It was honestly a blessing that Jillian had a Dental Conference in Destin, Florida that started the day I got back from the cruise. I really did not want to go back to work (even though I would be working remotely from the hotel room in the morning hours). My body was also pretty thrilled with the prospect of a few days of recovery.
The only downside to this trip, initially, was that my starting point was New Orleans; roughly 300 miles away. I had carpooled with my friend Chandler to New Orleans, so I had to make a detour in Mobile to get my truck and then another in Daphne to check on the pets and do a few quick house chores. In all, the trip took about 5.5 hours. Completely worth it.
I actually made it to the Hilton Sandestin around 5pm so there wasn't much time for me to enjoy the sand and sun but we had plenty of time to go out for dinner. Jillian already had a pretty good lay of the land as she had been to this hotel in the past, so she drove us down the street to a shopping center that had a PF Changs (one of her favorites). Jillian wasn't thrilled that I made a stink about our seating arrangements; but I wasn't comfortable being closely wedged between two other groups when there were a lot of available booths around the restaurant. There was also an issue with them not having a signature adult beverage at this location, but they did a pretty good job of appeasing us again by making something similar. To make sure we were complete pains, we made special orders that weren't exactly on the menu. The staff was very accommodating again and our whole meal was enjoyable. It was on this trip that we also came across a little boutique store that Jillian really enjoyed called "Altar'd State". It took me a while to realize why they were playing so much christian music in the store. It was a nice place. Jillian ended up buying a purse?... backpack... thing as well as a nice picture frame that she plans on keeping a wedding photo in.
I was given pretty specific instructions the night before to wake up early and beat the "umbrella guy" to the beach in the morning. I was glad I followed those instructions b/c that guy gets up early and lines nearly the entire beach-front with Hilton chairs and umbrellas that they charge $40/day to use. The only exception is for those who beat him there and set up their own stuff before he gets there. I got a pretty good spot and then went back to our room to do a little work while Jillian was in her continuing education classes downstairs. Afterwards we would both go down to the beach for several hours before we went somewhere in the evenings for dinner/entertainment. The beach stories are pretty much the same as when we're in Gulf Shores, so I'll post some pictures and then note some high points in our evenings from here on. (and in no particular order b/c I can't really remember what happened when)
I may be wrong but I believe the next two nights we were in basically the same place. We parked at the HarborWalk Village in Destin for a few minutes and walked around looking at what they had to offer, which wasn't a lot, but we were interested in trying Harry T's the next day during the first NFL game of the season. After we were done looking around we drove across the street to McGuire's Irish Pub. I had been to the location in Pensacola, but not this one. We split some artichoke dip and sheppard's pie, wrote "The McKelroy Family - Oct 12, 2013" (our wedding date) on a dollar bill, stapled it to the ceiling almost directly above one of their beer brewing boiler(?) and then went to check out their gift shop. Jillian ended up getting herself a nice Irish knot magnet for the fridge and we both got some nice t-shirts.
Harry T's was an enjoyable experience the following night. We showed up right in time for a game that ended up being delayed for about an hour and a half due to thunder storms in Denver. The Broncos were playing the Ravens to open up the season. Jillian is a Denver Bronco fan and luckily there weren't that many Ravens fans around to argue with. Inside Harry T's there is only communal seating and it was also EXTREMELY loud, so we grabbed the end of a table in the back corner were it wasn't quite so bad. I thought for a while we would end up being alone as the other tables filled in, but we weren't so lucky. Three drunk individuals ended up occupying the seats across from us. Deuteronomy Dan was the eldest; A proud ex-preacher turned war veteran. Dan was accompanied by his new wife (who I believe was partially deaf and step-son who was partially terrified to be out with these two in public). Dan reminded me a lot of my friend Kevin's step-father 'Pop'. Dan wasn't afraid to screw with you or say whatever he wanted. He was also somewhat full of bs that I felt comfortable calling him out on during our conversations. Deuteronomy Dan, as he was called as a radio preacher, definitely made our dining experience memorable. As he was leaving, he was kind enough to buy Jillian and I a round for our troubles. Side Note: Though I didn't get to watch much of the game b/c of Dan, we did get to see Denver (mostly Peyton Manning) put a hurting on the Ravens, so it was a good end to dinner.
Our last day at the beach we packed up early, I wrote a tripadvisor review of the hotel and then we went to the pool/beach deck area. I wish I had held off on my review b/c there was a deck nazi going around telling people there was a $400 fine for bottled drinks on the deck or beach and he was checking coolers. I personally thought it was a bit over the top. Before heading back home, we grabbed some lunch from the pool bar. Odd note: some guy came up to the bar dancing... and started dancing more the second I made eye contact. I shouldn't have laughed but I couldn't help it. I'm an enabler.
The drive back was a long three hours. It always is, especially coming back from a vacation of any distance. We did make a single gas stop on the way back and I bought some lotto tickets (forgot to mention that I also had some from New Orleans). I obviously didn't win with either pair.
Overall, a very good set of back to back trips.
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