GROWING UP DESTIN: A miracle baby, a teen hockey star, a local Realtor and a dog are united by a common bond — they all go by the name of Destin

Everyone knows that the Destins are one of the founding families of our namesake city. But lately Destin is making a first name for itself.

After a travel writer suggested that Destin was becoming a trendy travel name for babies, The Log sought out those who have named their “babies” after the World’s Luckiest Fishing Village. Here are their stories — in their own words.

Destined to be Destin: A miracle in paradise
By Tammy Schneider of Newnan, Georgia

After being married for 17 years, my husband and I lost our dog after a yearlong battle with heart problems. She was our child. She had been with us the first year we started dating back in 1981. When she passed away our lives and souls felt incomplete. We started talking about the B word — a real child! Our age at this time was 35.

I remember the first time and place we went to conceive. That place was the most beautiful place I had ever been! The sand so white; at night it looked as if there was snow on the ground. The sky so blue, the ocean water so green and the sunsets were just breathtaking. Destin was paradise.

We both thought that on our vacation, where everything was perfect, we would be saying in no time that we were pregnant!

Starting for home on our sad last day in paradise, with both of us not wanting to leave, we came upon a newly built sign for condos. We stopped, I got out of the car, and my husband videotaped me standing next to the sign saying these words. “Our baby’s name is going to be called Destiny.”

Well the next month came, and we were not pregnant.

We tried again and again. Doctor after doctor, another vacation in Destin, specialist after specialist, drug after drug — and even surgery.

We then took another vacation in beautiful Destin. But after our fourth year of trying to conceive our child, I started having stomach problems, due to taking a lot of hormones and I guess some depression.

I put on weight, went on a diet to lose the pounds and even lost a few. But on this day that my husband came home from work early with an upper chest cold, I told him about my side hurting.

We both made appointments to see the doctor. The nurse took my urine sample and I waited for my husband to be seen by the doctor. The nurse rounded the corner and said, “Congratulations!”

It did not even register and she said it again, “Congratulations, you’re going to be a mommy!” I said “NO WAY!

Are you sure that is my pee-pee and not someone else’s?”

You could have knocked me over with a feather. She said, “Let’s go tell your husband.” By this time I was crying hard.

We went into the door where my husband and doctor were. My husband assumed the worst. A few years back the specialist had found that my colon had attached itself to my stomach wall and had to be removed. So he thought they had found something bad again, until the nurse said, “Congratulations PaPa.”

He, too, was in shock. See, we had told ourselves and the good Lord above that the first of the year was going to be the END of trying for our baby.

It was the end of November when we got the great news.

Now at the age of 41, on Aug. 14, 2001, our precious angel was born. His name was not Destiny, where our journey had begun, but Destin, for he was destined to be here for us!

When we took a trip to Destin with our son two years ago, he kept saying to us, “Look there’s my name on that and there’s my name over there! Why did they use my name so many times down here?” That’s when we told him our story, too!

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Destin on ice: A fishing legend’s great-grandson
By the Edgingtons of Utah

Destin Edgington, now 18, was born on March 20, 1991, to Randy and Patricia Edgington. They were wed on Destin Capt. Irby EE Windes’ boat on the Choctawhatchee Bay.

Destin was born in Ogden, Utah, where he attended 12 years of school.

He started playing hockey as a Minnie Mite at the age of 4. He finished his senior year at Freemont High where he was chosen as the captain of his hockey team. He was also on a travel team.

His travel team took him as far as Canada to compete. Freemont High’s hockey team won the state championship in 2008. Destin works as a painter, he enjoys his motorcycle, hunting and camping, where he lives in Utah.
Destin’s family still frequents Destin, Fla. Destin’s grandmother, Barbara, was born and raised in the World’s Luckiest Fishing Village.

His very unique name has made him a walking billboard for a part of Florida that many in Utah can’t even find on a map. Throughout life, he has always been called Dustin and he always corrects people.

Destin’s real name is Thomas. But for three generations, the men have gone by their middle names. In school, Destin was sometimes called Thomas and no one knew who the teacher was talking about.

Due to the beautiful beaches, the scenery, and his lineage, Destin earned his name. Destin’s great papa is Reddin Brunson, Capt. Salty, to the locals around Destin where he still lives.

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At first a fluke, now Destin sells Destin
By Destin Lowery-Skinner of Destin

It was a perfect December day with a winter blue sky as far as the eye could see. This was our first trip to Destin in 1984.

My father, Rodney Lowery, was in the van business and one day a customer had come to buy some vans and he told my father about Destin, Florida. He said that one day this small fishing village would be someplace BIG!

So my father traded vans for condos, which led to the perfect second home to me.

I would love to write a romantic tale about the gleam in my father’s eyes while looking at the emerald green waters. But, you see, I was born nine years before in Alabama, and my mom named me after a cheerleader. She loved the name so much that I became Destin Lowery (now Skinner).

