If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you will know that my favorite beach in Florida is Destin. I’ve been to this beach many times over the years and it still wins, hands down, as the prettiest beaches in the South, in my opinion. Once you see that clear turquoise blue water and the sugar white sands, it’s hard to resist going back. I headed down last weekend with a girlfriend of mine, Beth, from Orlando.
We stayed in Edgewater beach condos right on the beach. The building is a unique shape and is built for maximum views of the water and pool areas. This shot was taken from the pool. We were on the 7th floor and I booked through VRBO for this unit. We were very happy here! You can see even better pics on that link.
It’s a great location in Destin, right across from the Silver Sands outlet mall with lots of shops and restaurants around.
The pool is tiered with 2 pools and we spent one day out here. We had 2 days of cloudy weather, a little rain, and one gorgeous sunny, perfect day, which we loved. I’ll share more pics later. This day was cloudy but still enjoyable weather. When the sun is out, the water looks spectacular.
My friend, Beth, from Orlando and I on the beach. She’s a Gator mom, her daughter is about to graduate from U of FL.
Funny story how Beth and I met. She grew up in Marietta and graduated from Wheeler High School. I graduated from Sprayberry. She’s about 4 years younger than me, but our families and paths have intersected in the past and we didn’t even know it. She wrote me an email back when I was renovating the house in 2012 and was coming up here to see her family. She wanted to come and help me paint, so she dropped by and we’ve been friends ever since. We just figured out this time, when she went with me to eat lunch with my parents, that her grandmother was in the same nursing home with one of my parents’ dear friends, which has been years ago now. Not only was Beth’s grandmother in the same nursing home, she was in the same room with our family friend and my mom met Beth’s mother and Aunt during the time they were both in that room. Small world, indeed! I had no idea until Beth mentioned names to my mother and my mother put it all together.
Beach chairs in the sand.
Pool time on the sunny day we had was just spectacular.
There is nothing like this beach. It gets me every time. The sugar white sand squeaks when you walk on it.
That water is really such a pretty emerald green/blue and that is why this stretch of the Gulf is called the Emerald Coast.
By far, it’s my favorite beach in Florida.
View from our balcony with my zoom lens.
Pulled back from the balcony view. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?
Off to the left of our building were 2 other really huge condo units. They can certainly house a lot of people in these high-rise condos.
On the beach side, we took some walks on the beach and captured this loveliness right next to Edgewater. You can stay in so many beautiful places in Destin, from condos to beach houses.
More beautiful beach houses.
I’ll give you a little peek of our condo unit, but the ones on their website are even better. I think it’s been newly remodeled with beautiful hardwood floors and natural and beachy furniture.
Dining table.
From the living room to the kitchen.
Kitchen, not a great pic, but very nice kitchen.
Mirrored wall in the living room.
Master bedroom with a great ocean view.
Yes, it is! Truer words have never been spoken.
Master bedroom view. There are shades on the windows that pull down to keep the early morning sun out.
The spacious balcony was perfect for early morning coffee and beach views. The weather was really pleasant and the sunny day we had was perfection.
I was so happy that my family was down there too. My sister and her hubby, along with Lauren and her family were down there for a whole week and their time overlapped with ours, so we had dinner with them the first night there.
Little Miss Parker is just so cute, I can hardly stand it. You can tell she enjoyed the berries she was eating and we took turns entertaining her outside at dinner. I’ll tell you more about the places we ate in another post. We got some great food down there and there is no shortage of good restaurants in Destin. I always get my fill of seafood.
My sister and family stayed at Waterscape in Ft. Walton Beach and it was a really neat place. Perfect water park for Parker to play in! We floated down that lazy river too.
Parker loved this place and it was so fun to watch this water baby. She is learning to swim and it’s so cute. She is not afraid of putting her head under the water.
While we were at their condo, we witnessed a late afternoon beach wedding, which was so fun.
Here comes the bride. They stayed out for awhile taking pics on the beach and enjoying the day. At least it didn’t rain on them.
