40 miles E of Pensacola, 160 miles W of Tallahassee
Sitting on a round harbor off East Pass, which lets broad and beautiful Choctawhatchee Bay flow into the Gulf of Mexico, Destin, along with Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island, comprises the Emerald Coast. It's justly famous for its fishing fleet, the largest in the state. It's also Northwest Florida's fastest-growing and most upscale vacation destination, with a multitude of high-rise condominiums, the huge Sandestin resort, several golf courses, and some of the Panhandle's best restaurants and lively nightspots. By and large, Destin attracts a more affluent crowd than Fort Walton Beach, its more down-to-earth neighbor.
Although Fort Walton Beach has its own strip of white sand on Okaloosa Island, the city's economy is supported less by tourism than by the sprawling Eglin Air Force Base. Covering more than 700 square miles, Eglin is the world's largest air base and is home to the U.S. Air Force's Armament Museum and the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing, the "Top Guns" of Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
To the east of Destin, development is picking up steam along the beaches of southern Walton County. Still, this picturesque area has mostly cottages nestled among rolling sand dunes covered with sea oats. Here you'll find Grayton Beach State Park, which sports one of America's finest beaches, and the quaint, albeit Stepford-esque planned village of Seaside, which served as the set for Jim Carrey's movie The Truman Show. Seaside was built on a lovely stretch of beach in the 1980s -- but with Victorian architecture that makes it look a century older. The village's Gulf-side honeymoon cottages are some of Florida's most romantic retreats. Seaside also has interesting shops and galleries; a stamp-size, Greek Revival-style post office; and a resident population of artists, writers, and other creative folks, who permit only their own cars in their relatively expensive little enclave. Don't worry, there are parking spaces for tourists on the one main road through Seaside, but you can't drive into the village itself unless you live there. Although I appreciate Seaside for what it is, the secret had gotten out by the last time I was there, and the village was slowly falling under the weight of commercialism and tourism.
