The Journey
Wichita Falls, TX
I started my journey on April 1st! A fitting beginning! I got as far as Wichita Falls, TX the first night, which was ok. I opted to pay the extra $10 at a local hotel & get a jetted tub! That was fabulous! I was told that this picture pretty much sums me up. True!
I left at the crack of dawn, so I only saw the falls in the dawn light, but they looked very nice. It was a cool town.. I mean.. it was in Texas.
Pensacola, FL
The next day, I drove through TX, LA, MI (crossing the Mississippi is always impressive), then through AL and ended up in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Gulf Breeze is a peninsula (ish) in between Pensacola, and Pensacola Beach, another peninsula (sorta). So you get to drive through Pensacola, go over a very cool long bridge, then Gulf Breeze, then over another very long cool bridge which puts you in Pensacola Beach. I am from NM. Water and bridges are just plain cool. The roads are right next to the water! It looks like a big wave would flood them, and well.. I guess they do! Its a beautiful area, I got there at dusk, and had coffee on the beach the next morning.
I was at Pensacola Beach early in the morning, and the clouds were rolling in, so the place was deserted, windy and cold. It looks like a pretty hoppin’ place, I’m sure its packed for spring break and summer.
From there, I drove down the scenic highway 399 through miles and miles and miles of vacation homes. The Gulf Islands National Seashore sounded really cool, except the speed limit is 25mph because the birds are nesting. It was a very cool spot. When I got back to the ‘mainland’ (kinda), I drove through several beach towns all along the shore. More cool bridges and finally Destin. I have heard a lot about this place so I really wanted to check it out. I stopped at the McDonalds in Destin to feed my ice tea addiction and at that point, saw a message from work about something that really needed to be handled asap. McDonalds does have free WIFI, but this one did NOT have any power outlets. So after spending an hour in the parking lot working, it was time to move on. My original plan was to drive the entire Florida coastline, but that would have taken 2-3 additional hours. I used the work emergency as an excuse to get back on the interstate and find a hotel for the night. Maybe I should get a car charger for my laptop! I’m sure I’ll learn more working on the road lessons as I go.
I ended up in Alachua, FL. Not really much to say about this except its right outside of Gainesville and has cheap hotels. I was ready to be out of the car at this point, so I happily checked in with work and chilled out in the room.
I think it’s ironic that you found Destin (FL) to be an anticipated Destin(ation) until you saw your message from work. But you got to spend some time there. It was your Destin(y) (sort of).