My husband and I are looking to rent a beachfront home for a week in September that allows a pet. We have been to Destin (too crowded) and Alabama. Intererested in great sunsets, and good local seafood.

Check out Abbott Realty or Garrett Realty - both have houses around Destin. I personally like Navarre and - oh, I'm drawing a blank on the place - it's near Seaside but NOT Seaside - about 30 minutes east of Destin - near Blue Mountain and Grayton Beach. For a pet friendly place, petswelcome.com may be able to give you some ideas.

I think Meg is thinking of Seacrest Beach, which is the next town after Seaside. Still retains some of the local charm, but new development is there too. Look for places along County Road 30A, and try local realty companies like Abbott Resorts. You also might look at the vrbo.com website, which stands for vacation rentals by owner. It is very well organized, with pictures and locations, and you talk with the owners. The prices are sometimes better, and we've been happy with the ones we've rented. Dune Allen Realty is another one that I think has a website with 30A listings.

My suggestion is to go to a1vacations.com. It is a wonderful site which brokers individually owned homes, condos, villas, etc for vacation rental. I used them after seeing a FODORS reommendation on this board for them. We rented a vacation home in Martha's Vineyard and were very pleased with the service. I then recommended them to my sister who booked a condo for her family in Ppanama City Beach with them. Check the site out, you will see inside and outside pictures of each place as well as get details on pricing.

Thank you, Marilyn - it's SEAGROVE, not Seacrest - but you jogged me enough to remember. I spent a wonderful week there last summer over the 4th. We just loved the place - but no pets were allowed in house we rented.

Pensacola is a good place.
Go to Pensacola sites for the type of rental you want. most take pets.

If you are worried about our recent news, we don't have problems in the day time, just remember we caution against going in the water at dusk and dawn.