Written by Jaiden Arada, Converge multimedia journalism intern and Senior at Cherokee Bluff High School
My family is known for taking beach vacations. There was one year where we took five in one year! There is something at the beach for all of us to enjoy and we love spending time together at our favorite spot. We normally wake up to eat breakfast at a restaurant, set up on the beach, and eat dinner after the sun sets. This last beach trip was really special to me because of the way we did it.
Our trip was over Labor Day weekend. We left on a Friday at noon and drove to Destin, Florida. My dad loves the Gulf of Mexico, so we usually stay on that specific coastline. We drove down listening to my “Road Trip Playlist” on my cell phone. When we got there, we stayed at this beautiful house in this smaller neighborhood. It was a big house because we were staying with three other families. My dad’s friends and their families vacation with us pretty frequently. We got to the house and immediately jumped into the pool. They had a really nice patio with a pool and a hot tub. It was the perfect getaway!
Our next thing we needed was food. To be safe and because most restaurants had a wait, we DoorDashed our food to the house. Although this is typically a longer process, we got to wait for our food in the comforts of the house we were staying in. We caught up on a little bit of television just before we went to sleep.
We woke up the next morning and went to our favorite breakfast place on all of 30A. It is called the Perfect Pig. The breakfast place has everything there made from scratch. They always have hot and fresh pastries every morning. Their gooey chocolate chip cookie just melts in your mouth. Pastries are not even what they are known for. Their best food item in my opinion is their grits. They use a lot of butter and the cheese blends perfectly with the grits. They are by far the best grits I have ever had. Every time we are on the 30A coastline, we eat at the Perfect Pig, no matter how far away we are. It was a great way to start our morning.
The next thing we do is set up the beach tent. We have a tent and a beach chair for every person there. We walk about half a mile to the beach with most of our beach belongings set up. We choose a spot that is not too far from the beach but not so close to where we are in someone’s way. From there, it is peak relaxation. We stayed there for about eight hours, munching on snacks and talking amongst ourselves.
We packed up, headed back to the beach house, and order food. We watched the Georgia vs. Clemson football game and we were victorious. It was a great way to end the night and spend time with the people with us.
The next day was pretty much the same thing and then we traveled back home. Although it was a short trip, it was just the right amount of time we needed. We got a good amount of beach time right after school had started. Overall, I would definitely go back and do it all over again. If you are looking for the perfect beach destination, Destin is definitely a considerable option!
