It's Your Time. Travel Smart.
Date night in Destin is something Tom and I enjoy doing before Memorial Day weekend and after Labor Day weekend (basically September – May). We’re not fans of Destin during the summer months when traffic is thick and the weather is HOT.
One of our favorite things to do when we spend the evening in Destin is have dinner at The Crab Trap Destin. We like walking to the restaurant and back to our parking spot along the beach. It’s inspirational and it’s a bit of exercise before/after sitting down to enjoy a good, local-caught meal.
We park at a Destin public beach access area or across the street from it on Scenic Hwy 98 (see the map below). It’s just over a mile (or a 21 minute walk according to Google) to The Crab Trap and the same back to the parking area after dinner.
Most Destin restaurants, including The Crab Trap Destin, are geared to the beach lover and dress is casual with flip flops being absolutely acceptable. So wear casual dress that you won’t mind getting a little wet if a wave splashes you along the way and wear flip flops that you can take off and easily carry while walking. When you get to The Crab Trap, you can rinse off your feet at the local beach restroom that’s around the west corner of the restaurant so you can put your flip flops back on after your walk sans sand. After dinner and once you walk back to your car, there’s also restrooms and an outdoor shower at the public beach access area that again will let you rinse your feet before putting your flips back on.
The Crab Trap Destin has good food. It’s not cheap, but not outrageous either, and you get a great view. It’s one of the few local restaurants that truly has a view of the beach. The fish is local-caught for the most part. They import Alaska Snow Crab Legs which we notice is popular.
Make sure you ask for a table with a beach view or if it’s nice outside, that’s a wonderful option as well. The tables on the west side of the restaurant are best and seem to get a better breeze through the large windows that are kept open.
They have an outdoor beachside bar which is a great place to people- and beach-watch if there’s a wait for a table or to hang out if you grt there a little too early before sunset (you want to wait to walk back to your car after sunset starts!). There’s also a playground for kids to enjoy as well.
The seafood gumbo at The Crab Trap Destin is a favorite of ours. It’s very tasty, but even better, if you ask for the 29 cent cup of gumbo, you get it at that price instead of the regular $5.99. But you must ask your server for the cup of gumbo at that price and you must also order an entree, large salad or sandwich plate. Also tasty is the grouper sandwich with a side of coleslaw. The slaw goes on the sandwich and has just the right spicing to it. Yum!
If we schedule our date night just right, we get in a beautiful walk and have a very satisfying meal while enjoying both the daytime and sunset views of the Destin beach. A very nice way to enjoy a full evening in Destin without breaking the bank.