by Pat Merewether

Created on: January 04, 2008   Last Updated: April 18, 2011

The Destin area is one of our favorite places in Florida. I discovered this gem while searching for a state park where our daughter and her family could camp and we could rent a cabin near them. I found Topsail Hill Reserve State Park and loved it! We drive from Michigan, and stayed on Captiva Island in the past and loved it. However, we decided to try the Florida panhandle area last year because it cut our driving time by about five hours! It is also much more affordable. Even during spring break it is more of a family oriented area. While checking out the area on the internet I found the Gulfarium located in Destin. Our Grandson is autistic and I was thrilled to discover a special program there just perfect for him and all eight of us!

Topsail Preserve State Park is located ten miles east of Destin. It was once a private RV park, so has many amenities, such as bike trails, swimming pool, shuffle board and a wide variety of wildlife and three fishing lakes. It is very clean and well maintained. Cabins are available for rent on a weekly basis at a very affordable $700. Security is also unobtrusive, but quite vigilant so we felt very safe and took moonlight strolls. The cabins are more like little homes and are very new. Ours had one (large) bedroom, bathroom, a fully quipped kitchen and dining area. The large living room (with TV) accommodated ten people. Four of us slept there comfortably. Each cabin has screened in back porch a beautiful and unique landscape in the front.

We spent a lot of time at the beach, which is three miles long and very private. The sand is wonderful white stuff perfect for building sandcastles or just strolling and sunbathing. We saw less than a dozen people on each beach visit. A tram arrives at a central location from the camp/cabin area and drives beach goers to the wood boardwalk to the beach. The tram arrives every twenty minutes on the dot and makes taking all those pails, shovels and beach chairs along much easier. A boardwalk protects the beautiful dunes and their vegetation and wildlife while providing a comfy walk to the beach (dune climbing is rough and also forbidden).

The kids loved the swimming pool and we all had great fun playing shuffle board. There are also hiking trails and you can observe of become part of a turpentine' crew. All the features in the park are included in the entrance fee.

Cabins and campsites are booked fast, so I recommend you check availability six months in advance for the best choices.

Gulfarium:

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