Beach Bound...Days 1 and 2

We decided we needed a vacation!  We really wanted to go to the beach just the five of us.  We first thought about going to the Outer Banks, but after talking with some friends, we decided we would go with their suggestion of the Destin, Florida area.  We found a perfect little condo on Okaloosa Island.

Leaving Ohio!

We left Friday to drive about 7-8 hours to Calera, Alabama, just south of Birmingham.  We were just getting into the Nashville area and decided to message a friend of Pat's from high school who recently moved to Nashville.  We wanted to stop in town for some real southern BBQ.  Not only did Jean make a suggestion...she and her husband and son met us for a few of hours and gave us a little tour of the 12 South area of Nashville.

Friends Lance and Jean with their son, Cash

We ate lunch at Edley's Bar-B-Que...it was delicious!  We walked a few blocks to a park to burn some energy and then had some homemade popsicles at Las Paletas...yum!  We finished our stop with a tour of Jean's home and then got back on the road.

On the road again...our stop in Nashville was just what Noah needed!

We got up early this morning and finished our trek to Okaloosa Island.  The view from our condo is awesome!  The kids were SO excited to finally be at the beach!  Leah was at the beach when she was one, but it was the first time for the boys.  It didn't take long to get into our swimming suits and head outside.

The water is like bath water and the sand is so white and fine it reminds me of flour.  We had a fantastic afternoon of jumping in the waves, digging in the sand and splashing in the pool.

After dinner we headed out to see what is around the area.  We found a boardwalk area down the street from our condo and we drove the 5 miles to Destin.  We saw another boardwalk area and stopped for some ice cream.  We finished up our first day flying a kite!  Can't wait to see what the rest of the week will bring!