5 Vacation Highlights: 30A, Steak & Cake, Yoga and More!

It was so nice to receive your positive feedback on yesterday’s post. I didn’t intend to write it. I actually sat down to write a normal post recapping what I was doing on vacation and then the words just started flowing. I think that’s exactly why that post worked though. It wasn’t planned but instead more “stream of conscious” style writing. Regardless, y’all are awesome and thank you for opening up and sharing with me and each other. We are all a work in progress.

I’m home but let’s relive my last couple of days of vacation because that’s more interesting than work, work, work! (Although it was so nice to get back to the gym yesterday afternoon and see everyone and teach classes!). Here are the highlights.

1. The Destin Seafood Festival.

My mom and I ventured out to the Destin Seafood Festival on Saturday. It’s a three-day festival that takes place along the boardwalk on Destin Harbor. It features a variety of arts and crafts vendors, live music and lots of tasty food. Over 60,000 people attended this year’s 34th annual festival. We went late afternoon and enjoyed walking up and down the boardwalk checking out not only the attractions but also all of the boats.

We kind of grazed our way through. We started with a spicy bowl of seafood gumbo when we arrived.

I was amazed by the abundance of fried food. You name it, they fried it. We skipped out on this in favor of food from local restaurants/markets.

There were even bug eating plants for sale. Does anyone know anything about these? Do they work?

We finished the evening with fish tacos, a half pound of steamed shrimp and beignets.

It was a great evening with my mom! We came home and watched War Horse which was so good but so sad too.

2. Driving 30A.

It was a little chilly on Monday morning so we decided to drive 30A and grab lunch before heading out to the beach for the afternoon. 30A is a small highway that follows along the coast through towns like Watercolor, Seaside and Grayton Beach. I had heard so much about 30A but never experienced it in person. All of the little beach towns were so cute and even though I’ve been visiting them since I was a child I just can’t get over how beautiful the beaches are on the Gulf Coast.

We stopped in Seaside for lunch. Seaside reminds me a lot of Hilton Head plantations or Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms. Tons of beach houses, shops, restaurants, families out on bikes, etc.

We ate at Bud & Alley’s Taco Bar and each ordered one fish and one shrimp taco. They were delicious!

3. A yoga class at Dragonfly Yoga.

My mom mentioned that there was a yoga studio in downtown Fort Walton so I decided to check out a class. I went into it with a VERY open mind because we are VERY spoiled in Charlotte with our yoga. The studio was small and the owner was welcoming. There were only 8 of us in class.

The class was very interesting. We started out by introducing ourselves and sharing our energy levels. Everyone seemed to be saying they were tired and blah and at a five…then they got around to me. “I’m Jen. I’m visiting from Charlotte and I’m a 10 because I’m on vacation!” I was hated from then on. Kidding.

We proceeded to do some meditation, rolled around on tennis balls, did a handful of standing poses and then spent a whole lot of time forward folding and using props like straps and blankets. We even used chairs and sandbags in savasana. While I didn’t break a sweat, it was a very different experience and I like stepping outside of my yoga box and seeing how much “yoga” can vary.

4. Steak and cake. 

I arrived home from yoga around 7 p.m. and my mom and I set off in search of a casual dinner. I suggested Callahan’s (that suggestion may or may not have been based on their dessert case!) and off we went. I don’t know what came over me but I decided to bypass the soup, salads and sandwiches in favor of a bacon wrapped filet…and enjoyed every bite!

We took two slices of cake home for dessert – coconut and german chocolate. Their coconut cake is to die for. I was a happy girl on the couch with my cake and tea.

5. A sunrise run. 

My flight was at 8:30 a.m. yesterday so I set my alarm for 5:45 a.m. so that I could squeeze in one last run before I left.

It was a perfect run and reminded me how much I enjoy early morning runs. There’s something about running with the sunrise that feels   amazingly energizing and good!

And then I was late getting to the airport. Like, pulled up at the curb at 7:58 a.m. just two minutes shy of the 30-minute cutoff late. Luckily, it’s a tiny airport and all was well…until the TSA threw away my breakfast. Apparently my overnight oats were still in their “liquid” form and had not set yet. I was pretty sad but the agent was having none of my negotiating about keeping my breakfast so to the trash it went. Oh well.

Off to work. Busy day!