The name Destin has always worked well for me.

My father was a karate instructor, so I received my black belt at age 9, and a 2nd degree by age 12. I was a busy teenager and I made the Top 12 in Teen Magazine’s Sportsgirl of the year.

Since then, one of my friends in karate, who now has her own karate school, visited Destin and decided to name her little girl Destin after me because she too loved the name.

My parents loved Destin, Fla., so much we decided to make it our home for good! We moved to Destin permanently in 1993.

I received a basketball scholarship to what was then Okaloosa-Walton Community College. I graduated in 1995 and decided to go to Florida State University in Tallahassee, which I graduated from in 1997.

I moved to Jacksonville in 1997 and missed Destin so much that I decided to move back here in 1999. My parents, meanwhile, were investing in real estate, so I decided to get my real estate license in 1999.

I became a member of the Susie Kirkland Team!

I didn’t realize how well the name Destin would help me in real estate. I love being a member of the Susie Kirkland Team. People call and Susie says, ‘Let me let you talk to Destin’ and they always say, ‘WHO?’

People love the name. They love it when they see how much enthusiasm I have for real estate, and I love Destin.

I guess you can say, “Destin sells Destin.” I will always be thankful for RE/MAX Southern Realty and Susie Kirkland for allowing me the chance to be on her real estate team and for training me. Without her, I would never have been able to obtain the award in RE/MAX’s Hall Of Fame and Chairmen Club in 2005.

I will always be thankful to my mom and dad for naming me Destin and giving me such a wonderful childhood — and for moving me to paradise.

I guess you can say it is “destiny” that I moved here!

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A perfect place, a perfect pet: A dog named Destin
By Ron and Angie Hallman of Destin

We visited Destin in 1992 and saw the most beautiful sunset ever. I told my husband, “This is where I want to live.”

Shortly after that, it was Thanksgiving and we were visiting our daughter when, as we were leaving her home, she said, “Mom, look at this dog. It doesn’t belong to anyone.”

I didn’t want to look because we had lost a dog 10 years prior and hadn’t gotten over it. But, when I looked into the dog’s eyes, I saw Destin. So that is what we named her to remind us of the perfect place we wanted to live out our lives.

We bought property before we left this city and in 2000 built our retirement home.
When we rescued Destin, we weren’t sure if she would stay with us. She had been “on her own” for about two years and was used to her independence. One day, she managed to go out the front door without a leash.

I tried to catch her, but Destin had learned over those years how not to be caught. She would pretend to go to the right and when you reached for her, she would quickly go left. She was the fastest dog I had ever seen. I was supposed to meet my husband at a store so I panicked. I didn’t want to leave without knowing she was OK. I called the store and left a message for my husband with the clerk. As I opened the front door to leave, Destin walked back into the house and looked up at me as if to say, “Thanks." That is when I knew she wasn’t going to run away. She was “home."

The next day, my husband called me into the bedroom. He said, “Look at your pillow." Right in the middle of my pillow was a dog treat. Of course, I just figured Destin had put it there for later, but it did occur to me that this was a dog that most likely had been starving for two years. The next day, she put one in the middle of the chair where my husband sat to watch TV.

I knew then she was showing her gratitude. Because we were feeding her, I think she wanted to repay us in some way. The next day, she presented us with a bird she had caught.

When I explained that we didn’t harm birds, she never caught another one. I didn’t explain that we don’t eat birds.  

OK, I’m not sure I should tell you this one. It was our first night in our new house. We had been working and I wanted to take a shower. I decided (stupidly) to give Destin a shower at the same time. It was one of those “it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

As I bent over to apply the soap, Destin slipped and her toenail got caught in the shower drain. She couldn’t move. I couldn’t get it loosened. I screamed for my husband to come help and bring a screwdriver. But we didn’t have any tools so he went next door to get one.

Ron had a habit of locking the door behind him, but he forgot to take a key. When I realized what was happening ... that I was stark naked in the shower with a dog who couldn’t move and a husband who was locked out, I did what anyone else would do ... I prayed. All of a sudden, Destin relaxed and her paw moved. She was free. And so was I.

That was the first and last time we showered together.

Destin was more than just a dog and, as you can by tell my stories, she seemed special in so many ways.
When she stood at the foot of my husband’s recliner with one paw bent and her legs so straight as if she were standing at a bar, she looked like a little child. Sometimes, we had to remind ourselves that Destin was a dog.

As a matter of fact, Destin had a brush with fame in 2005 in The Destin Log. She was struck by a rock that embedded into her shoulder one day, and because of that story, our street, Crystal Beach Drive, was paved. She used to stand in the corner of our front yard behind the 4-foot fence and watch the people walking by. Everyone loved her. We used to joke that we should have named her “What a Cute Dog!”

Destin recently left this perfect place for an even more perfect place at age 20. We will miss her; but whenever someone mentions the name Destin, it will only remind us of how lucky we were to find her and this perfect place.