Anyone ever been to Destin, Florida, with kids? Leaving tomorrow. In the past week, several people (not board members) have cheerfully informed me that it's "trashy."

Yes, we had our baseball tournament down there over spring break. It is interesting. It looks like a place that is starting to go upscale, but it still has that old Florida feel, like a Cocoa Beach.

I was pleasant surprised how much we liked it.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I liked Cocoa Beach when we went 3 years ago...but I also realized that if I had spend any more than the 4 days we were there, I would've lost my goddamn mind.

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I haven't been to Cocoa Beach in a while, but it is a contrast to places like Naples or Palm Beach. There is a distinct old Florida feel to it especially if you get away from the main drags. Now Destin is basically Alabama/Georgia, so you have a deep south feel to parts of it.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

We went last July, there are more upscale beaches you can hit but we thought it was great. Parking can be an issue on the free beachs and they can be massively crowded, especially right now as people get in one last trip before school.

I like Henderson Beach state park quite a bit. you pay 15 bucks to get in for the day but that cut the crowd immensely. And I'm guessing "trashy" folk aren't paying 15 bucks to park, win/win.

If you have a car, the hot beach people by us talk about is Rosemary Beach, 15 miles away.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. before you book a hotel go to ebay and see if there are any private parties selling off time share weeks at the same hotel. You can save 50%.

Last year we went to Le Blanc in Cancun, top rated adults only all inclusive in the Carribean. Going through the hotel it would've cost $7000 for the week. Went to ebay and found 2 diamond members of the hotel selling off weeks they had already pre-paid for as part of their membership. Ended up getting the same thing for half the price, $3600. And since the guy was a Diamond member we got to use all his perks while we were there like free tours etc.

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Ah, thanks, appreciate it! We read about Henderson and I'm glad to hear you confirm what I read. I'll check out Rosemary Beach as well; I heard the area was beautiful. Again, appreciate it!

I don't necessarily mind "trashy" people--I'm from St. Bede's parish and I'm 3/4 Irish, for Christ's sake--but the people asking me for drugs on the beach in front of my kids or the morons putting out their cigarettes in the pool I could do without.