Gulfarium // Vacation Day 5

On day 5 of our vacation, we drove back to Fort Walton Beach to check out the Gulfarium. First we stopped at the Donut Hole Bakery and Cafe in Destin to grab breakfast.

We had driven by this cafe several times earlier in the week and there was always a long line that extended out into the parking lot. We hoped that a mid-week visit would mean not having to wait.

This ended up being another excellent suggestion by my sister's mother-in-law. Our mid week choice allowed us to get right in (that and the fact that Jack no longer sits in a high chair!). Daniel ordered the chocolate chip pancakes and I ordered the western omelette (we like to share our plates, so everyone gets a taste of everything). It was all really good. My only regret was that we didn't try a donut!

Our biggest dislike of this eatery was the process for paying the bill... you have to wait in line with everyone who is there to purchase donuts from the counter. Which means it takes forever to leave. But it was great food and worth the stop.

Visiting Gulfarium in the off season was another good decision. There were no lines to see the animals and we had great seats for both the dolphin and sea lion shows.

General admission is $19.95 for adults and $11.95 for age 3-12. Jack was under age 3 so he got in FREE. 

We stayed about 3 hours and really enjoyed the shows. I think it was worth the price. 

They also offer additional packages that allow you to have more interaction with the animals – you can swim with dolphins among other things. But Jack is too young for this type of experience. I think it would be fun to do some day.

We really liked that Gulfarium was on the small side and didn't feel overly commercialized. 

This probably has to do with the fact that it was built in the 1950s. 

We had a great time seeing all of the animals and I even picked up our souvenir Christmas ornament* in the gift shop.

The rest of our day was pretty low key. Jack crashed in the car on the way home. 

Thankfully we were able to transplant him directly to his pack-n-play... he must have been really worn out because he proceeded to sleep for over THREE hours!

After naps, we headed out to eat at Don Pedro's Cantina for supper. 

It was located a few blocks from our condo and had good ratings as a local Mexican restaurant. It was pretty good. Daniel wasn't that hungry so he just had a burrito while I ordered the Fish Tacos and a fruity margarita. I thought it was all tasty, but we both thought the chips were a bit stale.

After we ate we wandered over to the outlet mall where we picked up a few things for Jack. Another fun day in the books for the Moore's Florida vacation. 

*Harborwalk Village was the only other place in this area that we saw souvenir Christmas ornaments and they were pretty generic.

2013 Florida Vacation Recaps: Day 1 // Days 2-3 // Day 4 // Day 5 // Day 6 

Friends on Vacation // Vacation Day 4

We had been planning for awhile to go to the Destin area for the week after Labor Day, so we were excited to discover that our friends, The Reynolds, would be vacationing there that same week. They were a bit farther along than us in the planning stages and already had a place to stay at the Waterscape Condos on Okaloosa Island. As the dates of our vacation approached, we attempted to find a rental at this location but they didn't have any that permitted dogs. So we found a condo that fit our needs in Miramar Beach instead.

Since we are used to driving so much, it didn't bother us that we were staying 20 minutes away from our friends and we were thrilled to be able to meet up on two different days of our vacation.

Our first outing to see our friends was an invite to visit their condo's pool. They scored us the appropriate wrist bands and we went over in the morning. Unfortunately in our rush out the door, we left our cooler with drinks and snacks at home! Oops.

First up was the kiddie pool. Jack had a blast with Sadie and Charlotte on the slide. I think those kids could have done the slide all day. When the pool started to get crowded with more little kids, we moved on to the bigger pool so that the big kids could have some fun.

The big pool had a series of floating lily pads that you could try to walk across with a rope ladder hanging above to help you balance. Andrew and Sadie showed off their skills at this challenge.

Daniel attempted the lily pads but couldn't get close to standing or sitting on one of them!

Jack was also interested in joining the big kids, but he needs a few years before he will be even remotely capable to do this.

After the big pool, we went down to the lazy river and enjoyed floating and visiting. Jack was starting to get fussy. Cutting a tooth on vacation is never fun. Courtney got him some medicine and he started to feel a bit better.

Chris grilled hot dogs for lunch and then an ominous storm cloud rolled in. Thankfully it never did rain. in fact, we actually made it through the entire vacation without rain!

After lunch Jack was starting to lose it, so we called it a day and drove back to our condo. Daniel sat in the back to make sure Jack stayed awake. We wanted him to have a good nap! Thankfully he made it home and crashed as soon as I laid him down.

We have been told that vacationing with kids is not a vacation, but at this age, it worked out pretty well for us. This is the most "restful" vacation Daniel and I have ever had – probably because it included forced naps! We are normally just go go go doing activities, but with Jack we can only go so much.

After naps (and reading), I did a quick grocery run. On my way out of the parking lot, I realized that my window wasn't working properly. It was stuck part way down. This meant that Daniel had to take the driver's door apart in the parking lot and fix it before we could do anything else.

