I mentioned in a past post that we went to Miramar Beach near Destin, but I didn't do a post about it because life got busy. Well, earlier this month we went back with my parents and sister! Kenny is definitely a little water baby. We stayed at a timeshare at Majestic Sun, which was just a short walk to the beach.
I will say this... I'm not a beach person. A couple of hours of beach time for like two days is enough for me! I like trips planned around food, sights, nature, museums, culture... and I'm prone to a sunburn if I'm not careful. So both last year and this year, I wasn't overly excited at the prospect of a sandy baby and the beach... and both times I was ultimately happy that we went.
I think the trick has been to follow Kenny's lead on the beach. We generally stuck to his feeding times and naptimes (last year, I was still nursing, so we nursed on the beach) and he was a happy camper. This year, since he's down to one daily nap, we would do the beach in the morning, head to lunch, nap in the afternoon, then decide how we wanted to spend the rest of the day. The nice thing about Miramar Beach is that the sand is pretty soft, and the water can be pretty warm and gentle. We've been able to let Kenny play near the water (supervised, of course) and he can get into the wet sand and stay cool.
A few of the spots we ate that were worth visiting... Grimaldi's for pizza, the Surf Hut and Pompano Joe's for seafood, and Fat Clemenza's for Italian! All of them were kid-friendly, with great service.
Am I converted to a beach bum? Not quite... I still love a swimming pool over salt water. But because it makes Dan and Kenny happy, I'm content to go every so often, so long as we can eat good food and see some sights in addition to sand!
Here are a few throwback photos to last year's framily trip to the same beach. Look how Kenny has grown! We were in a rental house just down the street from the condo where we stayed this year.
What's your favorite family-friendly beach destination?