Destin Harbor Boardwalk
Take a stroll along the waterfront where the view is unbeatable. You'll find benches there to take a load off and take it all in, and restaurants and shops all along the quarter-mile boardwalk.
April 2019
Eisenhower
Air
New flight makes Destin, Florida, a can't miss destination
Destin, Fla., offers a good time on the Emerald Coast that you could not mess up if you tried. Everywhere you turn in Northwest Florida there are sugar-white sands, emerald waters, golf courses, charter boats, and charming seaside towns. Destin itself is known as the world's luckiest fishing spot. Just get yourself there and you will stumble into summer fun.
You're in luck there, too. Starting June 5, Allegiant Air begins nonstop service from Wichita to Destin/Fort Walton Beach.
The world's luckiest fishing spot
You could see a sea turtle
Destin is home to world-class resorts and restaurants. It won't be hard to find a place to stay for the whole family. There's plenty to do for all ages. Maybe start in the water. You won't need anything but a swimsuit to go snorkeling. Plenty of places will supply the rest. There's a strange beautiful world just under the surface to explore. You're likely to see familiar friends, too, like dolphins. There are many charter tours that offer excursions exclusively to find them. And you will. Diving and fishing opportunities are also plentiful.
You won't run out of things to do in Destin. Rent a pontoon boat, gather your crew and head out to Crab Island. Go parasailing. Book a tiki torch tour out on the water after sunset. Take in a show or dine well at any number of places that offer the freshest seafood you've ever had.
Feeling adventurous? Try parasailing
Enjoy fresh seafood
What's also great about Destin is how close it is to other great places along the coast. Visit Pensacola, or Panama City Beach, or the town of Seaside, where the "Truman Show" was filmed. The Emerald Coast is along a narrow peninsula, and everywhere you go along the shore offers a new kind of paradise.
Life is short, summer is shorter, and the Allegiant flight is seasonal. So book it while you can. You won't be sorry.
Sugar-white sands and emerald waters
Allegiant Flights To Destin
Top To-Dos in Destin
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Gulf of Mexico Dolphin Cruise
Spot dolphins that swim, frolic and leap along the Emerald Coast on a cruise where it is assured that you will not miss them.
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Destin Flyboard Rental
Rent a water-powered jet pack. That's right. Jet pack. You'll be flying over the water. It combines the propulsion of a jet ski with the thrill of a hovercraft.
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Tiki Sunset Cruise
The sunset itself is spectacular from anywhere on the shore. But imagine being on the Gulf. At night. On a small boat lit only by tiki torches. Yeah. Do that.
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Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park
Stingrays, sharks and otters, oh my. You can get up close and personal with sea life, including swimming with the dolphins at this aquarium in nearby Walton Beach.
The Family That Flies Together
Talking travel with Jason and Bree Cox
Travel is an adventure and Jason and Bree Cox are up for it. Always. The Wichita couple flies far and wide several times a year, often with their young children, to see the world. Eisenhower Air caught up with them recently for a breezy conversation about the highs and lows of travel. They shared a few favorite destinations, pleasant surprises, and the kind of foreign misadventures that make great stories once you get back home.
A Highlight: The Northern Lights
Jason Several years back we took the kids to Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories (in Canada). It is a long ways up there. And it was about 40-below.
Bree Just for a moment, I thought we had taken our young children somewhere where they would die. We walked off the airplane and the first breath was just painful. I thought, oh my gosh, what have we done? And then we get outfitted, and it was fine.
Jason and Kids in Yellowknife
Jason The boots we wore were huge, like the kind of boots you'd see on a mascot or something. They were gigantic. We took a dog sled out to a frozen lake and spent three nights. They had a little warming hut out there, and when the Northern Lights would come out we would all go out and look at them. It was an amazing experience.
Bree The kids remember that one, which is great. Sometimes you take these trips and you wonder, but they remember.
The first breath was just painful. I thought, oh my gosh what have we done?
Bree Cox
Jason under the Northern Lights
Bree and kids in Sweden
On Traveling with Kids
Bree We've been traveling with them pretty much ever since they were born, so right now they are 10 and 12, and they are amazing travelers. But it has taken all of those years to get there. It was work in the beginning, I will tell you that.
Jason One thing nice about the kids is that they seem to be largely immune to jet lag. If they get tired, they just go to sleep. We've been overseas with them a few times. We're trying to fight it and stay awake and eat at the right time, and the kids don't really care. If they get tired, they just fall asleep.
Bree My son was not the easiest baby, but when we traveled he would be like the best ever because he was just taking in everything. Even when they are small and won't remember it, they are still taking in all that stimuli and experience. I think it helps them.
Jason Brain development is helped by having a diverse array of experiences. I don't think there is any better way to experience a whole bunch of new things than to leave where you are and go somewhere else and stay there for a while.
