In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips!

Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Shopping for Vacation Condo Rental Discounts

I don't know where the time goes. Last week, we were in Destin, Florida and had a very good time. While there, I spent some time journaling and fully intended to post to this blog while I was there. However, I spent time living in the moment in the beach with my family. It was what we need to build some energy and chill out. Once we returned home, it was back to work and the usual every day activities. I didn't get back to blogging until today.

We had such a great time that we decided to go back to Destin next week with my husband's sister, Maria, her husband, Carl and their daughter/my niece, Jessica. My son, Anthony, starts Cosmetology School at the Toni and Guy Academy on August 5th and he also has orientation on July 28th. Jess starts college on Aug. 20th. So we had a short window of dates for all of us to go away together.

We didn't have the benefit of price shopping when we went to Destin over the 4th of July weekend. We left last minute and were desperate so we paid a high price for our one bedroom condo at Destin.

For our next trip which is only a week away, I was planning to shop for a better rate. We planned on renting a beach front condo with at least a two bedroom and maybe a three bedroom condo. I found that most two bedroom condos have twin beds in the 2nd bedroom. This was a problem and presented even a bigger challenge on getting a rental that did not cost us $500 a night.

I called the Sandestin resort directly and was quoted a rate of $600 for a 2BR beach front condo. I knew I could do better than this. So I went to the website, Vacation Rentals By Owner or VRBO.com. We rented vacation condos in Colorado through VRBO and had positive experiences. There were many listing on VRBO for Destin.

I focused on finding a condo in the Westwinds building at Sandestin and was so lucky to find one after 10 or more phone calls. The condo owner outsourced the property management to Gibson Beach Rentals. (Gibsonbeachrentals.com) I spoke with Joanna Gibson, who owns the agency with her husband. She was very courteous and helpful. I highly recommend calling them if you want to rent a condo in the Destin area.

The condo we rented for next week is located beach front on the 7th floor and has two bedrooms each with a King bed! We also have a queen sleeper sofa and 2 1/2 baths. We will also be taking an inflatable mattress for my son to sleep on. The best news is that I got the condo for $400 a night or a 30% savings over renting directly from Sandestin reservations. This nightly rate is also less than what we paid for our one bedroom rental last weekend. It pays to do a little legwork to save some money.

Please note though that are less expensive condo rentals in Destin. The prices are less if you are not right on the beach. Also, older condos in older buildings have lower rental rates. I really think there are rentals at many different price points.

During my research, I also talked to some very nice people at myvacationhaven.com who were helpful but unfortuantely did not have condos available that met our requirements. I just wanted to also put in a plug for them since they represent some very nice Destin area condos on VRBO.com


I can't wait to head back to Destin next week. This week we are staying for a longer time with 4 days on the beach. Heaven on the beach.

Destin - 2nd Day at the Beach

We awoke on Sunday morning and I quickly pulled back the curtains and headed out to the patio. It was overcast and cloudy with some rain in the forecast. However, I was not discouraged. It was another day in beach paradise!

My son and I headed over to Starbucks for breakfast and to buy the New York Times Sunday edition I love Starbucks even though I don't drink coffee. I mentioned this in a previous blog post. I love knowing that I will have a consistent experience at whichever Starbucks I go to. I ordered my favorite Venti unsweetened black iced tea with an energy shot. I also had a very delicious cranberry muffin. Some people go on vacation to eat gourmet meals and sample every local restaurant. As for me, I like good food but I am also satisfied by the simple things. A Starbucks iced tea, cranberry muffin and NY Times is perfect for my Sunday breakfast at the beach. Who could want more than this?

After breakfast, we headed back to the condo for a quick change into a swimsuit and I was off to the beach. I took my new beach chair to the edge of the water and plopped myself down. I had my book and the water was rolling in around my chair keeping me cool. This is living! It doesn’t get any better spending Sunday in my little beach chair at the water’s edge. I was in heaven!

My husband had some work to do so he did not come down to tbe beach until later. We then hung out together for awhile at the beach before heading over to the "Another Broken Egg Cafe" at the Baytowne Wharf. This awesome restaurant is only open for breakfast and lunch and its menu has a long list of breakfast items, sandwiches and salads. It was very quaint and the staff was very cheery. I had the chicken quesadilla which was very good. My husband had the Greek Salad with the Greek dressing which was also very good. I highly recommend this restaurant.

During lunch, the dark clouds and thunder were moving in but I was not to be discouraged. I headed back to the beach which was not as full as it was earlier. I continued to read my book until I finished it at about 5PM. With some rain drizzle in the air, I headed back up to the condo.

This was the best getaway I have had in some time. The spontaneity of deciding at last minute to head to Destin made it more of an exciting adventure. My son actually enjoyed himself and only got in trouble once for skateboarding in the covered garage. Oh well, we can’t get through a weekend without something happening.

I am looking forward to another weekend getaway in the near future.

