When in doubt, vacation! I would love to see the world, but I'm not crazy enough to say I'd sell it all to do so. I think I'll stick to seeing what the United States has to offer for now.
Over the 4th of July weekend we took a road trip from Houston, Texas to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. I've never been to Seaside and am so excited to explore! P.S. - Anyone who knows me knows that the beach, any beach!, is my favorite place to be.
I got released early from work around 2pm and headed home to finish doing the dishes and taking out the garbage. Those two things must be done anytime you plan to be away from home from than two days. Another must do... make sure your plants are watered sufficiently. I over watered my eight tomato plants but forgot to move them out of the sun and came home to only four of them not burnt to a crisp.
I absolutely love road trips as long as I'm the passenger because I love to sight see. Even with all of the unexpected delays that can totally kill any excitement you may have built up I really do enjoy traveling. Knowing delays are bound to happen it is imperative to dress as comfortably as possible. Before heading out I changed out of my work clothes and threw on yoga pants, sports bra, a baggy tee and shoes that can be slipped on and off are important so I went with flip flops.
Not that anyone else would know I'm on a road trip but it's funny how I don't care who sees me dressed this way because it comes with the road trippin' territory. Ha!
Day 1: Thursday, July 2nd
We didn't get on the road until 6pm after setting iTunes to Red Hot Chili Peppers because to me, nothing screams "beach vacation" like them.
We made it through Houston/Baytown traffic and before leaving town we looked at each other and decided we needed dinner. So we pulled into a Carl's Jr and I ordered their All-Natural Amercian Cheeseburger and a side of fried zucchini with a diet coke. They forgot the ranch and the burger was incredibly messy, un-enjoyable to eat, and did not taste that great. Boo!
(Just had to snap a pic of what they were advertising... a burger with kettle cooked chips and a hot dog, ick!)
10:30 pm - We made it into Rayne, Louisiana and we were beginning to get tired so we made a pit stop to pick up caramel frappes from McDonalds.
Day 2: Friday, July 3rd
12:00 pm - Baton Rouge, Louisiana to fuel up and stretch our legs.
3:00 am - We passed the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park after coming out of one of the longest tunnels I've ever been through and the ship looked incredible all lit up at night. There was no one on the roads so we were able to slow down to snap a pic.
3:30 am - We finally crossed the Florida State line. We were incredibly exhausted by this point. I struggled to stay awake but somehow managed.
5:30 am - Made it to the 30-A Suites where we were greeted with red walls and found out the name of our room was the "Passion" Suite. The suites look as they do in their online photos, maybe even better in person. There were complimentary bottles of water and mini bottles of wine in the fridge and there was a full kitchen with granite countertops. The hotel's location is conveniently located near Highway 98 which is the route to Destin and minutes away from Santa Rosa Beach. The only negatives of the room were the toilet paper which was super fragile and the coffee was effin' terrible. Get me some Clean Care Cottonelle and I'll stick to paying $5 for Starbucks.
We finally jumped into bed since I had been up for 25 hours at that point. We slept for 4 hours before we both woke up excited to start making the most of our vacation.
1:00 pm - Trying to find parking was a nightmare and we ended up parking at one of the hotels and walking about a half mile. The walk was beautiful since it was along the boardwalk. We ended up having lunch at Pompano Joe's and we were seated right away. We shared their Island Chicken Wings and both ordered blackened grilled fish tacos (grouper and mahi mahi in flour tortillas with chipotle mayo, lettuce, pico de gallo, and queso fresco and served with Caribbean black beans and rice) with large glasses of ice water. You cannot beat this view when you sit outside under the umbrellas. We watched a group of guys play a game of volleyball, parasailers, and the cutest little ones playing on the beach. It was hot as hell and I was sweating my ass off but it did not ruin my time.
After lunch we went back to the hotel to change into our swimsuits because we wanted to rent jet skis and researched a couple places and called ahead to make reservations. Make reservations!
2:30 pm - Pulled into Xtreme H20 Sports where we were met with a bunch of douche bags. Yes, I'm almost 30 and call people douche bags. The guy who walked us through our brief orientation reminded us of Zac Efron. He was in the middle of finishing bites of his food and slurping his drink obnoxiously. I don't know why but he made me feel uncomfortable with his overly tanned skin and overly ripped muscles. It cost $90/hr to rent jet skis. Worth every penny since this bad boys were brand new and went 55 mph. Their location gets you out of the "no wake" zone and jet skiing almost immediately. It was my first time on one and it was so much fun until I kept getting splashed in the face with salt water that stung my eyes and made it so I couldn't keep my eyes open. Burned like hell! OUCH!! Make sure you wear sunglasses or other eye protection and and watch out for all of that sea grass.
Once we were done we decided since we were already wet and in our swimsuits we should check out the beach near our hotel which was Santa Rosa Beach staying there until sundown. This is an incredibly beautiful beach with white sandy beaches and turquoise water. Even with it being a holiday weekend we had no issues finding parking near the beach access dock.
8:30 pm - After showering and getting dressed we went for a drive toward Destin to look for a dinner place that wasn't overly packed. We drove by Tuscany Italian Bistro and ended up u-turning when we saw that there was not a wait out the door. We were seated immediately. Score! We shared the Mussels Diavola (we both agreed we had better at Carrabba's here in Houston), a bread basket with the absolute best olive oil/spice blend ever!!!, had the best glass of Movendo Moscato, ordered their special of the day which was Linguine Pescatore with Lobster, and tried my first dirty martini which burned going down and was not mine thing, it seemed so grown up to order one, sigh. Our entrees were fabulous.
10:30 pm - With making the most of our day and feeling like we've been missing out we made it over to the movie theatre to see the movie, Ted 2. We grabbed bottles of water and ice cream sandwiches and no joke, within 10 minutes into the movie we were both falling asleep. We actually decided to walk out of the movie and go back to the hotel to pass out.
