Steve and I have always dreamed of owning a piece of paradise and we found that and much more in Destin, Florida.  Steve started vacationing in Destin in the early 80’s when there wasn’t much around but sand dunes and the Holiday Inn.  I, on the other hand had not even heard of Destin until the late 90’s when I met Steve.  Later he asked me to marry him and of course I said yes.  But…(you knew that was coming) he said, “Did I tell you that after I retire I would love to move to Destin?"

Having worked in the accounting field for 14 years, I felt if we were going to retire to Destin we had to start investing in real estate as soon as possible.   Another major decision was uprooting our 13 year old twin sons, Patrick and Ian, and moving to an area they were unfamiliar with.  We would be taking them out of their comfort zones and asking them to leave all their friends behind.  This was a very difficult decision to make.  After vacationing in Destin as a family our sons fell in love with the area and the beautiful beaches.  For me, it was love at first sight.  After much discussion we felt it was better to move to Destin while our sons were young versus uprooting them during their high school years.  A decision was made that Steve would retire from coaching football and teaching physics at the local high school and we would start a new chapter in our lives.  

Our journey began in late 2002 when we purchased our first vacation home called Tropical Breeze.  We entered this adventure with open minds thinking we would purchase a home, hang on to it for five years, sell and then upgrade to a larger home we would eventually move into.  We vacationed in Destin when our busy schedules permitted us to and we would take our shoes off from the time we arrived, and they stayed off until we left.  Our days were spent at the beach burying our sons in the sand and enjoying the summer breezes.  We felt this was a joy everyone should experience. The only way this could happen was to share our vacation home with others.   The response from our guests was so overwhelming that we found ourselves turning families away.  With additional planning and a lot of prayer, we purchased Tropical Paradise and Tropical Dreams in 2004. In 2005 we purchased Tropical Escape.  Six years and four vacation homes later, we have finally move to Destin.   

We have put our heart and sole into this adventure and each home has become a part of who we are.  In life, things change and we have found you can’t worry too much about the little things but embrace the ones that are nearest and dearest to your heart.  At the end of the day life is all about the love of your family.    

Carol and Steve