At Monster Reservations Group, we are proud of and believe in our products; that’s why we send groups of team members to each of our destinations to discover and personally experience the best activities for you to enjoy while guests like yourself are vacationing there! In this chapter, we sent a team of four down to Destin, Florida, for a three-day vacation! Destin is known for its clean and beautiful beaches of soft sugar-white sand and emerald green waters, making it a popular vacation destination for beach-goers, and for its abundant fishing opportunities, seafood and as a hub for water sports like kayaking, paddle boarding, and parasailing! Additionally, Destin is home to numerous golf courses, shopping and dining options, and family-friendly attractions, making it a great getaway for our team members!
Day 1 in Destin
On our first day here in Destin, after getting off the plane, we were all very hungry, but it was 8:30 in the morning. This is when we found an amazing little restaurant named the Ruby Slipper. This restaurant, hands down, had some of the best brunches I have ever had in my lifetime, and I’ve had a lot of brunches. The menu items were all very unique in the sense that they had typical entrees like eggs Benedict and French toast, but with a delicious twist that made it extremely difficult to decide on any one item! Personally, I ordered the biscuits and gravy with sweet and hot fried chicken. It was absolutely phenomenal! They also featured brunch cocktails like mimosas and bellinis and brunch versions of other cocktails, like margaritas! Our server was also an absolute gem and gave us great recommendations for activities while in Destin. We all left very full and happy.
We then headed down to the Destin Harbor Boardwalk. This boardwalk is positively packed with so much to see and do! Since we had just gotten into town, we decided just to take a quick peek down the boardwalk and were certainly overwhelmed with the options! We stopped at the visitors center to get tips on the locals’ favorite spots, and we scored a coupon booklet for many of the restaurants and shops in the area! We immediately stopped into Margaritaville to redeem our free margarita coupons and converse with some of the locals who gave us many recommendations! Afterward, we headed to check into our property and relax in the hot tub for the evening after our long day of travels. We ordered dinner from a small, locally owned, Caribbean joint in the town known as Reggae Grille. If you eat here, the oxtail is an absolute must-try!
Day 2 in Destin
Day 2 may just be my favorite day of vacation! We woke up to nice weather and the promise of a very fun and exciting day. We made French toast and mimosas for breakfast and talked of the possibilities the day held for us. After breakfast, I headed out back to the pool area and watched the ducks hunt for breakfast in the pond and listened to the Orioles singing. It was so tranquil and relaxing I could have stayed there all day, but the day’s opportunities were waiting!
- Biking Down the Beach
We decided the next item on the agenda was taking a bike ride to the beach just down the road. When we arrived, we were absolutely amazed at how white and soft the sand was! We truly enjoyed walking the short sandy path to the beach and the beautiful water where we dipped our toes into the water, but that’s as far as we got – it turns out the water in Destin is a little nippy in January! We took some great pictures and basked in the glory of Destin’s beach for a while before heading back home. After arriving back home and having some lunch, we headed back to Destin Harbor Boardwalk to explore a bit more and attend an exciting Harbor Dolphin Cruise!
- Cruising with Dolphins
We descended down the wooden steps to the boardwalk and were immediately greeted by the bustle of the fishermen! With a turn of our heads adjacent to where we entered, we witnessed a fishing boat that had just come back with its rewarding haul. When I say rewarding, I mean rewarding! Imagine a huge pile of Red Snappers right on the dock; that’s what was right before us! Next, we took on The Harbor Walk, which is a great experience for anyone visiting Destin. We walked the length and visited a few shops before finding our boat, The Sunny Lady, a bright yellow, double-decker, glass-bottom boat with a lively crew who seemed just as excited to host us as we were to be on the boat! The sky became a bit overcast, but surprisingly, this provided some of the most beautiful sunset scenery I’ve ever witnessed. The clouds seemed almost lavender in color against the deep oranges and reds of the sunset. The water looked like a comforting mixture of green, blue, and gray, with the white caps of the waves; just a truly memorable sight! Shortly after our departure, the playful dolphins came out to enjoy theirselves! As we sailed through the picturesque scenery, the dolphins jumped and splashed and came to greet us while the gulls flew alongside our boat, asking for our chips. It was genuinely one of the best experiences, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
- Million Dollar Mcquire’s
After our incredible dolphin cruise, it was time to try one of the local restaurants! This particular evening we chose McGuire’s Irish Pub, and it was a phenomenal experience. McGuire’s is pretty hard to miss if you’re driving down the main road through Destin. It’s a pretty large building with the restaurant’s name on a big green neon light-up sign and a green, old-style, double-decker bus in front. It just looks like a fun place. Walking up to the restaurant, you can tell it’s a very popular place. I’m sure in the summer, the wait times get quite lengthy, considering there is a portable food truck-type trailer in front that will sell you drinks while you wait for your table. Upon entering the restaurant, the first thing you’ll probably notice is dollar bills – everywhere. Apparently, McGuire’s has over one million dollar bills stapled all over the restaurants from visitors from all over the place. We, of course, left one for Monster with all of our names on it! The atmosphere was incredible, and the food followed suit. The menu is very unique, featuring Irish dishes and dishes with an Irish twist, and even some old-timey courses like their Senate Bean Soup. This soup is the same recipe that they served in the US Senate for 18¢! McGuire’s has been selling this soup at the same price since 1977, an outstanding feat given today’s prices! Then it was time to head home for more hot tub relaxing before our last day in Destin!
Day 3 in Destin
On our last day in Destin, we definitely took it a little easier. We walked around the Destin Harbor Walk and visited McGuire’s gift shop one more time, then headed to Party Fowl for lunch. This place had amazing chicken and entertaining little plates that looked like simple paper plates. They also had portable boozy slushie bags you could buy to walk around with! It also seemed like they had a nice little outdoor area to sit in, but it was very rainy that day, so we opted for indoor seating. Everything we had here, from the drinks to the appetizers and entrees, was amazing. Clearly, the residents of Destin know what they’re doing when it comes to food! Unfortunately, this marked the end of our day three adventure, as we had a 4 am flight to catch the next morning. We headed back to the house for a few more drinks, reminiscing about how great our getaway in Destin had been and some much-needed sleep!
Have you ever been to Destin?
If you have never been to Destin, we highly recommend it! There are so many fun things to do here, even in the off-season. If any of what we did sounds interesting, it will be worth your time to visit. With clean, beautiful beaches, phenomenal food, and captivating experiences, there’s a lot to love about Destin. We barely scratched the surface, and you can bet you’ll catch us back there very soon.
Are you ready to book your vacation? Head to our website Monsterrg.com or call us at (844) 648-2229 to get your vacation package to Destin, Florida, where you can play with dolphins, eat amazing food, live it up on the beach and experience what truly makes this destination great!
When you get back from your vacation, we would love to hear all about it! Visit our social media pages to like, subscribe, and leave your story for all of us Monsters to read and enjoy!
