It's finally here! A week in Destin. (Sorry it took a while to get it posted.)

Day 1- A Gem Of A Place

There is a little restaurant we found the last time we were down there that sits back in a corner of a shopping center. They offer half of their menu at half off for a few hours each day. They have some of the best food in the area. It really is a gem of a restaurant. Steaks, chicken, and shrimp they have a little of everything. We couldn't wait to eat their. We made it the first restaurant we ate at in Destin.



(The Greek salad dressing is amazing.)

Day 2- Lunch on the Beach

Just up the rode from where we were staying sits a little restaurant over looking the beach. People stand in line just to get a seat at this place. So we thought we see what it was all about. The food was great! The chicken sandwich with the pineapple slice, delicious and the hush puppies, amazing.

Day 3- Old Face In A New Place

My favorite local weather man just recently moved from our area the the Mobile, AL area. Mobile is one of the local stations you can pick up in Destin. So I got to see my favorite weather man again. Boy, I really do miss him.

Day 4- Dolphins and Dollars

A sunset dolphin cruise in the Destin Harbor and into the ocean. Before the boat even goes up to turn around in the harbor we are seeing dolphins. In and out of the water. They are such beautiful creatures, and interesting. We learned a few things on that cruise that I never knew about dolphins.

After the cruise dinner at the Irish Pub across the street. Maybe one of the best finds in Destin. Walking in will take your breath away though. Hanging from the ceiling and on all the walls are signed dollar bills.

(We even left a few!)

Day 5- Panama City Beach Pier

About a 45 minute drive east of Destin is Panama City Beach. Driving through you can tell its been a tourist area longer then Destin but they are trying to add some new. One of the things newly added, Pier Park.

Pier Park is an outside shopping center with a view of the beach and an interesting look. It doesn't feel like a shopping center at all. If you feel like a little drive it really is something to see.

Day 6- Long A Waited Lunch and A Near Miss With the First Lady

Lunch at a local restaurant I have heard only good things about . It was not worth the wait. The atmosphere was fun, the food was okay, but all in all it's a place you should go to at least once to see it.

After lunch a quick trip to the Eglin AFB Museum. Little did we know that the current first lady was visiting Eglin that day. We did not see her but we did see all the news media vehicles in the parking lot.

Day 7- "Toes in the Water"

As the Zac Brown Band song "Toes" goes, "I had my toes in the water, toes in the sand, not a care in the world."

Walking the emerald waters and white sand at sunset. That's the beauty of Destin.

Wind in my hair, waves coming in hitting my feet and legs, and the feel of sand in your toes. That's what people go to the beach for.

Day 7.5- Good Bye

6:00 am Central/7:00 am Eastern.

Van all loaded up, packed to the gills.

Good-bye little yellow house
Good-bye ocean
Good-bye Destin
Good-bye dollar on the wall

Good-bye Florida

10 hour drive ahead

It's time to go home to "my old Kentucky home"

Hope it will be awhile before I see you again

Celebrating a Saturday Night Tradition

Day One of trip a stop in Nashville for the night before we drive on into Destin tomorrow. Reason for stop, a Friday night Grand Ole Opry show.

This weekend and its three shows is different though, its the Opry Birthday Celebration weekend. 84 years of live shows from the Nashville area is being celebrated and remembered. Tonight's show Montgomery Gentry, Josh Turner, and Patty Loveless.

It has been a few years since we have been to the Opry and I had forgotten just how much they mean. Each one is a part of history. Each one part of something old that has carried on in this age of new. Where can you find a live radio show where commercials are still given right from the stage?

Coming Soon!

A Week in Destin, FL. That's right! I am going to write seven days worth of stuff to do in this panhandle city of Destin.

Fall Vacation

As I am starting to prepare for my fall vacation next month I am doing so only half hearted. Fall in North Carolina's Outer Banks is the best time to go and we have gone the last two years. But this year we thought two family members would be going with us and we planned the vacation around them. So we are going somewhere warmer instead of paradise, and those two family members are not even going with us.

Now instead of driving through WV and VA seeing the fall leaves through the mountains and driving under the bay in Norfolk we are driving through TN and AL and back roads to get to Destin FL. Destin is okay but it doesn't have the natural beauty that the Outer Banks has. There are no wild horses to be seen and no driving on the beach in a 4WD. All there is is shopping, shopping, and more shopping. For people that don't like the ocean we seem to go to the ocean a lot. At least in the OBX the ocean has tales to tell.

So when planning a vacation don't plan for others that might not be going only plan for yourself. That way you know that when you start preparing to go you will be excited about it and not just so so about it.

Traveling America

I love to travel! There is no greater thing then to get in a car and take a long road trip through this great land of ours. You see more of the America's beauty from the car window then you do from a plane window.

Usually we are headed South when we travel for vacations but I have been to many interesting places over the years. I have seen the beauty of the Outer Banks, the history of Charleston, the mountains of Pocono, the emerald waters of Destin, the Alamo, an Air Force Base, and even the Castle that Mickey built. I have been to Graceland and I have been to Daytona during bike week. I have even seen where chocolate is made. I have been seated in the front row when it's newest member is taking his place in the "circle that will never be unbroken". I have seen the arch and the Chicago skyline from atop the Sears tower.

Traveling is fun, everyone knows that. Who doesn't like to go on vacation and see something new a different?

A few weeks ago we went to a wedding in Milton, KY. We stayed that night after the wedding in Madison, IN. Madison is a quite little town where the main street is the heart of town.

As we drove to our hotel that night, at a little before nine, the city of Madison was about to go to sleep for the night. It is a traditional little town where nine o’clock is closing time and walking Main Street is the thing to do on a Saturday night. Driving down or walking down Main Street one will see family owned shops. From the hardware store to the bakery, Madison is filled with that old city charm that you just don’t find anymore. On Sunday morning as we were driving out of town to see the people sitting at the outside tables enjoying their Sunday morning coffee, relaxing like they had no where to go, was something you just don’t see much of in the hustle and bustle of the big city.

I was amazed by the small, home town feel of Madison, IN. I just wish we had more time to spend there and I could of enjoyed a morning cup of coffee and sat and let the cares of the world just go right by.