I’ll be back to share more on Destin, including one of my old Atlanta friends, who has a beach house down there. It was so great to catch up with her after being out of touch for several years and visiting her beach house. I’ll be sharing it this Friday on my Feature Friday series. I’ll also share some shops and restaurants we went to.
And Beth and I shopped at a thriftstore while there and found 2 black dresses each, so we did a photoshoot for Fashion over 50 and Little Black Dresses that I think you’ll enjoy this week!
OOOOHH, I remember that place! I’ve been there like zillion years ago. My mom and sis was visiting me, when I lived at Birmingham Al. and I took them ‘down to the beach’. It was so lovely place. And the sand <3 And I ate the best Key lime pie ever somewhere there!
Nice You had a lovely vacation!
L. Satu
We vacation at the Edgewater every spring break. We hope one day to buy a home away from home in Destin.
Looks lovely. Would it be possible to stay here for a few days and then travel to Disney for the rest of a holiday. We have been to Florida a few times but never stayed at the beach, but the kids love the theme parks. x
Tara, it would be a long drive to Disney from here. Probably 7 or 8 hours, so you might want to consider another beach, like St. Pete or Clearwater.
Thank you ever so much for letting me know. What a shame 🙁
Hopefully you used a high sun block on the beach. You already have some skin damage.
Yes, I did Debbie. I didn’t get much sun at all. We all have skin damage by this age from being outside.
My husband and I just vacationed in Destin for the first time for our 35th anniversary. One of the prettiest beaches we have seen! And yes, the sand squeaks when you walk on it! We loved it there! You are lucky to get to visit often!
We stayed at Waterscape last year for the pool for my granddaughter. I liked the pool better there than the place we stayed at in Destin this year.
Destin is beautiful. I love to vacation there too. My son and his family lived in Dothan, AL so we would take day trips there and the 30A beach often when we would visit them. Parker is a doll ! Looks like you had a ball playing with her.
It was fun getting to have dinner with you and Beth while you were here in “paradise” 🙂
Dear Rhoda, I know exactly what you mean since I visited Destin twice, many many years ago, with my New Orleans cousins who own a condo unit right on the beach. On one of my stays, I had my 2 youngest kids with me who enjoyed every minute of our visit. I cherish great memories from this lovely holiday city, with its silky sands, blue waters, great food and fantastic shopping.
This makes me want to head back to the beach!! I love the gulf – most beautiful beaches ever!
P.S. I love your swimsuit! You look fab!
It’s beautiful. We know several people here who Winter there or at least spend some time there during Winter.
Love the family photos!
Love Edgewater. It is in such a great location.
Hope you had a grouper sandwich at Buster’s
while you were there. It is always on my to-do
list.
Looks like a lovely place to visit. You sure look great. I know you work out and it shows.
Rhoda,
Thank you for sharing your lovely photos. You look lovely in your swim suit. I would love to lie on that lovely white sand under an umbrella and just let all the stress in my body melt into that sand.
Love Destin, but haven’t been there in several years. Thanks for sharing your trip & beautiful pictures. A nice way to start the day on a Monday!
Rhoda, Parker wasn’t the only beach babe out there! You looked fabulous! I know others have commented on it, but your hair looks great wavy and so appropriate for the beach. Destin is now on my list for beaches to visit in Florida. We have some nice beaches here in California, but I long for the warm gulf water!
Ahhh, the Gulf Coast of Florida. Just my favorite place in the world to be. Never been to Destin, but have friends who love it. We always went to the Sarasota area. But anywhere on that side of FL would be just dreamy about now. Thanks for the virtual vay-cay. And you are *totally* the beach babe!
Destin is so beautiful…we visited for the 1st time this past spring break. Some of the best shrimp I’ve ever tasted! You are making me want to go back. Thanks for sharing the condo information too.
Destin is my fave too! I liked it a bit more before the world discovered it…..but still LOVE it! Glad you had a great time!
I so loved seeing your pictures of Destin. We lived there for 8 years and miss it so much! You are right, the most beautiful beaches in Florida!