Sandestin Through the Years …. From Kids to Teens!
Our family has been going to the same beautiful beach resort for almost 10 years. Ever since our first visit, we haven’t been able to bring ourselves to go anywhere else for a beach vacation. It has had a lasting impact on us, and we continue to go year after year. We have watched our children grow up there and although the activities have changed, our love for this annual destination has remained the same for nearly a decade. Going on a beach vacation with young kids is quite different than going with teenagers. But when you go to a place that has become your personal paradise and it offers an abundance of activities for all ages, why wouldn’t we choose to make this place our home away from home? From the time our children were 5 and 8, and now, in a flash, they are 15 and 18, we have been enjoying the same lovely resort …. Sandestin.
Sandestin is a gorgeous beach and golf resort about 4.5 hours from the New Orleans area. They offer a plethora of accommodations on the beachside and the bayside of the resort. Some rentals even come with a golf cart! They have a town center with many activities, restaurants, and shops. The beach has the most beautiful emerald waters that you have ever seen! We love the fact that this resort has enabled us to make the best memories with our children as they have grown up before our very eyes.
It is fun to reflect on how our family vacations have evolved through the years.
At the beach when the kids were little, we would watch them play with their sand toys right by our chairs, and we would very skeptically take them into the ocean holding their little hands, wearing their life vests, only going knee deep in the water. We would let the waves crash on us a little bit and then quickly run back up to the chairs for a snack and a nap. Today, we can find the teens on their boogie boards catching the biggest waves and purposely diving underwater for the full thrilling experience. Or they are swimming out through the deep waters to the floating water park, where they are sliding, jumping, climbing and having the time of their lives (parents not invited).
On the bay side, we used to take them for a nice calm ride on a kayak. My husband would do the work and paddle, and the girls (and I) would sit back and enjoy the nice and easy cruise around the bay. Today, we take them to the bay, and they jump on a paddle board, and we watch as they paddle themselves all over the area, sometimes out of our view, only to return hours later racing each other to see who is faster and stronger. Sibling rivalry at its best!
Bike riding is a tradition that we have kept up all these years. It started out where we would attach a bike stroller to our bikes, and the kids would enjoy the scenic ride around the golf course. Then the excursion evolved into the family riding tandem bikes (parent/child together on one bike), so the kids could enjoy the bike experience while the parents did the hard peddling up the hills. Today, we each get our own Cruiser and we take turns leading the family through the resort, up and down the hills, through the neighborhoods, along the bay, and ultimately end up at the Marina, where we grab some delicious food and a cold drink!
Baytonwe Wharf is the town center where you can find numerous activities, restaurants and shops. They host many events throughout the year, and we look forward to seeing what they have going on every time we go. Every year, our kids have gotten braver and braver when it comes to the many activities that they can participate in. It started out when they were little, they would ride the carousel as we would stand next to them holding on for dear life, or they would take turns jumping on the trampoline. As they got a little older, the kids would try the rock-climbing tower wall, or attempt a ropes course. Today, we watch as they Zipline 45 feet in the air and 300 feet across the lagoon! Oh, how I miss the carousel days. 
Even a simple activity, such as watching the fireworks, has changed over time. Small kids don’t always like loud noises, so we would find places around the resort where you could watch the fireworks from afar. There are plenty of places where you can get a perfect view of the amazing fireworks show that happens every Tuesday night. But as our kids have gotten older, they want to be right in the center of the action. So today we find ourselves right in the middle of the town center, dancing to the latest music coming from the hottest DJ, while we await the spectacular fireworks display.
They go from holding your hand in the Gulf to ziplining across a lagoon in the blink of an eye. We may go to the same resort year after year, but the experiences have changed. When they were little, we would carry them into the ocean, and sometimes we miss that. But today, we know we are giving them experiences and memories that they will carry with them for a lifetime.
