Summerof79
2,500+ Posts
Well first and foremost I have found the secret to successful long distance driving..... books on CD. I think the first 6 hours were honestly nearly effortless, listening to a good book. Having my oldest daughter put her book on tape on her Ipod was genius. Let the younger daughter watch her younger videos without fighting over the selections for the DVD. They had one spat 10 hours in on the way home and that was it in the car.
Secondly check the highway reports before you travel, I did on the way down on Sunday, but didn't on the Sunday return trip. About 30 miles East of Houston the big sign said.... I-10 closed at Beltway 8 at 9 pm..... my watch read 8:07 at the time. Ratched up to 80+ and drove like a bat out of hell. Passed the choke point at 8:52 as the crews were setting up the barriers to shut down the interstate. Also there was a reduction to one lane East of Lake Charles that was about a 15 minute creep.
Overall however the trip was great. We didn't eat out a whole lot, Hit McGuire's in Destin to see all the dollars and it's the one place the kids really wanted to go. Food was actually pretty good and fun early evening atmospher for the family before the really drunken craziness began. Best place we ate at was Pompano Joe's, line was out the door for an hour or more on our first try. I called the next night to check on the wait and was able to put my name on the list. We waited less than 10 minutes to be seated after we walked up to the consternation of all those around us. So good "call ahead" option for a good dinner without a long wait. Also ate a light dinner and had a pitcher of beer at The Whale's tale. The wife's grouper was great, the crab cakes were so-so at best, but it was nice sitting on the deck hearing the waves crash.
Overall impressions were holy crap there are a lot of damn people here! I went and drove down to some of the beaches East of Miramar, Dune Allen and Blue Mountain Beach, and the vibe was completely different. Mostly older homes with a single family beneath a pop up scattered up and down the beach. Instead of the miles of congo line like umbrellas and deck chairs lining most of Destin. Water was crystal clear, but there was a lot of small cotton ball sized bight green sea week. So you would go from a clear area into a murky green low visability area. This only was bothersome when I was way out and I thought about how Bull Sharks like crappy visability conditions at the same time I remembered not having taken off my stainless steel watch. All of a sudden I felt like a big fishing lure.... Did see some porpoise working balls of bait in the evenings and saw something large jump out of the water, either a dolphin or tarpon from the size and color. Definitely will take the kids back again but probably to a home rather than a high rise.
Kids can't wait to go back....
Secondly check the highway reports before you travel, I did on the way down on Sunday, but didn't on the Sunday return trip. About 30 miles East of Houston the big sign said.... I-10 closed at Beltway 8 at 9 pm..... my watch read 8:07 at the time. Ratched up to 80+ and drove like a bat out of hell. Passed the choke point at 8:52 as the crews were setting up the barriers to shut down the interstate. Also there was a reduction to one lane East of Lake Charles that was about a 15 minute creep.
Overall however the trip was great. We didn't eat out a whole lot, Hit McGuire's in Destin to see all the dollars and it's the one place the kids really wanted to go. Food was actually pretty good and fun early evening atmospher for the family before the really drunken craziness began. Best place we ate at was Pompano Joe's, line was out the door for an hour or more on our first try. I called the next night to check on the wait and was able to put my name on the list. We waited less than 10 minutes to be seated after we walked up to the consternation of all those around us. So good "call ahead" option for a good dinner without a long wait. Also ate a light dinner and had a pitcher of beer at The Whale's tale. The wife's grouper was great, the crab cakes were so-so at best, but it was nice sitting on the deck hearing the waves crash.
Overall impressions were holy crap there are a lot of damn people here! I went and drove down to some of the beaches East of Miramar, Dune Allen and Blue Mountain Beach, and the vibe was completely different. Mostly older homes with a single family beneath a pop up scattered up and down the beach. Instead of the miles of congo line like umbrellas and deck chairs lining most of Destin. Water was crystal clear, but there was a lot of small cotton ball sized bight green sea week. So you would go from a clear area into a murky green low visability area. This only was bothersome when I was way out and I thought about how Bull Sharks like crappy visability conditions at the same time I remembered not having taken off my stainless steel watch. All of a sudden I felt like a big fishing lure.... Did see some porpoise working balls of bait in the evenings and saw something large jump out of the water, either a dolphin or tarpon from the size and color. Definitely will take the kids back again but probably to a home rather than a high rise.
Kids can't wait to go back....
