I'm going to lump our trip's Tuesday and Wednesday together in today's post, because we kept both days very low-key!
After walking 25,000 steps per day on Sunday and Monday, our feet and legs were tired, and we were ready for a break.
Our plan for Tuesday was to hike in Grayton Beach State Park, but a whole third day of hiking around didn't sound restful to us at that point. Alas, we never made it back to Grayton Beach, so we'll have to do that some other time, I guess!
Tuesday morning, Ryan went down the road to Parlor Doughnuts to get us some treats! We had tried stopping here on our way home from the state park adventures on Monday night, but they had JUST closed for the day. (I misread the site and thought they were open later.) This is a franchise, and the original is in Indiana! These were some GOOD donuts, and no we did not eat them all at once. :) I just wanted to sit in my jammies and drink coffee, so Ryan did this run alone, but he documented it so well!
Partway through the morning, we walked around the condo area and explored some of the far reaches of it - and we checked out the pool. They weren't heated, and it was just not quite warm enough in our opinion to swim with the temps as low as they were and the water not being heated. But they were pretty pools!
As you might have seen in an earlier picture, our Airbnb was in a high-rise building, and there were actually two buildings that I thought were identical. It turns out that they're similar in the housing layouts, but the lobby areas were different. The other building had a restaurant in it, and you could get a discount if you were a guest or resident of either building. So we ordered a pizza!
It was really yummy, and we ate on the balcony. (The photo of me with my piece didn't turn out, but we didn't realize it til later. So just imagine that I'm also eating.
After lunch, we spent the rest of the day watching movies, reading, napping, and having the nicest day!
We watched the sunset from our balcony, and it was so lovely.
Not lovely? The next morning, when we woke up to storms!
Ryan ended up going down to the fitness center for a bit, and while he was in there, he heard some guys talking about a great BBQ place - Chipper's BBQ - in Destin. He decided he wanted to try it, so that's where we went for lunch. The food was so good, and I do believe it was some of the best mac and cheese I've ever had.
As you can see from the restaurant picture above, the storms actually cleared up before lunch (they were supposed to last all day) and the rest of the day was so pretty! So after we ate, we window-shopped at some stores, and then we went to one of the other places I'd found that I thought Ryan would really like: Gator Beach!
It's a restaurant that has live alligators. You can feed them and even hold a baby one to get pictures with it. We learned that because the weather is getting colder, they are actually entering their dormant phase, and they aren't super interested in eating. Ryan did try to feed them, and a couple did eat, but they didn't attack/snap like I thought they might. We had the place to ourselves the whole time, so the guys were really good to give us all the info we wanted and even some extra food for the feeding adventure. Ryan wanted to hold one of the alligators. They do a souvenir picture for you (and I did sneak in and out so quickly for that) but the rest of the time, I stayed far away. They don't let you take your own pictures holding the alligator, but because it was a slow day with no one else there, the guy said I could take more of my own. Didn't have to tell me twice!
The gator Ryan is holding is 2 years old. They told us that they grow about a foot a year and once they reach 6 feet/adulthood, they are transferred to a larger place so they don't eat each other in this space. We also learned they never stop growing throughout their lives, but they slow down on the growth after they turn six.
When we got back to the condo, it was about time for sunset again, so we wandered down to see what was happening on the beach! What was happening was the sand sculptor was there finishing up another masterpiece, and we got to meet him. He was the nicest, most down-to-earth guy, and we had a great time talking with him. (All my pictures in this set loaded in reverse order. Sorry!)
Dan, the sand sculptor, talked to us about what he does and how he makes the sculptures. Fascinating to see. Here is his website if you want to see more about what he makes and the classes he offers!
Our last adventure for that day was going to a movie! We found a gift card we've had since before the pandemic, and there was actually something playing that we wanted to see, so we went to the movies! We saw Ticket to Paradise with Julia Roberts and George Clooney. They are two of my favorites!
2 comments:
Those Gator pictures are so awesome!!!
What a nice set of days and holy gators!!
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