The great summer migration to the Florida Panhandle is well under way. Even if it's only in our minds, we're on the beach, wriggling our toes into the sand, leaning back under the umbrella to catch the breeze.

So, shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops? Check. Inflatable beach toys? Sunscreen? Check, check.

RYAN BLAKEY/New Orleans Times-Picayune (ENLARGE)

The view from the East Ruskin Beach Pavilion in Seaside is very inviting.

SUSAN POAG/New Orleans Times-Picayune (ENLARGE)

The Emerald Grand at HarborWalk Village is a 281-unit condo development with shops, restaurants and a 9,700-square-foot spa and fitness center. The development, on 14.7 acres at Destin Harbor, opened in June.

CHRIS GRANGER/New Orleans Times-Picayune (ENLARGE)

Grayton Beach is one of the popular stretches of sand and sea along the Gulf of Mexico for walking, relaxing and people-watching.

RELATED LINKS: • More Florida Panhandle photos

Those who make annual or semiregular treks don't need a global positioning system or an AAA Triptik. Just point the car and drive. But those who are new to the Panhandle might want to learn about the differences between Pensacola, Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Sandestin and the communities along Highway 30A.

And even those who have been a dozen times like to learn what's new. We're here to tell you.

Destin developments

For the past umpteen years, development razzmatazz has been synonymous with Destin, which, in the late 1960s and early 1970s had two motels and was called Silver Beach by regular visitors.

Life doesn't stand still on the Panhandle.

Destin is the beach town to check out when you want to party (consult nightlife

.emeraldcoast.com) and shop. There's Silver Sands Factory Stores, with upscale outlets from BCBG Max Azria to Brooks Brothers to Dana Buchman to Calvin Klein to the Disney Character Warehouse. And there's Destin Commons, a Tuscan- theme shopping center with a movie metroplex and stores such as Bass Pro Shops, Abercrombie & Fitch, Williams-Sonoma, Sharper Image and Build-a-Bear, as well as a Hard Rock Cafe and my favorite place for a light meal, Panera Bread.

Much of Destin is high-rise city, with one condo development after another. A notable exception is the low-key, all-adult Henderson Park Inn.

Want to know more? Call the Emerald Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-322-3319 or go to www.destin-fwb.com or write P.O. Box 609, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549-0609.

Read on for just a few of the newbies in the past year or so in Okaloosa County's Destin and Fort Walton Beach.

Sleeping in and up

The most noticeable development is the Emerald Grand at HarborWalk Village, mainly a condo development (281 units) with shops and restaurants.

Two residential towers are being completed on 14.7

acres on Destin Harbor; there's a 9,700-square-foot spa/fitness center, a couple of beachfront pools, a kids' club and much more. Check it out at www.emeraldgrande.com; click on Legendary Resorts for vacation rentals, which just started this summer, or call 1-800-676-0091.

Also relatively new and handled by Legendary Resorts are units at the more subdued Villages of Crystal Beach, 228 Grand Key Loop West in Destin. Near the gulf on the former Scenic Highway 98, it has a lagoon-style pool (30,000 square feet) and two-story houses that can be rented.

The Palms of Destin Resort and Conference Center opened not long ago just west of the intersection of U.S. 98 and Highway 293 (Mid-Bay Bridge). Among the amenities of this high-rise is an 11,000-square-foot lagoon pool. Call 1-877-373-6729 or go to www.palmsofdestin.com.

Azure Condominiums opened within the year on Okaloosa Island between Destin and Fort Walton Beach, but its confusing Web site (www.azurecondominiums.com) doesn't look like it has been updated. Some rentals are available on www.vrbo.com.

Beyond the beach

Downtown Fort Walton Beach is infinitely more old-fashioned and quieter (like the coast used to be) than Destin. Take the kids to the Fort Walton Beach Heritage Park and Cultural Center, 139 Miracle Strip Parkway S.E., to check out "Alligators: Dragons in Paradise." Call 850-833-9595.

Sandestin to Watersound

Beginning on the east side of Destin and ending just west of Carillon Beach and Panama City, South Walton County is promoted by tourism folks as the Beaches of South Walton.

Choices range from Sandestin to planned communities and state parks along a 26-mile stretch of beach straddling Highway 30A, which includes Blue Mountain Beach, Dune Allen, Grayton Beach, Seaside, Seagrove, WaterColor, Rosemary Beach, WaterSound and so many other places.

Nothing on 30A has been built higher than four stories in recent years, but for those who want more buzz, Destin, with its high-rise condos and restaurants and malls, is right down the road.

Find out more at 1-800-822-6877, www.beachesofsouthwalton.com .

Beyond the beach

Seaside and Sandestin are two of the busiest vacation spots; check their calendars of events at www.seasidefl.com (click Events) and at www.sandestin.com (click Calendar at top of page). In the meantime, here's what's newish this year.

Shop to heart's content

Grand Boulevard at Sandestin is a new development along two miles of Emerald Coast Parkway, just east of the entrance to the Sandestin resort. Shops and restaurants include P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Tommy Bahama's Tropical Cafe & Emporium, Orvis, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Coldwater Creek, J. Jill, Aveda Salon, Cantina Laredo Gourmet Mexican Food and Brooks Brothers Country Club (sports clothes for men).

