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Destin, Florida

I used to do the Eufala route in college when MapQuest told me to go that way...but ever since I've done the Troy way. you're right the roads aren't crowded once you get past DeFuniak, but sometimes you get stuck behind a giant tractor and 2 trucks and like 4 cars for a few miles, so you can't pass, as I did a few weeks ago. but other than that it's not too bad.
 
if you stay on 65 south to Greenville AL, Bates House of Turkey is a tasty lunch spot that has now fed 4 generations of Digglers on their way to the beach. It's possibly the whitest place in Alabama but the food is good.

Another vote for the 85-65 route - go through Andalusia, Opp, Florala, and DeFuniak Springs.
 
Yes we are coming from N.Carolina (Thomasville). We are staying closer to Fort Walton Beach and mapquest has the route as stated above (I-85) into Montgomery then merging onto I-65 for a bit before merging onto some smaller highways. We are to the west of Destin. Thanks for all the posts, this info has really enlightened me.
 
If you are that far west and you can get away for a drink at night, the FlorBama bar has loads of traashy SEC lvl talent.
 
The florabama is amazing. I actually got kicked out of there once. Also saw a bama fan piss on an auburn fan in the men’s room out of spite.
 
You gotta do the Gulf Island National Seashore; enter at Gulf Breeze and exit in Navarre Beach. The water and 30 foot sand dunes are something else and not to be missed. Also you can snorkel the reef in Navarre Beach which is really cool.

Grayton Beach State Park is also cool. The coastal dune lakes are rarities that are a nice visit.

Rent a pontoon boat in Destin, tool around and fish in Choctawhatchee Bay. We had a front row view of several flyovers from the base.


Great area.
 
You gotta do the Gulf Island National Seashore; enter at Gulf Breeze and exit in Navarre Beach. The water and 30 foot sand dunes are something else and not to be missed. Also you can snorkel the reef in Navarre Beach which is really cool.

Grayton Beach State Park is also cool. The coastal dune lakes are rarities that are a nice visit.

Rent a pontoon boat in Destin, tool around and fish in Choctawhatchee Bay. We had a front row view of several flyovers from the base.


Great area.

there's a small stretch of the National Seashore between Okaloosa Island (the actual beach that serves Fort Walton Beach) and Destin. and Gulf Breeze is on the mainland, you have to cross over the bridge to Pensacola Beach. there is a small portion of the National Seashore in Gulf Breeze -- the Naval Live Oaks -- and you can then connect to Navarre, but not nearly as scenic as doing the gulf front drive.

and the drive over the Destin pass bridge can be stunning if it's sunny out. the water is gorgeous.
 
Gonna be down there first week of August as well, any good restaurant recs?

for an upscale night out without the kids get a reservation and go to Beach Walk Henderson Park Inn - excellent food and great views but (importantly) no children under 13 allowed

kid-friendly places with good grilled seafood and views include Back Porch and Pompano Joe's but you will wait there

Dewey Destin's is on the harbor, also pretty good grilled seafood, family friendly

if you venture over to 30A, look into the Vue which does take reservations
 
Thanks for all the tips everyone, headed out tomorrow morning.
 
will second Dewey Destin's. I like the boat grade shrimp, basically they're all different sizes and not uniform though still delicious and much cheaper than a regular shrimp order.
 
there's a small stretch of the National Seashore between Okaloosa Island (the actual beach that serves Fort Walton Beach) and Destin. and Gulf Breeze is on the mainland, you have to cross over the bridge to Pensacola Beach. there is a small portion of the National Seashore in Gulf Breeze -- the Naval Live Oaks -- and you can then connect to Navarre, but not nearly as scenic as doing the gulf front drive.

and the drive over the Destin pass bridge can be stunning if it's sunny out. the water is gorgeous.

Agreed about the Destin pass bridge. We arrived here yesterday and the water is beautiful at that bridge. I also do appreciate very much that small stretch of undeveloped area between Fort Walton and Destin. I am also hoping to make it to Pensacola and over to the Naval Air Museum and possibly see the Blue Angels practice, we shall see.