Day 3: July 4th!!!
8:00 am - Woke up and lounged around the room reading magazines until noon before we got hungry and wanted to seek out food.
1:00 pm - Lunch at Stinky's Fish Camp where we shared 6 Smoked Cheese and Bacon Oysters and 6 Champagne Broiled Oysters (the bacon ones were the best!). We ate all of the buttery Captain Wafer crackers out of the bucket before our soups arrived. I tried the Seafood and Corn Bisque with their House Salad. Not an exciting lunch but delicious and satisfying. After we ate we walked next door to their bait shop and picked up a souvenir of a baby bib for a coworker and got myself a giant mug with their logo on it. Stinky's is a nice place by the lake with a casual vibe.
Back to the hotel to change into our swimsuits to head back to the beach until 3:30 pm. We had reservations for a Sunset Dolphin Cruise with Southern Star and needed to be there an hour before boarding. Recommend getting there with plenty of time to find a parking spot and be the first in line to get a good spot on the boat (highly recommend sitting as close to the bow on the Captain's side).
5:00 pm - 9:00 pm - The dolphin cruise was not my favorite activity since I am 4'11" and everyone would crowd the spots were you could see the dolphins. I was literally peeking through bodies and didn't get a very good view. Also moving around the boat made me sea sick. I was able to keep everything down though but drained the blood from my face and hands. At least I was able to snap a couple of photos. There is a point on the cruise you were able to find the seagulls off the back of the boat. It was actually a cool sight to see the flock of seagulls following so closely to the boat. They even let the kids be "captains" and grab treasure out of the chest. The kids looked so happy and such a nice touch. If you get hungry or thirsty they do have a concession stand with hot dogs, chips, and nonalcoholic beverages.
After we got off the boat we were excited to find a row of street vendors had set up. I purchased this amazing glass jellyfish serving platter that I JUST-HAD-TO-HAVE! Of course it was the most expensive item they had but the quality and design is too perfect. Turned the corner and saw an adult Popsicle truck... they know me so well, Mojito Madness. Note to self, that one has the greatest alcohol content. There was a guy on stilts passing out American flags. Had to have one of those too. 'Murica!
10:00 pm - Dinner at Boshamp's Oyster House where we shared their Fried Maine Lobster Bites and I had "The Original" Destin Snapper which had jumbo lump crab, gulf shrimp, mashed red potatoes, braised local greens, lemon butter, and Bearnaise honey roasted nuts. This was the best plate of food I've had in a long time, the flavors meld so perfectly together. I was so glad we didn't sit outside like we wanted to because it started to rain and everyone rain for cover from their tables but our view was not very good at night because of sitting by the window and seeing the reflection of the interior lights through the window. Their dessert choices were disappointing and we still wanted something sweet so we set off to find some ice cream.
11:00 pm - Made it to Kilwin's 5 minutes to closing. Felt bad so we tipped them well. I wasn't in the mood for super rich ice cream and that's what this was. I maybe ate three or four bites. Wish we would have found a frozen yogurt place that was open.
Too tired to walk around the Commons and window shop so we went back to the hotel and passed out.
Day 4: July 5th
Slept in until 10 am and woke up to a thunderstorm. We were crazy enough to go out into the storm to catch brunch and went back to Stinky's Fish Camp. We were seated right next to the window, got to enjoy the rainy morning, and listened to the band, The Steenos and Washboard. Really good entertainment. Sunday brunch at Stinky's Fish Camp was slightly disappointing though. I ordered the Crab and Cheese Omelet with their house potatoes and a side of bacon. The omelet was runny. I have an issue with eggs and their texture can turn me off quickly which they did and the potatoes were hard. Ugh! Before our breakfast entrees arrived we split the beignets (first time having them... think funnel cake, hot and covered in powdered sugar, ah!mazing!) and I had their Peach Shortcake for dessert (cream and more cream!). Stay away from cooking breakfast Stinky's, cause it stunk!
2:00 pm - To stay dry we headed into Destin because I just had to check out their Plato's Closet location. I found so many items (I only purchase the ones that are new with tags). Here in Houston I find maybe two or three items whenever I go and spend about $20. I left with two heavy bags and spent over $200. Jackpot!
3:00 pm - The weather cleared up so we hit up the gas station to grab a bag of ice for the cooler, sandwiches from Subway (yuck!), and found this little gem...
Being the last night we spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach until the sun set. I tried to work on a tan but barely baked.
9:30 pm - Back to the hotel to shower and order pizza for dinner from Fat Daddy's Pizza to enjoy while we watched Shark Week. We ordered their garlic bread sticks and Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza. Best bacon cheeseburger pizza I've ever had. Stayed up as late as possible because we were in denial it was our last night there.
Day 5: July 6th
8:00 am - Woke up, got dressed and packed our bags. Stopped at Starbucks before setting out to head back home to Texas. Here are some road trip pics leading us to our first stop...
(On the marina building outside of Destin)
(USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park)
12:30 pm - Made our first pit stop at the Mississippi Welcome Center.
5:00 pm - Stopped at Don's Speciality Meats to try their Cracklin' and Boudin as advertised on all the billboards up and down this stretch of highway. Their boudin is fantastic, hot and spicy. I laughed so hard when I took a bite and had to pull the casing out of my mouth, it looked like a condom. The Cracklin' had a bit of a bite to it too.
(Picked these up for Little Man)
(Don't think that's a Cheetah)
(Outside of Don's Specialty Meats)
9:30 pm - Finally made it home.
I've been so incredibly lucky to have been able to travel to so many places and experience so many things. Bottling up all of these sunshine-y thoughts!
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