Destin, Florida

We break briefly from our revisiting of places we visited when we could travel and actually take a [short] vacation trip to Destin, Florida, located on Florida's gulf coast.  We fly into the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, located on Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle.  Arriving as the sun sets, we have a great view of the hotel and the beach in dark, then, the next morning, in light. We're travelling the week after Spring Break in the US and the area is much less crowded than the previous week.

Night and day

The beach

We stroll up a few miles up the beach and back, walking on the unique sand that is among the whitest and most homogeneous in the world, consisting of small quartz particles that the glaciers brought down from the Appalachian Mountains about 20,000 years ago.

Strolling along the beach

We head over to the Destin Harbor Boardwalk, stretching a quarter mile (0.4 km) along the harbor, filled with shops, restaurants, fishing charter boats, water sports, and adventures of all kinds.

Destin Harbor Boardwalk

We run across a stand selling, among other things, a treat I've never had before:  fried pickles.  I can no longer make that statement!

Fried pickles

We follow our fried pickles with dinner of oysters, fish tacos, and sliders.  While we're dining, a fishing charter boat pulls in and the crew cleans the fish on the dock so the lucky fishers can take them home.  This activity attracts a large flock of pelicans, who are fed by the crew as they clean the fish.

Dinner

Fishing boat pulls in

Soon, the sun sets and we wind up our day in this delightful spot.

Sunset