The menu is simple down home food. The portions are very big. I once again went with an omelet and my mom had a ham steak with eggs. The service was impeccable and the price couldn't be beat.
We headed across the toll and back into Destin. We drove back toward the island and stopped in at Old Tyme Pottery. My mother bought a painting for her bathroom and I ended up with watermelon sour candies. We went on to the beach on Okaloosa Island where we walked the pier and watched as people pulled in their catches. There were lots of suckerfish. It seemed that someone was pulling one in every time we turned around. We saw a pod of dolphins there. I was itching to get in the water as I'm pretty sure my genetic code is embedded with mermaid DNA. If I see water, I have to get in it. My mom walked back to the seated area in front of the pier and I went for dip in the waves. There was lots of June grass to get through, but a little piece out it cleared. The water was a bit choppy, but the flags were still flying green.
By the time we left the beach, we were both hungry again. My mom had never been to Hooters, so I thought what could better than wings that were tacky yet unrefined. The answer was lots could be better than Hooters in Destin. My mother had a pretty descent bloody mary, but other than that it was a pretty terrible idea. The service was horrible and I have never had hot wings that bad in my life. Their sauce was clumpy. I have eaten at several Hooters through the years and this one was pretty high up on my worst places to eat list.
With our bellies partially full, we headed toward Baytown Wharf. We walked through the shops and down the pier. The highlight was watching a little girl catch her first fish. It was a good sized redfish and she was the most excited kid I had ever seen. Baytown is a wonderful little place to visit.
The afternoon brought us back to the docks at the harbor. We ended up having to pay $10 to park and walk down the entire dockside. It took us a while, but we made it. We decided to eat at AJ's because the food there is really fantastic. There was only a fifteen minute wait, so we sat outside and listened to the live band playing as we waited. They get your phone number and send you a text when your table is ready. The place was packed, but it was wonderful. I had a dozen raw oysters and my mother had 1/2 pound of boiled shrimp and fried oysters. The service was quick even if the place was noisy. We talked about how we remembered AJ's as nothing more than a small hut and how oysters on the half shell used to be .99 a dozen during happy hour. They now chime in at $14.99 a dozen. The simplicity of the place is gone, yet the food is still as fantastic as it was thirty years ago.
After finishing our meal, we set out to walk the rest of the dock and watch the Fat Tuesday parade that is like a small version of Mardi Gras. We sincerely enjoyed our evening. It was great to watch my mom catch beads. It brought back memories of my very first Mardi Gras parade when I was a teenager.
We left and drove back to camp. We were both tired and full and ready for the next morning. This time there were no rain clouds and the air conditioner wasn't even needed.
DAY FOUR started with a scenic drive on Hwy. 20 going east around Choctaw Beach and through Freeport. We took Hwy. 331 South and headed back to 30A toward Rosemary Beach. We decided to get breakfast and stopped at this delightful little place called The Cowgirl Kitchen in Seaside. I had a praline crusted bacon, pimento and cheese biscuit. I never would have thought to ever put that combination together but it was a genius idea.
Once we reached Rosemary Beach we took our time in the book store and coffee shop. My mother bought me a journal with a beautiful tree on it. We drove through the town and headed over to Watersound to eat lunch at Bruno's Pizza. The place had moved to a new spot since I was last in the area. The art that covers the walls is fun to look at, but the pizza is what makes the place. For $7.99 you get an all you can eat buffet with salad, pasta, pizza, and a drink included. It is some of the best pizza I have ever eaten.
Full once again, we headed down to Panama City Beach where we found a souvenir shop that had items 12 for $1. We stocked up for everyone back home. If you go to Panama City Beach make sure to stop in. I got my step-son a hemp necklace with a shark tooth on it for $1.
When we left Panama City Beach we decided to go for a tour at the Wesley House since we didn't the first time we went. Unfortunately, they don't give tours on Wednesday. We walked the gardens and looked out across the backwater of the bay. The place is almost like a dream and a person cannot help but to feel like you are living in a fairytale when you visit the grounds. When we left, I felt a sense of longing to return immediately. I cannot wait to go back. I hope I will eventually get to see the inside of the house.
I am a creature of spontaneity that sometimes gets me into trouble. On a whim, I decided to take Hwy. 331 North and up to Defuniak Springs. It was an unintended trip and nowhere near my itinerary. We went searching for the springs only to find a place called Vortex Springs after driving north for over an hour. To the locals the place may be a fun place to gather and swim. To us it looked like something out of Wrong Turn. There was a shop that said you could go scuba diving there and camping, but to us it looked like a disaster waiting to happen. We skedaddled out of there as fast as we could.
We drove down I-10 and turned back toward Niceville. We ate at Po Folks for dinner. It's a country style restaurant that has amazing southern cuisine. Once again the portions were way too big for us, but that didn't stop me from ordering the hot fudge cake sundae that is a gargantuan portion of chocolate cake topped with hot fudge and ice cream. For only $4 it's worth going to Po Folks just for dessert.
I had planned on us going crabbing later, so a trip to the local Wal-Mart had to happen. I bought chicken and twine. We drove back down through Valparaiso and over to the Okaloosa Island and under the Destin bridge to a place called Crab Island. I went to work baiting my lines, but the place was crowded with kids looking for hermit crabs and I didn't catch any. I decided it was a lost cause and fed the chicken to the fish and crabs that would come later after the crowd left. The plus side was I enjoyed a night swim with perfect water temperatures.
Once back and camp and showered, we geared up for the following morning and our return trip home. Neither of us were ready to leave, but our husbands and children beckoned.
DAY FIVE began at a little place in Niceville appropriately called Coffee Shop. I feel it might have been a Waffle House at one time. It's a diner with amazing breakfast. The plates and cups are all mismatched and the walls are covered in local memorabilia. I love little places like that. My rule of thumb is look up where the locals eat and you will find great food. It was cheap too.
We headed over to Okaloosa Island again and I finally got my mother to the beach. I swam for a while and then we headed back to camp to break everything down.
We decided to travel back through Crestview. I had lived there previously years before with my ex-husband when our kids were little. The place has grown tremendously throughout the years. We went looking for a little place we used to eat at when we traveled called Coney Island. They only serve a handful of items. They are famous for their chili burgers and my mom said when she was little they were 3 for $1. We found the place and the food was just as amazing as we both remembered. The burgers are no longer 3 for $1, but the recipe has never changed. We stopped at a local seafood market and bought some shrimp to bring back with us as well as some homemade tuna dip. The gentleman was very courteous and even toted our cooler back out and loaded it for us.
As we drove back toward home, I reminisced about our week and how I wanted to take many more trips like this with my mother. We haven't always been in good company together, but the trip had changed both of us in some ways. I hope to have many more trips like that with her. I cannot wait to visit Florida again.
I have a new perception of a place I thought I knew. Some of the old places are still the same, others have changed over the years, and some places that have always been there were brought into light. What is now a place of fast paced tourists was once a place where the Creek Indians paddled their canoes up the streams that led to the gulf and log barges carried timber to the mills in Pensacola. It is a place that now holds the secrets of the luckiest fishermen that ever lived in the luckiest fishing village that ever was.
There is a hidden mysticism to the entire area that most tourists don't take time to appreciate. Backwaters and hidden houses are tucked away safely beyond the grips of the overcrowded tourists traps. Taking those backroads to the unknown opens up a person to a better understanding of the local life as well as giving their own souls a chance to feel the simplicity of beauty in an unconventional way.
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