Btw, we stopped in Lanett Alabama Friday evening after leaving in the morning. Finished our drive on Saturday morning and made stops in Auburn (to see the stadium) and an unexpected stop at Moton Field (Tuskegee) where those airmen trained. Place was kind of tucked away and alone but very neat for me. Again, thanks for all the tips.
 
Thanks for all the tips everyone. Just got back last night after an 11 1/2 hour ride straight through. I-85 even before you get to Charlotte...........SUCKS!! other than that the traffic wasn't too bad. We had a great time in Destin (Okaloosa Island). The water was clear for us only one day. The rest of the time we had to fight the "June Grass" in the water most days.

The beaches are beautiful there and the water can be at times especially at the Destin Pass Bridge. Ate at Mcguire's Irish Pub and the food was fantastic. For some reason the place made me think of Skip. Traffic coming in and out of Destin can be heavy especially on Saturdays as I suppose folks are leaving and checking in.

Visited the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola and it's an awesome museum! Will def. be going there again if I'm in the area. Didn't get to see the Biue Angels practice but we were able to experience multiple flyovers from all types of planes from Eglin AFB on a daily basis. We plan on going back to that area in the future. It was an adventure for sure but we enjoyed it!
 
We enjoyed our time there as well. Spent a day at crab island drinking in the water, ate tons of great seafood and spent almost every day with our feet in the ocean. The water was clear for us every day but we were in Miramar Beach so idk if that is usually clearer than Okaloosa. We took a trip down to the Gulf Island National Shores past Navarre and watched the sun set over the Santa Rosa Sound and Escambia Bay. There were three restaurants within walking distance of our house and they were all solid. Pompano Joe’s was surprisingly good. Dewey Destins was pretty good as well, we didn’t make it to the Porch unfortunately. The wife made me go to the Harbor Walk below the Emerald Grande but I ended up enjoying it because you could walk around with booze and one of the bars had a Blink 182 tribute band playing above the boardwalk so I posted up there and listened to the entire set. She also made me go to Baytowne Wharf which I didn’t enjoy, although we watched the sunset over Choctawhatchee Bay at the end of their boardwalk and that was gorgeous. Hope I get the chance to go back soon!
 
We enjoyed our time there as well. Spent a day at crab island drinking in the water, ate tons of great seafood and spent almost every day with our feet in the ocean. The water was clear for us every day but we were in Miramar Beach so idk if that is usually clearer than Okaloosa. We took a trip down to the Gulf Island National Shores past Navarre and watched the sun set over the Santa Rosa Sound and Escambia Bay. There were three restaurants within walking distance of our house and they were all solid. Pompano Joe’s was surprisingly good. Dewey Destins was pretty good as well, we didn’t make it to the Porch unfortunately. The wife made me go to the Harbor Walk below the Emerald Grande but I ended up enjoying it because you could walk around with booze and one of the bars had a Blink 182 tribute band playing above the boardwalk so I posted up there and listened to the entire set. She also made me go to Baytowne Wharf which I didn’t enjoy, although we watched the sunset over Choctawhatchee Bay at the end of their boardwalk and that was gorgeous. Hope I get the chance to go back soon!


Somone told us that further that going toward Destin (we were to the west) that the seaweed or Junegrass wasn't as bad. I will say the water was ALWAYS clear for us, we just had to fight the seaweed a bit. Glad to hear you enjoyed it zqglass. Some really good places to eat down there for sure.
 
Somone told us that further that going toward Destin (we were to the west) that the seaweed or Junegrass wasn't as bad. I will say the water was ALWAYS clear for us, we just had to fight the seaweed a bit. Glad to hear you enjoyed it zqglass. Some really good places to eat down there for sure.

We dealt with the junegrass at Crab Island. After a few beers it quit bothering me. Speaking of the AFB being close by, we had just spent a week in Savannah earlier this summer and it took me all week to get used to the Air Force planes incessantly flying directly over the city. It wasn't quite as loud or as frequent in Destin but to most everyone around us their heads were swiveling every time a big boy flew by. It weird how quickly you get used to such noisy and disruptive sounds like that.
 
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