Destin - 2016 Last Day in the Florida panhandle

Today was a great day.  No rush to do anything.  First important item was the mad dash across highway 98 for coffee and some waffles.  That's the last time for that mad dash.  Sat around watching the waves and getting caught up with items on our computers.  Then we headed west on the beach in front of our condo.  It was a gray day and we could see rain in the distance.  The sun did pop out for awhile on this walk.  I had not seen any seashells until this morning so had to gather a few of those.  As we headed back to the condo, we saw dolphins playing in the distance.  Could we see them very well, no.  But they were definitely dolphin and there were at least 2 of them as we saw two fins come up in quick order.  I was thrilled.  It would have been nicer to be closer but I was glad to see them at all.

We cleaned up and decided to take a drive out along CR30-A.  I don't know exactly how to explain this but it follows the coast much closer than Highway 98.  We came upon small towns/villages with very unique homes and stores.  I am going to post some photos of this area.

It is obvious which house has been there the longest.  The one behind is newer and also taller so they can still see the gulf.

Same house as above but another house has been added just a bit further down the road.  It is taller yet.

Across the street, taller yet.  I loved them all.

Another small village further down the road.  This reminds me of the food truck festivals we have in our area.  All of the food vendors were set up in Airstream (I think) trailers.  

Some of the villages had artist colonies.  All of them had access to the gulf shore.  There was a bicycle path that followed CR30-A the entire distance.  Lots of bicyclists as well as pedestrians.  Many pedestrians were walking dogs.  None of the bicyclists that we saw were in a rush.  Just taking leisurely rides along the path.  I think if I were to come to this area for a period of time, I would chose a place to rent along this stretch of road.  Not quite as touristy as Destin yet it looked like a delightful place to be for a month or so.

After our short road trip we headed back to Fort Walton Beach to eat at a restaurant that my daughter had recommended, Angler's.  I understand why she enjoys eating there.  You can sit on the deck and see your child playing on the swings or in the sand.  It was so relaxing.  We sat on the deck and enjoyed the view of the gulf.  We will miss it when we head out in the morning.  I love the sound it makes.  The gulf has been green instead of acqua.  It is gorgeous.  You can see the sand through the water.  Karen, Diane, and Rod apologized that the water wasn't as blue as usual but I have no complaints.  It was gorgeous.  By the way, I had my last shrimp for lunch.  I chose to have it boiled and served cold.  Delicious.  They were seasoned with a spice that had some bite.  They were great.

We had been told several times we needed to get to Banana Bart's.  It was closed yesterday so stopped by on our way back to the condo.  Thank goodness it was open this time.

It is hard to imagine the number of items that are in this small building.  Yes, we bought a couple of things.

Both the photos below were taken outside of Banana Bart's.  One looking east and one looking west.

It did rain today but it did not stop us from doing everything we wanted.  In the morning we will be heading north.