Shopping in Destin

Disaster Relief Supply fortifies home- and business owners against storms, natural disasters, and hazardous accidents with an armory of practical survival tools available for purchase and rental. The flickering light of a Texsport double mantle propane lantern ($26.56) ensures the successful completion of crossword puzzles during power outages, and Dorcy LED rechargeable spotlights ($24.35) flag down choppers or facilitate high-budget shadow-puppet shows. Customers can bolster first and second lines of defense against accidental infernos with First Alert smoke alarms with battery backup ($9.99) and First Alert kitchen fire extinguishers ($13.25). Disaster Relief Supply's cache of rental equipment helps clients clean up after Mother Nature with carpet floor blowers ($23/day) for drying soggy rugs and 2-horsepower, 10-gallon wet/dry vacuums ($16/day) that slurp up debris and the last drops of renters' unwanted milk shakes.

The surfing and skating savants at Innerlight spread outdoor sporting enthusiasm through a wide selection of lessons and beachside merchandise. Stand-up paddle boarding (SUP) synthesizes the buoyant balance of surfing and self-propulsion of canoeing to form a single aquatic super-sport. Led by an American Red Cross–certified instructor, the one-hour private lesson hones pupils with boardborne basics. Students learn stable-paddling techniques, ocean-safety skills, and how to read the tides for good conditions without reading goggles. SUP riders receive a paddle and a height- and weight-appropriate board for use during the lesson, with training wheels available upon request.

Customers at Luxe Apothetique can seek the fashion infopinions of the stylish staff before outfitting both face and frame in high-end cosmetics, bags, and duds from famous names such as 7 for All Mankind, Splendid, and James Perse. Tasteful handbags and jewelry from Marc by Marc Jacobs ($38–$398) accent naked arms, and bills burning holes in flammable pockets are expertly contained in Marc’s stylish wallets. Luxe Apothetique's own line of dresses ($35–$95) mix elegance and utility like a cummerbunded assassin. Luxe Apothetique also stocks epidermal aids such as Kiehl's Crème De Corps lotion ($10-$17) to sate parched pores, and visual aids including Voluspa candles ($5.99–$39.99) to facilitate relaxing bedrooms or spooky bath-times.

For YOLO Board's team, "stand-up paddleboard" is an abbreviated term. Depending on who's taking the board out to sea, it might be a stand-up-and-surf board, or a stand-up-and-fish board—or, perhaps, just a stand-up-and-enjoy-the-view board. This versatility is part of why YOLO Board founders Jeff Archer and Tom Losee wanted to bring the hobby to Florida's coast. Another motive can be found in their business's name: YOLO, or "you only live once," speaks to their passion for adventure.

Today YOLO Board has outposts in Florida and California, as well as a line of boards and equipment available nationwide. There are even inflatable models, which makes transporting a board to the Caribbean a feat that no longer requires dressing it up as your tall, flat cousin. The sport's appeal has reached even farther, too—boarders have sent in pictures from locations such as Mozambique and Costa Rica, contributing to the YOLO World community.

Young women send hangers of gauzy tops and bold, colorful dresses clacking across Frock Candy’s colorful racks, where designs hang in four storefronts in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and Destin, Florida. Independent and well-known brands, such as Chinese Laundry, Qupid, Theme, and Lush supply casual and special-occasion dresses, prim and everyday tops, and shoes both saucy and demure to an inventory which rotates as tastes change. Frock Candy’s style experts forecast trends such as fresh colors and trending images of celebrity pets for each season.

Instructor Brittany Lee can attest to Joseph Pilates’ claim that “after 10 sessions, you will feel better”—she felt the same way after discovering Pilates herself despite an extremely active lifestyle of running, hiking, biking, and surfing. She imparts this same sense of well-being in classes at SoWal Pilates, where students perform the core-chiseling, muscle-lengthening moves on mats, with props, or on reformers. The class curriculum also includes Booty Barre, a blend of Pilates, dance, yoga, and sculpting that tones the body and torches calories.