the cautions with vacation rentals is that you oftentimes have to pay a security deposit to reserve

At the beginning of July, we took a family trip with my parents and siblings to Fort Walton Beach, FL. It was so fun to get away with more extended family that we don t get to see too often anymore. We had such a good time even though it ended up raining most of the time we were there, which did make us grateful for having good accommodations! We picked this destination because we could all drive there in a reasonable amount of time and save money on airfare. We also heard the beach was beautiful and the weather was fantastic. Although travel agency online it stormed the last half of our trip, I definitely think that is extremely travel agency online rare for this location, so don t let our experience deter you!
We stayed at Destin West Beach Bay Resort . Each unit has its own owner and you rent specifically from them through a realty company. We like this aspect because oftentimes the owners live part of the year there, so you know they re going to take good care of the place! You ll want to see pictures of your specific travel agency online unit though to be sure it s what you re looking for. Our particular unit was gorgeous and so spacious! There are two sections of the hotel right across the street from each other. One side is on the gulf, right on the beach. And the other side is on the bay, but it s connected by a walking bridge travel agency online which leads right to the beach. We stayed on the bay side and were glad about it. The view off of our patio overlooking the bay was beautiful and we saved a bit of money too. And the walk was really not so bad.
They had such fun pools included in the resort! There s a lazy river, which we used not only on the sunny days, but also when it was sprinkling too. Little Piñata loved it! We brought a little blow-up raft and he relaxed down the lazy river with us and loved seeing family pop up and down out of the water right in front of him.
They also had a splash pad for little travel agency online kids, which was SO fun! We went first thing in the morning when there weren t other kids there and Little Piñata loved running around and feeling the water come out of all the different spouts. They had a little toddler area too, which was perfect for him. My mom went with him in the bigger splash areas, which made him feel more courageous. :)
The beach was beautiful too! There were pretty good waves, which was good for boogie boarding. However, it was quite packed. Other than the weather I would say that was the only downside to the trip. On the nice days you definitely sat very close to your beach neighbors. I don t think it helped that we went on the week of July 4th, the busiest travel week of the year. Hopefully it would be less packed during other summer weeks.
On one of the rainy days we took Little Piñata to The Gulfarium  about a block from our hotel. It was very similar to an aquarium, but mostly outside. travel agency online There were awnings over most everything though. It was a great way to spend a few hours on a rainy day, but it was expensive! Thankfully Little Piñata got in for free, since adult tickets were $20 each.
It was pretty fun, but especially for us to see LP s reactions to the animals. He absolutely squealed at the dolphins, which was so cute! He got super excited about them, which made it worth it for us. But, I will say, that if it had been sunny, I would have much rather been at the beach!
Another fun thing you might find when it s storming half of your vacation is a cheap place to get drinks. :)  Fudpuckers (That s right. Not Fuddruckers) was the restaurant right next door to us and they had good pizza, seafood, American fare, etc. But, the best part was they also had $3 specialty martinis all day long so it was a fun place to go for 4th of July dinner. We went to the very back room where there was live music and our family got two long picnic tables to share, which was fun. If we ever visit Fort Walton Beach again, we ll definitely visit Fudpuckers again.
1. Don t put the widest carseat you have in the middle backseat of your compact car and think there will be enough room for you on the side. This space will seem increasingly smaller as the 7 hours pass by.
4. Just because you put 50+SPF sunscreen on your child doesn t mean it is on you too. Be sure to use a high SPF sunscreen on yourself the first day. Otherwise you just might get a bad sunburn on your first day on the beach.
2. If you have an ipad or other tablet, use it to watch downloaded tv shows and videos in the car. There s a series of episodes of Sesame Street that s free on iTunes called Learn Along with Sesame that helped us a lot along the drive!
travel agency online 3. Bring along sand toys and a decent beach umbrella so your LO can play on the beach for an extended period of time and you re not worried about them getting too much sun. We got a bargain set for just about $15 for both, but they suited our needs just fine for the trip. Although I would recommend getting something sturdier if you want it for the long run for future trips.
6. Be flexible with your schedule for the week. Anticipate poor naps and bad night sleeping. Try to get your LO the sleep that he or she needs, but also have fun and stay at the beach a little longer if everyone is having a good time. Kids needs to learn flexibility too, right? :-)
Great post! We went to Destin for the first time in March when LO was 7 mos. We had a great time and I completely agree with packing light and staying in a place with a kitchen and laundry. This made life so much easier! The weather wasn t great for us but we would love to go back in the warmer months as the beach and area were really nice.
condos and vacation rentals travel agency online by owners are definitely the way to go when you have kids and oftentimes the price is way better than what you would find through a hotel chain. i love the convenience of a full kitchen, laundry facilities onsite (even better if it s in the unit), oftentimes a vacation rental has more space, and several of the rentals we stayed at came equipped with baby gear (portable travel agency online crib, high chair, travel agency online toys). If we stay at a house, we usually rent a car so car parking is a need (esp if parking is $$ in the area), or if we stay at a condo, elevator is a need.
the cautions with vacation rentals is that you oftentimes have to pay a security deposit to reserve the place, travel agency online and the then a cleaning fee + full amount paid before arrival, with oftentimes travel agency online very stringent travel agency online cancellation policies, or some don t take credit card, and of course, have to be careful and do your due diligence that the ad isn t fraudulent or a scam. in your case, since you rented through a realty company, that takes the worry out of it.
love your tips of traveling with the little ones, we learned the hard way of driving past naptimes, and getting to our destination just before midnight, we must have stayed up 2 more hours trying to get her to sleep in a strange place at such a late hour. pffffft live and learn :) i would also add if your LO isn t used to sleeping in the same room as you, to put up a faux partition travel agency online if possible so LO can t see you, we used chairs and a table, draping towels over it.