Pleasantly Surprised
Jason Russia was awesome. We went to St. Petersburg and Moscow, and those two cities are completely different from each other. Moscow especially is a lot different than any other place that we've ever been. The Russians are so much like us in so many ways, and yet so different. For instance, if a Russian person suggests that you should do something like try something that is on the table, that means that you absolutely have to try what is on the table. It is not really a suggestion. So when they say, "Why don't you try the dumplings?" That means you are eating the dumplings, whether you like it or not.
Bree Their humor is dry, which I appreciate. And they are very dark.
Moscow, Russia
Mexico City
I don't think there is any better way to experience new things than to leave where you are, go somewhere else and stay there for awhile
Jason Cox
Jason The very last trip we took, for our anniversary, we went to Mexico City. That was a very pleasant surprise for me. I thought that we would enjoy it, otherwise, we wouldn't have gone there. But it was wonderful. Mexico City is an amazing place to go. Not at all any kind of safety concern, not at all any kind of ... I mean, I've got nothing bad to say about Mexico City. It was a terrific experience. And it is like basically right in our backyard.
Bree They have phenomenal art museums and culture. It's a gem that I don't think a lot of Americans think about. People think about Cancun. Mexico City is a hidden gem.
Favorite Destination
Bree I think we both would agree on our favorite place – Tokyo.
Jason Yes. We've been twice. What is amazing about Tokyo is that I don't know that you could go anywhere else in the world and be surrounded by so many people and yet feel such a sense of solitude, in a good way. It's a cultural thing. You can be completely at peace and relaxed in the middle of one of the most populous areas in the entire world.
Bree The best food I've ever had was in Tokyo. By far. Their food is amazing. And probably the most religious experience I ever had was also there. We climbed Mount Koya, which is a Buddhist monastery. It was the most peaceful, beautiful place that I have ever experienced.
Bree and Jason pose with a chef in Tokyo
Tokyo at night
Jason There is also plenty of weirdness. There's a place called the Robot Restaurant. It's not a restaurant at all, it's a live show. And it is absolutely bonkers. It is kind of like an indoor parade, but that sells it way short.
Bree It's bizarre, sensory, everything about Japan you have maybe ever imagined. Strangest show I have ever been to, for sure.
A Misadventure in Mexico
Bree We went down to Chihuahua, Mexico, which is not a typical tourist destination. But we wanted to ride the El Chepe, the train there, into the Barrancas del Cobre which is the Copper Canyon, sort of akin to our Grand Canyon. It's a beautiful train ride. Anyway, I've been all sorts of hair colors, but at this point had very dark, black hair. I was about eight months pregnant, and I had an 18-month old child with me. We were coming home and I got detained. They thought Jason was smuggling home a pregnant Mexican national.
Cox family on the canyon rim
They thought Jason was smuggling home a pregnant Mexican national
Bree Cox
German Engineering
Jason On our very first trip to Europe, we didn't have much of an itinerary. Or very much money. We just rented a car and spent a couple of weeks driving all over Europe. We got pretty far on our first tank of gas. It got us out to the middle of nowhere on the Autobahn.
When we filled it up, we put gasoline – in a diesel car. I can tell you when you do that, the car will make it about one mile. And then it won't go at all. So then we had to walk back to the gas station through all this crazy brush, and I got stung by some kind of stinging nettle and my arm swelled up.
We had to wait for someone to show up that spoke enough English that we could explain to them what we needed. We ended up spending the night in Pforzheim, Germany. It was late and everything was shut down when we got there, and we had to knock on the hotel door until some big, old German dude woke up. He was gruff, but he got us a room.
Cox family eating pizza in Rome
On the Highs and Lows of Travel
Jason Pretty much all travel is a high for me. Even when it is bad, it is still good to me.
Bree What I love is being surprised by something amazing and unexpected. I think that is my favorite part. That is what I like about traveling, is that the thing you never really thought was going to be so incredible, or that you ended up doing by accident, turned out to be amazing.
Jason It is definitely our hobby. We could have a lot more things, nicer cars and things, if we didn't like to travel so much. It's kind of the one thing that we believe is worth spending money on. I would take a lot of things away from my life before I would sacrifice traveling.
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Credits
| Editor | Valerie Wise, Wichita Airport Authority |
| Creative Agency | Greteman Group |
| Creative Director | Sonia Greteman |
| Art Director | Meghan Wolfe |
| Contributing Writer | Barry Owens |
| Photography | Emerald Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau, City of Destin, Cruisin' Tikis Destin, Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park, Bree & Jason Cox |
Eisenhower Air is published for the traveling public by the Wichita Airport Authority. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please direct them to Valerie Wise at [email protected]. We also encourage you to share articles through social media and email. Help us spread the word about the good things happening at our airport.
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