We’re all familiar with road trips, some of us, are too familiar. Driving your car with the music up and the windows down, and the never-ending game I Spy. Either way, car rides lead you towards adventure and what’s on the way? Roadside attractions! Before you hit up a beach and parasail the day away and since you’re in the area of Destin on a joy ride we have a list of some roadside attractions to stop in.
Our Favorite Destin Roadside Attractions
Shark Mouth Building
Like a prop straight out of the 1975 film Jaws, this masterpiece sticks out like a sore thumb.. Or shark. The Shark Mouth Building is a colorful work of art with a giant mouth open shark as an entrance. This will probably be the only shark mouth you’ll ever want to walk into. The average size of a real shark’s head is about 13 feet. This one’s quite a bit bigger but still you get the sense you’ve lived to see day after being inside the jaws of a beast. This now gym used to be a shark museum and Souvenir City. Although the building’s purpose has shifted, tourists are still welcome to take photos within the sharps fangs at this Destin roadside attraction!
15-foot-tall Coca Cola
Are you a Coca Cola lover? If not, don’t worry, you won’t have to drink one unless you want to. This 15-foot coca cola is exactly as explained. The most outrageous yet fun roadside attraction to take pictures next to. There’s even a chair next to it to add to your photo op. Like most attractions, this one has a history. This abnormally tall cocoa bottle was purchased as a celebratory self-gift for celebrating the Buccaneers Gift Shop 35 years of being open. Wouldn’t it be great to get a Destin roadside attraction as a gift?
Oldest Surviving Goofy Golf
This place will make you feel like you’ve stepped right into a movie scene from the 1960s. The Goofy Golf Chain was made in 1959 by Lee Koplin and provides the fun of mini golf with the added bonus of colossal retro and colorful figures. This particular Goofy Golf was created by James W. Hayes and opened in 1958, technically beating the original by a year. The Goofy Golf is fun for a game with the family or just a photo op for passersby. Come to this retro lover’s dream and see what all the talks are about.
Double Decker Bus of Mannequins
If Irish pubs make you think of stouts, clovers, and green, according to this, missing McGuire’s Irish Pub means you’re missing something huge. What could that something be? A double-decker bus filled with mannequins, how did they find so many mannequins? What does this have to do with Ireland? Who knows and once you see for yourself, you probably don’t care because of its bewilderment. But real talk, the owner likes to collect double-deckers straight from Ireland and there are nine total with mannequins dressed for every season. Some of the buses work too! You can check out this Destin roadside attraction year round.
Shark Photo Op
Another fun shark-themed spot is at the Bass Pro Shop. Head to this Destin roadside attraction for fishing gear galore and leave with your jaw on the floor, because of the life-sized dangling shark fixture of course. The difference between this little guy and the last is its size, this one gives you a more realistic version to really fool your friends. Get a fun photo and then enjoy what Bass Pro shop has in store!
Futuro UFO House
Futuro is a dreamhouse really, is a house with a spaceship on top of it. This funky little number was built by the architect Matti Suuronen. But is it practical? The house has weathered a tornado and two hurricanes since it was built in 1968. The architect had an affinity for spaceship-like houses, coining them the “Futuro House” or “Futuro Pod”. Fewer than 100 were built in the 1960s and today not many remain due to the oil crisis of 1973 and the halt in plastic production, and the general disagreement with the public on the appeal of the buildings. Today a few are being restored but for the most part not many exist so take a picture while you can at this roadside attraction.
Surfer Dude Statue
This statue is dedicated to the proclaimed “duke of the gulf coast” his actual name Yancy Spencer III, checks out. Yancy opened his first surf shop as a teenager in 1970 and was named # 1 amateur surfer on the gulf coast. His bronzed statue hangs out life-sized in front of his Innerlight Surf Shop. Although Yancy is no longer with us, his spirit lives on through his store, his statue, and even the movie made about him, Chasing Mavericks.
Although the main attraction will remain Destin’s gleaming emerald waters, all of these roadside attractions really take it up ante with a bundle of fun oddness that never stops to bring a conversation to the table. Take one of these amazing stops or take them all, which do you choose?
