Fort Walton and Destin are special to me.
Before the death of my dad when I was almost nine, we regularly vacationed in Fort Walton Beach. We always stayed at the Dunes Motel.
My dad loved to fish in Destin and, at nights, we would eat at the Blue Room restaurant.
The last time I visited the Fort Walton area was in 1982. I was eleven and my (then) Stepfather took us for a vacation. It was there that my Stepsister and I discovered MTV and forgot about going to the beach.
I always looked forward to crossing the Brooks Bridge and seeing the “Welcome to Okaloosa Island” sign. We enjoyed shopping at the mall in Mary Esther; I can’t remember the mall’s name.
Now, we vacation in Gulf Shores and have for decades.
Santa Rosa Mall is being torn down and will close permanently next month. Most of it has already been demolished and condos built there. The rest will be demolished and the great Mall will be just a memory.
Likewise the Dunes Motel and the Blue Room Restaurant are nothing but faded memories now.............
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Destin.memories/posts/10159254830845180/