I'll be in Destin the first week of October (2003) and would like to bring along my laptop computer. I have a couple of free/cheap internet access providers but need to know the local phone prefixes in order to set up my modem. I'm staying at the Destin Gulfgate which uses the prefixes of 837 & 654.

I currently use NetZero and Access4Free. NZ has a couple of prefixes available for Destin but A4F does not so I'm trying to see if any other prefix would be considered a local number instead of long distance. Can anybody advise me or give me the phone number of the local phone company so that I can check with them?

BTW, what sort of weather should I expect the first week of October?

The first week of October in Destin should be BEAUTIFUL! The heat and humidity will have abated, and you'll be enjoying the season we call Indian Summer. Perfect weather for swimming, fishing, beach activities - the air will be clear - the 'haze' of heat will have evaporated.

As far as prefixes, in addition to the ones you listed, I searched my database for Destin and found: 650, 865, 269, 913, 259, 337, 231

Some of these may be cell providers, but maybe one will do the job for you!

Have a great trip

If your provider only gives you city names, try the surrounding cities.

Two years ago, my dial up provider didn't even list Destin, but they had numbers from Niceville, Valparaiso, and Ft. Walton Beach.

And I'm sitting there thinking "Duh, they don't have Destin listed, but they have three cities that are local calls from Destin listed here. Why don't they know about Destin?"

Bottom line ... the world has not found out about Destin (for better or worse), so check one of the surrounding cities and see if that is in your list.

Personally, I am looking forward to when every broadband provider has access points all over like cell phones do now. Imagine tuning into Beach TV online with the full stream from a laptop anywhere!