We headed out around 8AM on Sunday morning. The drive was not bad AT ALL. First of all, our sweet neighbor (who also took in our mail and watered our flowers) lent us a portable DVD player so Grady could watch a few Sesame Street sing-along DVDs (the only thing he will watch on TV - has to be SS and has to be music). Secondly, we thought it would take like 9 hours, but it didn't even take 8, and that was with several stops. Check-in was very easy, which was a relief since I booked it through VRBO and was nervous about the whole thing. Our condo was gorgeous with great views - very close to the beach and very clean too. The weather was also nice when we arrived, and it wasn't even very hot. It has been SO SO hot in SC this summer (many many days of 100+) that FL felt cool the whole time we were there!

( pictures, video, and more recap... )

And it is actually available for our dates and well within our price range (nice - I always tend to totally blow our "budget").  I can't copy pictures, so here is the link if anyone cares to see.  It is oceanfront with a huge patio, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, nicely decorated.  I am excited!  There is a cool slideshow of it.

http://ambientvp.net/504_BeachManor_2br/index.htm 

ETA: I found some pictures I could save - here are a few...

Well I have been searching and narrowing and now have a list of potential condos for our August trip to Destin, FL.  All of these are in Sandestin and all have 2 bedrooms and 2 baths.  They are all beachfront too, since it needs to be convenient with G.  We hope to book in the next few weeks, as soon as we work out dates with my dad.

 
ETA: they are all in a similar price range, so that's not too much of an issue