My view.

Daniel's view.

After he fixed it, we decided to bike to Pompano Joe's for dinner. It was just down the street from our condo and had a great view of the ocean (and good online reviews).

When we arrived there was a 20 minute wait to eat out on the porch.

We decided it was worth the wait. We put our names on the list and wandered down to the beach. 

This was the first time Jack willingly stuck his feet in the water and wasn't bothered by the sand.

We hurried back in time to hear "last call for Moore, party of three."

I ran barefoot all the way to the hostess sand while Daniel trailed behind with Jack and our shoes.

Pompano Joe's was by far my favorite meal of the week. And we were sitting out on a porch with no distractions, just us, the breeze from the water and a gorgeous view. The food was excellent.

I tried the PJs Platter while Daniel had the Tuna and Strawberry Fields Salad (Jack ate a bit of everything). We finished the night by splitting a slice of fresh Keylime Pie. The entire meal was delicious.

After dinner we decided to ride a bit further. We ended up riding 4 miles. In the dark. Miramar Beach felt exceptionally safe and there was no traffic at 8pm. We really loved this area of beach.

2013 Florida Vacation Recaps: Day 1 // Days 2-3 // Day 4 // Day 5 // Day 6 

The Ocean, Fireworks and a Bike Ride // Vacation Days 2-3

Sunday we drove to Fort Walton Beach for church. As we were leaving we ran into one of my college friends, which was a nice surprise. For lunch we went to Tijuana Flats (where my friend, and her family, also happened to be eating lunch). We decided that we had made a good choice since a local family was eating there... even if the decor was a bit psychedelic.

The food was great. I had the chimichanga and Jack and Daniel split a quessadilla. We skipped on the hot sauce (which they are evidently known for).

After lunch we drove around to give Jack a chance to nap in the car since it was 30 minutes back to our condo. This was a good decision since Jack seemed to be fairly well rested when we arrived at the condo. After a quick change of clothes, Jack and I jumped in the pool while Daniel took Sophie for a walk.

Jack was giddy about getting in the water and even got used to trusting me to float him out to the deeper water where he noticed some big kids jumping in. Which prompted him to ask if he could "jump." So I took him to the side and held his hands while he said, "ready?" and then jumped into my arms.

When Daniel came back from his walk we went down to the beach. Jack was leery about the waves but seemed okay if we held him while the waves crashed into his back. I think it was a good first experiences, but the verdict is out on whether or not he actually enjoyed it. He wasn't a big fan of sand between his toes at this time either.

After we got cleaned up we headed to Destin to eat at the Hog's Breath Saloon – which was a great recommendation from my sister's mother-in-law. The wait was too long for outdoor seating, so we opted to sit inside. We split a large platter of barbeque between the three of us. It was pretty tasty.

After eating, we drove less than two miles to Harborwalk Village. It took a ridiculous amount of time to drive that far. Traffic in Destin is crazy – especially on a holiday weekend. We were thankful that we were staying far away from the traffic in Miramar Beach.

At Harborwalk, we listened to the end of the live music show and secured a spot on the pier so that we could watch the Labor Day fireworks. The display lasted about 15 minutes and Jack had fun (as long as he was sitting in one of laps). He kept pointing at the sky and clapped when it was over. We were out kind of late to watch the fireworks, but you get to break bedtime rules on vacation, right?

Monday morning we were lazy, taking our time eating breakfast on our balcony before loading up to go ride our bikes at Topsail Hill State Park.

When we arrived at Topsail, we were informed that it was one mile down to the beach. That was not a problem since we had our bikes.

We rode down to the boardwalk and then out to the beach. 

The sand was really soft and not really bike-able (like the beaches at Hilton Head that we are used to), so we rode back inland on the nature trails.

I was a bit nervous about alligators – we were in Florida after all. We made it to a lake with a bench and decided that was a good spot to take a water break and let Jack roam around a bit (not near the water though!).

As we were leaving, Daniel saw a sign that said: Alligators, no swimming. I was right to be nervous. Thankfully we didn't see any.

We stopped biking around the 5-mile mark because Jack was getting fussy and it was hot and humid. We went back to the condo to eat lunch and take naps and read.

After naps, we went down to the ocean to see if Jack would enjoy the water more with a floaty. He had fun riding the waves but I think he was still a bit intimidated by the water.

That night we went to Jordano's for dinner. Daniel said it had really good reviews, but when we pulled up I was tempted to say he must be wrong. Buildings (like people) should not be judged by their exteriors. This was hands down one of the best pizzas I have ever had. We ordered the 14" Jordano Deluxe and it was way too much pizza for our family. We definitely recommend this pizza shop if you are in the area. Don't be put off by the building.

2013 Florida Vacation Recaps: Day 1 // Days 2-3 // Day 4 // Day 5 // Day 6