Headed there soon with the family. 3 kids 13 and under. Have a few questions.

1. Where do you stop for lunch between Texas and FL?
2. What activities do you plan there besides the beach?
3. Where are the beach entrance locations? We will walk in most likely.
4. Best places to eat lunch and supper?

This is not a long trip and staying 3 nights. Might make it 4 if we are having a lot of fun.

AgsMnn said:

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Headed there soon with the family. 3 kids 13 and under. Have a few questions.

1. Where do you stop for lunch between Texas and FL?
2. What activities do you plan there besides the beach?
3. Where are the beach entrance locations? We will walk in most likely.
4. Best places to eat lunch and supper?

This is not a long trip and staying 3 nights. Might make it 4 if we are having a lot of fun.

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We just got back with a 8, 12 and 14 year old.

We stayed in Jackson, MS as check in time was 3:00 so had plenty of time.

We did beach, Gulfarium, parasailing, deep sea fishing , rentef a pontoon and went to crab island and a shopping day at Seaaide

Beach locations really depend where we are staying. We were on 30A but you can google maps of entrances

Lunch and dinner really depends on location. Sandestin has a lot of chain restaurants. Cantina Laredo has a splash pad near the patio for the kids. Stinky,s Fish Camp is decent and Vue on 30A was ok. Dewey's in Destin is good and Fuddpuckers is a place the kids would like but wait times could be 2 hours for fried food.

If you narrow down where you are staying you'll get better recommendations.

Near 98E and DTS airport.

Independence H-D said:

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We always stop at steamboat bills in lake Charles for lunch.

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Had this for the first time a few months back and really enjoyed it!

It's solid food and pretty easy to get to. Love to fill up the bellies and the truck there so we can get on through red stick and nola area non stop.

Gotta hit up Boshamps while you're there. Good food and an awesome tiki bar.

AgsMnn said:

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Headed there soon with the family. 3 kids 13 and under. Have a few questions.

1. Where do you stop for lunch between Texas and FL?
2. What activities do you plan there besides the beach?
3. Where are the beach entrance locations? We will walk in most likely.
4. Best places to eat lunch and supper?

This is not a long trip and staying 3 nights. Might make it 4 if we are having a lot of fun.

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Did this trip earlier this summer:

• To Fl, we ate at ED'S Seafood Shed in Spanish Fort, AL (near Mobile, AL) and it was surprisingly delicious.
• Back to TX, we ate at Half Shell Oyster House in Biloxi, MS on the way back and had a great meal.

• Our trip was in Seagrove, but we drove by Destin and there's plenty to do there. I saw Putt Putt places, a water park, and plenty of restaurants. There was also plenty of souvenir shopping, but there's also quite a few state parks in the area to keep busy. You can rent bikes, go to Shell Island, fishing, jet skis, it all depends on what your budget is.
• From what I saw, I think maybe one of your best entrance points may be near Henderson State Park. It might be packed so maybe further east might get you to where you're wanting.

AgsMnn said:

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Headed there soon with the family. 3 kids 13 and under. Have a few questions.

1. Where do you stop for lunch between Texas and FL?
2. What activities do you plan there besides the beach?
3. Where are the beach entrance locations? We will walk in most likely.
4. Best places to eat lunch and supper?

This is not a long trip and staying 3 nights. Might make it 4 if we are having a lot of fun.

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Lived in the area my whole life (minus my time in Aggieland) and live here again now. I'm not sure exactly where you're staying that you can "walk in" and I can't help much with 1 but my Destin recommendations would be:

2: depends on how far you're willing to travel. My favorite non-beach activity is the natural springs in Ponce De Leon. It's a drive but really awesome. Definitely choose between a fishing trip or renting a boat. If you rent a boat really the best options are take it to the jetis or crab island. Go drive the boat to Fubar for lunch. Big Kahunas is a fun water park, has a nice mini golf course and some adventure park type stuff. Take the kids crab hunting at the beach at night, just shine your phone light and they'll be running around.

3: crab trap and whales tail for free public beach access are the most popular. Drive down scenic 98 in that general area and hope you find a spot. Henderson Beach for a small fee per car is probably a good idea. Get there as early as you can.

4: As recommended before, Boshamps is pretty good but insanely busy (like 2.5 hr wait) for dinner. Going for lunch is your best bet. Feta dip there is incredible. McGuires is good, has really good sushi if you like that and you get good service upstairs in the bar. Harbor walk village at night is a good time. Some decent restaurants down there as you walk around. Bistrology for breakfast/brunch is my new favorite and it's a must, right next door to the outlets which is the best shopping deals around.

AgsMnn said:

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Headed there soon with the family. 3 kids 13 and under. Have a few questions.

1. Where do you stop for lunch between Texas and FL?
2. What activities do you plan there besides the beach?
3. Where are the beach entrance locations? We will walk in most likely.
4. Best places to eat lunch and supper?

This is not a long trip and staying 3 nights. Might make it 4 if we are having a lot of fun.

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The Shed BBQ in Ocean Springs MS is very good. Hole in the wall place but the food is great.

I love Destin!

1. Where do you stop for lunch between Texas and FL?

Steamboat Bills in Lake Charles. Pats in Henderson is a close second. Or ACME in Red Stick.

2. What activities do you plan there besides the beach?

I like to dive, so there's that. Go fishing. Offshore, bay…or whatever. At its core, Destin is a fishing mecca. Golf if you like that. Or the zoo in Gulf Shores. So much to do…

3. Where are the beach entrance locations? We will walk in most likely.

There are public access points. Parking can suck, but go early. Leave and do lunch, then come back later.

4. Best places to eat lunch and supper?

Take your kids to Fuddpuckers and play with the alligators. Yes, it's a tourist trap, but it's fun (and buy a t-shirt!). Eat at McGuires, Harbor Docks, LuLu's, and ACME.

Y'all are going to have a blast!

We typically stay in Miramar Beach when we go, but do a ton in Destin.

As previously stated, Dewey Destin's is really good. So is Boshamps, as well, but always busy. Steamboat Bills in Lake Charles is the one eating place we stop on the way back. I drive through the night on the way there while the kids sleep.

It'll be a little bit of a drive (30ish minutes?), but we love going to The Village of Baytowne Wharf. It's a fun area that we grab some drinks, walk around, kids play in the arcade and go check out the yachts at the pier behind it. They also have a ropes course and some other stuff. They do little shows and fireworks on different nights, as well.

Oh, and adding that we typically rent a pontoon boat and go out to crab island. Fun time out there. And we always stop by the sea turtle conservation center in Navarre beach. Walk out to the end of the pier and you can see a lot of sea life out there.

We had Steamboat Bills for dinner Friday night on our way to Panama City Beach!

Baytown Wharf on Thursday's for late dinner and stay for the fireworks