We wanted to finish our southern tour of the United States with a trip that started in New Orleans, traveled along the Gulf Coast, and ended in Destin, FL. After all, if you are close to the beautiful, white sandy beaches of Destin, you have to go.
My first tip from this trip is: If you want to take a beautiful beach vacation to Destin and feel dissuaded by the expensive air travel flying in and out of Pensacola or Fort Walton Beach Airports, you should look at tickets into New Orleans. The drive time from New Orleans to Destin is only 4 hours. Because there are no direct flights into the Destin area from Denver, CO, we were looking at a layover. Instead of flying on two planes and sitting for a layover, we opted to fly into New Orleans and make the drive over, which only lead to more exploring and adventure. Right up our alley! Plus, the tickets to New Orleans were so cheap!
I was unsure about our time in New Orleans, since I had heard mixed reviews about the city, but we were pleasantly surprised. We felt safe and traveled with ease using the trolley system. We did make it a point stay off the streets after dinner as the crowd can get a bit wild for a family of five at night.
We had two full days in New Orleans and made the very most of them. On day one we ventured to Jackson Square and toured the famous St. Louis Cathedral, ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde, and made our way over to Bourbon Street just to see what the hype was all about. We loved the beignets but did not love Bourbon Street. I know, shocker! It reminded me of a southern Las Vegas Strip, and all I can say is, I’m grateful we saw it in broad daylight.
From there we walked over to the mighty Mississippi River and strolled the river front. We hopped on a ferry and took in the views of NOLA from the water. After more walking and sightseeing, we made our way to a tasty po-boy dinner at Mahony’s. This was our favorite meal of the trip!
Day two in NOLA took us to the green trolley and a different area of the city where we toured the Lafayette Cemetery and strolled through the Garden District. This was certainly a highlight and the beauty was hard to capture in photos. I have always loved cemeteries and find them to be a place that brings peace, reflection, and comfort. Maybe visiting them from a young age after my father passed away when I was 11, has something to do with their sacredness in my heart. Either way, I love to stroll through them and the fact that this one was hundreds of years old only added to it’s beauty. In one spot there was a tree that had grown straight through a mausoleum. It was such a beautiful image of how life continues after death, both for those who remain on earth and for those in eternity.
The tree that broke through the grave. 
From there we traveled on the green trolley to City Park. A few highlights included Story Land and strolling through the artwork in Statue Garden. Finally, we headed back towards Jackson Square and took in all of the eccentricities of the French Market and had an ice cream in Jackson Square.
After a full two days in New Orleans, we rented a car and drove along the Gulf to Mississippi. We made a stop in Biloxi to walk along the Lighthouse Pier and have breakfast.
We continued driving to Alabama and stopped at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile. The kids loved touring the battleship! It was a great experience and worthy of a stop. Finally, we drove to Gulf Shores where we quickly unloaded and ran to the white sand and waves! It was lovely to have our toes back in the sand. We ended the night with dinner at a delicious southern restaurant where the kids tried hush puppies and etouffee with mixed reviews.
Gulf Shores 
The next day we enjoyed more beach time before we loaded up to make our last leg of the trip to Destin. We stayed in a VRBO right on the water at Miramar Beach and it was incredible. The white sand and clear, Caribbean-like, blue waters lived up to their reputation. We were thrilled to settle in a spend the next four days enjoying beach life. We played in the sand, swam in the pool, explored the Harborwalk Marina, and ate great food. Doug and I declared that we would go back to this area one day. This is a great family beach spot!
Finally, it was time for our return trip to NOLA to fly home. We had one last night in NOLA and went to our favorite restaurant, Mahony’s and strolled the city we had grown to love. All in all it was a great trip, and check out the progress we have made on our state tours!
Happy travels friends!