Monday, July 8, 2013

Wet Holiday in Destin


The long holiday weekend in Destin can be best summed up in one word, “WET.” It started raining on Wednesday as everyone was getting into town. And it kept raining right through to Sunday. Some place got over 20 inches of rain in those days. There was a lot of localized flooding and some washed out streets.

Sunshine Cindy and I didn’t go anywhere on Thursday, the 4th of July. All morning the rain pounded down. We were supposed to go to Steve and Dottie’s for a party in the late afternoon but about 2 we decided not to get out. It turns out the rain stopped for the evening and the party went on but we just stayed home and relaxed. We could hear the fireworks from the harbor. Turns out the harbor got packed with people who all came out since the rain stopped.

JB at the Monkey Bar

Friday we woke up to some light rain. Sunshine Cindy went into work for a while and I ran some errands. I got back home about 10:30 and the rain started back up. Sunshine Cindy got home about noon right as we started to get tornado warnings. Tiffany got called into work early and she left right before the big rains hit. Within about 10 after she left we could not get out of our driveway as the road was flooded in front of our house. For the next few hours the rain was a monsoon and water spouts and tornados were spotted all around us. It finally all passed about 4:00.

We decided we were going to get out of the house and headed to the harbor. Hwy. 98 was a parking lot but the back roads got me right there. I was able to pull into the parking garage right as they were closing it and found a spot to park. We went to Crab Island Cantina. All the guys were working behind the bar. Greg, Dominic, Kyle and Mike as they were expecting a big crowd during the evening. We talked to some tourist from Atlanta and Cincinnati. It looked like we might not get any more rain for the evening.

Sunshine Cindy and I hung around there and had a bite to eat while BS’ing with the guys. Judy came by to say hi. Everyone was tired as most did not get out until 3 or 4 in the morning the previous night. With the weather holding we walked down to the Monkey Bar. JB was getting ready to play for the night. We talked to him and his wife Tami. Tony and Amy were sitting outside and Sherrie came in. The weather had most of the other outside bars closed so everyone was making their way here. We talked to a couple from the Padre Island area of Texas. Turns out they have heard and enjoy listening to our good friend Jerry Diaz and Hanna’s Reef. Small world.

Kenny and Leann at The Boathouse

We had fun there but decided to move on to The Boathouse. As we walked up we saw Kenny out front with Catfish. Kenny was wondering if any of our group was going to show up. We went inside and found a corner at the bar. Jason was playing some good country music. The place was packed. A big group from W. Virginia was in there having a blast. Another friend, Ken came in and joined us. Finally a friend of Kenny’s, Leann joined us too. She used to work in Destin but moved back to Chicago. We had a great time watching everyone and cutting up with the staff.

It was getting late. We walked back to the car and went across the street to McGuires. Clay and Anthony were working the bar. Anthony asked about our Crab Island Mambo shirts. When he heard we were Parrotheads he said a few years ago Chuck Lawson used to play every Friday night and a big group of Parrotheads would come in. I told him I was part of that group. He always made sure he took care of us as he was serving at the time. Funny that he would remember that. It must have been 6 years ago. I know we did take good care of him too so I am sure he remembers that.

Mike Nash and Southern Drawl Band

Friday was a late night so we slept in on Saturday. When we did wake up it was, surprise, raining again. I got on the computer and worked on the upcoming Crab Island Mambo newsletter. We had friends who went to Landshark Landing at Margaritaville Hotel in Pensacola the night before to see Southern Drawl Band. They talked us into coming over there for the Saturday night show. We asked Julie if she wanted to go and she agreed and then offered to drive. Sweet! LOL  When we got there Judie, Kelly, Wayne and Cherie were already there. We pulled up some seats and joined them.

Long story short, we were there for over 6 hours having a blast. The band went on about 7 and they were still going after midnight when we decided we needed to head back home. There was a big crowd in the place and everyone had a good time. Mike and the band sounded great.

Sunshine Cindy and Kelly dancing

While there, Sunshine Cindy and I were able to ask Judie and Kelly if they wanted to be part of our “Best Friends” wedding party group. They are thrilled to be a part of big day. They join Julie, Wayne, Jan and Loujean. Of course Tiffany will have a big role too.

And on Sunday the sun came out….. Okay, it was not perfect but at least it did not rain. Sunday was a wind-it-down kind of day. I had to go to the harbor to talk to Crab Island Cantina about booking some Trop Rock musicians over the next several weeks. We have The Calypso Nuts playing on July 18th from 6 pm. This will be a great show as the harbor does fireworks on Thursdays and it is always packed with people. July 20th John Friday is playing from 3-7. And September 13th Jerry Diaz and Hanna’s Reef will be playing from 8-midnight. Plus we are trying to pin down some dates to get Southern Drawl Band back to the Cantina. Thanks to Carlos and the staff for helping support Trop Rock Music.

A cute couple

After I left the Cantina I stopped in at Crazy Lobster. Jesse was working the outside bar so I had to say hi. Jesse was our Crab Island Mambo bartender of the month back in March and he is a lot of fun. I stayed there for a while talking to some tourist and locals who stopped by. At one point we saw an old couple sitting on a bench and they were sound asleep. I got a picture then Jesse went behind them to get a picture as they were so cute. Jesse did the “Tebow” pose behind them. The old couple became stars and didn’t even know it.

Jesse doing his best "Tebow"

I made a stop at Landshark Pizza on the way home for some wings. Brian, Becca and Jason were working. Brian said they had a record day on Saturday. Good for them. The word is getting out about how good their pizza and wings are.

Sorry this blog was a long one but a lot happened the last few days! LOL  Have a great week. See ya Thursday.

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