On To Destin, Florida

From Mobile I drove to Destin, Florida.  I had assumed that Destin was a sleepy little place with isolated beaches, probably from some novel I had read.  It must have been an old novel.  Destin is a buzzing, fun, very well developed area for about 15 miles along the gulf coast.  I was staying at the Wyndham Bay Club II in Sandestin, a resort community.  It had three golf courses, and my goal for the week was to enjoy some golf and hit the beach.  I played 5 rounds of golf, and after the frustration of the courses of the Robert Trent Golf Trail in Alabama, while these courses had their challenges, I started playing better, especially after my second round.

The Links course in Sandestin resort was not in tip-top condition.  It had recently been plugged and the greens were a bit sandy and bumpy.  But the course is beautiful, with a number of challenging holes with water on both sides.  I really enjoyed looking at the turtles on the lagoon side of things, poking their little heads out of the water, and then scurrying away if anyone came near.  I then played the Baytowne course a couple of times, and loved it.  Beautiful course, smooth greens, and I played well.  These courses wind through the resort, with longleaf pine woods and a lagoon system throughout.

On the beach side, the weather was pretty hot with a very high humidity, so I had to limit my beach time a little.  But the water was blue, and the sand there is really sugar fine white.  Everyone was talking about the oil.  I was there May 22-29, so no oil had arrived.  The Gulf of Mexico apparently drops off quickly not very far out, so deep water fishing is a major tourist draw here.  I was hanging by the docks one day and got to see it when someone unloaded a shark they had caught off one of the day charters.  Even now (writing about a month later) the beaches at Destin have been spared.  Here's how it looks:

I really enjoyed Destin.  While it's a very busy place, it is also very convenient, with all the restaurants and services one might want.  Inside the resort, it was quiet and lovely.  I did some running in the mornings before it got too hot, but also spent some time in my room as respite when I'd been out a lot.  I'd really like to go back to Destin again.