Destin, Florida: Beaches but no Coffee

For Thanksgiving, my parents and I decided to travel to Destin, Florida, rather than spending Thanksgiving in CT. I have traveled over several T-Days, but usually with friends. This will be the first one away from Connecticut, with my family. My sister and her hsuband, however, couldn't come. They have to work! Anyway, I rented us a beautiful two bedroom condo on the beach!

Destin is on what is known as "The Emerald Coast". There are miles and miles of beautiful white sand beaches. Along the beach are beautiful hotels, resorts, condos, and some beautiful (although expensive) private homes. On the other side of Route 98 are all the strip malls, fast food joints, and the occasional Waffle House!

Since I don't have a car, and like in most of the US, things are really designed for those who are mobile, I decided to go for a walk yesterday. Sunday I walked east for about 30 minutes. Yesterday, I thought I would walk down the beach. So I did. The plan was to walk downthe beach, then walk back along the street. I walked for about 35 minutes west along the beach. It was great, until I realized that there are only a few public beach accesses and that I couldn't find one. Well eventually one turned up, but I realized that I was not leaving the beach onto the main road, but onto a side road (Gulf Shore Drive). So, I walked. And walked. I was really thinking that a nice cup of coffee would do me well. I hadn't seen a Starbuck's (even with all the strip malls) but I figured that I would at least find a local coffee shop. No luck. I then figured that I would find a nice bar either on the beach of the bay, sit and watch the sun go down. Apparently, people in Destin don't drink coffee, and they only go to bars in the summer.

Eventually, I found the Hog's Breath. (Its better to have Hog's Breath then no breath at all!) I drank a few beers overlooking Route 98, and then meandered home. Basically, I walked for 4 hours, took a break, and then 30 minutes more. Moral of the story: if you come to Destin, bring a car, and a coffee maker!