Gulf Shores or Destin vacation?

[melwe]

I've been considering a beach vacation during our fall break in October. DD has longed for a vacation to sit on the beach and collect seashells. DS is obsessed with any and all sandboxes, so a beach seems right up his alley!

I've heard nice things about Destin and Gulf Shores but am not familiar at all with these areas. I would like something within a day's drive, since it is a shorter break. These are both about an 11 hour drive for us. I am completely open to any ideas! Any ideas on destination, places to stay, and things to do would be great! Also weather-wise, how is October during this time? Thanks for any tips.

[Pinky]

I've been considering a beach vacation during our fall break in October. DD has longed for a vacation to sit on the beach and collect seashells. DS is obsessed with any and all sandboxes, so a beach seems right up his alley!

I've heard nice things about Destin and Gulf Shores but am not familiar at all with these areas. I would like something within a day's drive, since it is a shorter break. These are both about an 11 hour drive for us. I am completely open to any ideas! Any ideas on destination, places to stay, and things to do would be great! Also weather-wise, how is October during this time? Thanks for any tips.

We went to Pensacola last fall and loved it. We stayed in a hotel right on the beach.

[okinawama]

We love the quintessential beach town feel that some of the smaller towns like Grayton Beach, Rosemary Beach or Watercolor beach (all of which are fairly close to Destin) offer. We've used VRBO and found some beautiful condos for a reasonable price.

[melwe]

Thanks! We have used VRBO before once. It was okay, but we were kind of in a hurry to make reservation last time. The condo was in a great location, but the inside was just okay. I will know to be a little more selective this time.

[candaceb]

A facebook friend goes to Rosemary Beach every summer and I always drool over her photos.

[AngB]

DH's work is based in Pensacola so we have stayed there for free, but it was in Feb. and my kids were only 2 yo and 6 months at the time. It's nice for hanging out on the beach, and gorgeous, but there wasn't a ton to do. My friend with similar aged kids went to Gulf Shores the following summer and it seemed like they had a lot more to do.

[cellenly]

We love the quintessential beach town feel that some of the smaller towns like Grayton Beach, Rosemary Beach or Watercolor beach (all of which are fairly close to Destin) offer. We've used VRBO and found some beautiful condos for a reasonable price.

I've never been, but repeatedly the above have been recommended to me. Specifically there's been a lot of enthusiasm with Watercolor inn & resort (http://watercolorresort.com) and any place in the town of Seaside - do a google images search for seaside, fl and you'll know what I mean by it's the quintessential beach town.

We also know friends who go to St. George Island which is further down. It's very quiet there if that's what you want.

I also hear that bay side of Sandestin Resort has nice evening activities.

[jam224]

Any ideas on destination, places to stay, and things to do would be great! Also weather-wise, how is October during this time? Thanks for any tips.

We vacationed at Okaloosa Island (6 miles from Destin) 2 years ago. We rented a condo at Sunset Cottages for a week and it was a nice location. Very close to the beach! I was amazed at how clean and soft the sand is there! DD was 2yo at the time and going to the beach was honestly her favorite thing to do. We didn't do much sightseeing other than that. We had dinner one evening at McGuire's Irish Pub, which I enjoyed. It's kind of tourist-y, but that's ok. Definitely kid appropriate. They brew their own root beer, which was delicious, and I also recommend getting the 18 cent bean soup! Oh, and we did visit the Gulfarium (https://www.gulfarium.com/), which we also enjoyed. The dolphin show was the highlight of the day. For more things to do, you can check out this website: http://emeraldcoastfl.com/ and you can request a visitor's guide here: http://emeraldcoastfl.com/travel-too...ors-guide.aspx. Weather wise, the temps still look nice! Here are their monthly averages: http://www.destinchamber.com/visit/a...tatistics.aspx.