Where to eat

In Grayton Beach, Doug and Kathy Krumel and their business partner Jamie Landreneau, all ex-residents of New Orleans, reopened the former D&K's Beach House as D&K's Cafe, a casual fine dining restaurant with a New Orleans design concept that Landreneau says "looks like Uptown New Orleans." Paintings and furnishings are from the Crescent City. Windows overlook the beach. 63 Hotz Ave., Grayton. 850-231-0455, www.dandkcafe.com.

In Seaside, chef Jim Shirley, author of "Good Grits: Southern Boy Cooks" and owner of the Fish House in Pensacola, has opened the Great Southern Cafe in the cottage cafe formerly occupied by Shades. The most popular menu item is Grits a Ya Ya, smoked Gouda cheese grits topped with bacon, spinach and mushrooms in cream gravy, with shrimp and "sweet potato hay." Rich, indeed. Another favorite is soul rolls, which are egg rolls filled with chicken, chopped collard greens served with peach chutney. 850-231-7327.

Finz, the beachside restaurant at Sandestin, has reopened with a "new look, new menu and new attitude," according to the Sandestin Globe, the resort's publication. Chef Robert Theriot's menu includes seafood napoleon, mero sea bass and a warm chocolate tart with Guinness ice cream and dark chocolate honey sauce. Oh, my. It's open for dinner Tuesdays to Sundays. 850-267-4800.

Jammin' at WaterColor

Cerulean's, an art gallery/wine cafe at WaterColor resort, presents the 30A Revue at 7 p.m. Saturdays. Participants in the family-oriented show are chosen each week from local and visiting musicians who perform at open-mike days on Wednesdays (6-8 p.m.) at the resort, which is on Highway 30A. 850-231-7735.

Seaside switches

In the midst of a multiyear plan centering on the green beside 30A as well as the beachfront, Seaside has a new building on Quincy Circle. Fusion Art Gallery already has moved into its larger quarters there.

Places to sleep

Alys Beach, a chichi development (everything is painted white) near the eastern end of 30A, has begun handling vacation rentals. Go to www.alysbeach.com, and click Visit, then Vacation Rentals.

The Hilton Sandestin is spending $3.4 million to renovate 216 rooms. 1-800-367-1271,www.sandestinbeachhilton.com.

• At Miramar Beach, the Embassy Suites Hotel-Destin recently refurbished its guest suites and many public spaces. 1-888-745-8832, www.embassydestin.com

Good work, completed

After seven years, the Western Walton County Beach Nourishment Project is done. It has restored 26,200 feet of beaches over five miles in western Walton County, adding 75 to 100 feet of beaches.

Sad goodbyes

The 1950s/'60s-style Seagrove Villas on 30A east of Seaside apparently will be torn down, said Tracy Louthian, spokesperson for the Beaches of South Walton. The beachfront property was bought by Nature Walk, a development on the north side of the highway that reportedly wants direct access to the Gulf of Mexico.

Louthian also said that Walton County has bought Bayou Arts and Antiques, Santa Rosa Beach's wonderfully quirky shop in the woods (with a pet cemetery outside) and its property to keep as a nature preserve.

Pensacola bound

Pensacola has long been a big draw for Georgians and others in Southeastern states. It attracts visitors to antiques shops and other places in the old part of the city as well as to its beaches.

The National Museum of Naval Aviation (www.navalaviationmuseum.org) at the Pensacola Naval Air Station is worth a trip by itself.

Pensacola Beach has struggled to resurrect itself after Hurricane Ivan, but it's coming back. If you want to know more, contact the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-874-1234, 850-434-1234 or www.visitpensacola.com (although it's not easy to navigate). As for updates, read on for a few.

New place to stay

The Towers at Pensacola Beach, a 93-room condo-hotel at 12 Via de Luna Drive, opened as an addition to the Hilton Garden Inn. 850-916-2999, www.innisfree.com.

Where to party

The Fish House Deck Bar in downtown Pensacola, on the edge of Pensacola Bay, has a fire pit conversation area, food and a bandstand with a dance floor featuring local and regional bands on weekends. 600 S. Barracks St., 850-470-0003, www.goodgrits.com.

Beyond the beach

A new exhibit at the Museum of Commerce is called "Life Reflected in Ink: Newspapering in Northwest Florida, 1920s-1930s." There's a little newsroom, from the vintage of "The Front Page," as well as a press room that showcases the early 1900s.

Manuel Barrios Cottage, which interprets life in Pensacola in 1929, is the newest addition to Historic Pensacola Village. 850-595-5985 or www.historicpensacola.org.

From 7 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday this summer, those who want to shake their hips or sway their shoulders can head to the Gulfside Pavilion on Pensacola Beach for Bands on the Beach nights. 850-932-1500, www.visit pensacolabeach.com.

In downtown Pensacola, Evenings in Olde Seville Square features all kinds of music, from big band to jazz to rock 'n' roll. It's free and it runs Thursdays through Aug. 16, attracting families who bring picnics or buy food from vendors.

Go slow! Road work!

Construction upgrades are featured in Escambia County's press materials as a good thing. But summer vacationers know they mean delays. Florida is widening I-10 and I-110 as well as replacing the I-110 Escambia Bay Bridge and a new I-110 interchange at Airport Boulevard. Via de Luna Drive on Pensacola Beach is being widened.