Destin, Florida - Beach Lover's Paradise

The drive on Saturday morning went pretty well until we hit Hwy 98 in Destin. We crawled the last 10 miles to the resort. It took over an hour to go a few miles. Much to my husband's dismay this brought down our average mpg for the trip. Finally, we arrived at the Sandestin Resort - woo hoo!

We were greeted warmly by the staff at Sandestin and surprise – our room was ready early. Normally the check in time is 4PM and there we were at 1PM and our room was ready. Someone above was watching over us. (http://sandestin.com/)

Our one bedroom rental condo was on the 14th floor of the WestWinds tower with a direct view of the beautiful emerald green and blue Gulf of Mexico! I was in awe of the view. I think that my blood pressure immediately dropped 10 points. Even my 18 year old son was impressed with the view, the condo, and facilities.

No time to unpack, just a quick change into a swimsuit and I was headed to the beach! I walked to the water’s edge and again my blood pressure dropped another 10 points! We rented 2 chairs and umbrella at a surprisingly high cost of $39 a day. But hey the rental comes with two free souvenir Sandestin Beach towels. As if we don’t already have enough beach towels! What the heck, we are on vacation so we will splurge on the very nice Sandestin chairs. The chair guy was from Mississippi and was named Destroy. Hmm. Guess there is a story behind that name but not sure I wanted to hear it so I didn't ask.

My husband, Vito, was so good. He carried my beach bag that held my reading material, iPod, camera and flip video camera, water bottles and snacks to the beach. We took a nice walk on the beach scoping out other vacationers and properties along the beach. We love the beach and walking on the beach is one of our favorite things to do besides sitting in a chair with a drink reading our books!

About two years ago, my husband developed some sort of strange sensitivity to the sun. He has to ensure he puts on lots of sunscreen and wears a hat. This is something we all should do anyway but take for granted. So he doesn’t enjoy going to the beach as much as he used to but he says he will do anything to make me happy. He is such a sweetheart.

I stayed on the beach longer than my husband and took in the smell of the beach and the Gulf, listened to the music playing at the pool, and started a new book called Life’s A Beach by Claire Cook. How could I go wrong with a book with that title? Turns out this was a great book that was an easy and interesting read.

On Saturday night we drove over to Sandestin Baytowne Wharf to check out the restaurants and shops. I already narrowed our restaurant search to Graffiti & Funky Blues Shack and Roberto's Pizza. Graffiti’s is an eclectic restaurant with Italian food and entertainment. It appeared to be a really cool place until I checked out the menu and saw that spaghetti was priced at $24. I have an Italian husband and an 18-year old son who both like to eat a lot so I was a little concerned about the prices. Not that we couldn’t afford it. I just have a hard time paying over 5 times what it would cost me to feed us the same meal at home. So we headed over to Roberto's.

There was no wait at Roberto's and we were quickly seated at an outside table. We weathered the heat and humidity and did some great people watching waiting for our delicious pizzas to arrive. The pizza was very good. The wait staff was friendly but not overly attentive. They appeared to be college students and spent more time socializng with each other more than attending to their guests.

After dinner we checked out the stores which had great and even unique merchandise. However, none of the items jumped up and shouted "Buy Me." I was just so happy to be at the beach and I didn't need to buy anything

My son took the free Sandestin shuttle back to the condo. My husband and I stopped at a grocery store fpr some breakfast food, snacks and beverages. I also went to CVS and bought a little beach chair that I could sit in at the edge of the water on Sunday. Then it was back to the condo for some R&R.

July 4th Weekend At Destin, Florida

The morning of July 4th, my husband, son and I decided to get away and head to Destin, Florida. This decision was made without any reservations for a holiday weekend. We packed within an hour and dropped our two dogs off at my mother in law' s house and we were off to the beach. This was the first time we have ever done something so spontaneous.

You have to know that both my husband and I are typical Type A personalities who like to plan before leaping. We are not impulsive in the least. However, a break at the beach was just what we all needed so off we went.


Packing for this beach trip was easy. We didn't need much more than shorts, tees and bathing suits. That was the easy part. The tough part was all the technical gadgets we took with us including laptops, sprint connect any where cards cell phone and blue tooth chargers, power cords, etc. I think the electronics took up more room than our clothes!

Now granted we didn’t leave until 1PM in the afternoon on Friday, I was looking forward to the 2 full days at the beach. About half way into Louisiana, I started to call resorts in Destin trying to find a place to stay. Good news was that I found a beach front condo at Sandestin for Saturday and Sunday nights but no availability for Friday night. No sweat. We ccould just stay at a less expensive hotel in Destin area since we will be getting in prettylate at night any way.

Back on the road after dinner, I started to call various hotel chains for a one night stay in the Destin Pensacola area. I guess I waited too long and all of the rooms closer in were already booked. We chose to stay at a fairly new Comfort Suites in Tillman’s Corner, Alabama. Nice room, free breakfast, and 2 hours from our destination. No sweat. We got a good night’s rest and headed out to Destin in the morning.