Wet and Wild Weekend in Destin

What a crazy few days we had here in Destin. It started on Thursday night. Sunshine Cindy and I planned to get out for just a short while to relax. We stopped at Sago Sports Bar but it was closed for a private party. It turns out Roy Jones Jr., the boxer was performing there with his band. So we headed to Landshark pizza instead. There was a crowd building to watch the Wisconsin basketball game. As the game started Sue and Brian came in. Sue joined us and the party was on. We stayed for the entire game then the four of us walked down to Cash’s for a while. We finally headed home pretty late.

The best caption I saw about this photo from the storm: "Go home Shed. You are drunk!"

Friday about noon we had a major line of thunderstorms blow through our area. It was one of the most intense storms we have had in a long time. Wind gust were measured at over 75 mph. Trees and poles were down, power was out and debris was everywhere. The big canopy at Harborwalk over the stage collapsed in the middle of the storm. Good news is no one got hurt.

We had to go to Fort Walton to drop our taxes off with Tommy. The storm had been over for a few hours but the cleanup was still going on. When we got back to Destin we passed The Crust Pizzeria. The back of the building looked like their awning came down and they were closed. We stopped at Fisherman’s Wharf for some late lunch. They didn’t have any damage there. I ordered a happy hour appetizer of Buffalo Shrimp. I expected a small plate of shrimp. What I got was a big plate with a heaping mound of shrimp. It was delicious.

Jan and Kenny at Groovy Grouper

Friday night was a Parrot Head meeting at Groovy Grouper in the Destin Commons. Jan and Kenny were playing. Despite the fact it was still raining on and off, we had a good crowd show up for the party. We ran into our old neighbor Stephan who was working there. It was a fun night but time to head home after it was done.

Saturday did not turn out like originally planned. We were supposed to go to Niceville to hear Southern Drawl Band play in the evening. We got a call from Dottie about noon saying she heard the show was cancelled. We made some calls and found out the venue had the wrong date for the show and they were not set up for it. Oh well, that’s showbiz sometimes I guess.

Tom and Sandy's "Harbor Gifts" shop

Sunshine Cindy and I headed to the harbor instead. The plan was to talk to a few folks about Crab Island Mambo, have some dinner and head back home. Wayne was going to join us. Sunshine Cindy and I met Wayne at the Shark Shack. I wanted to talk to Tom and Sandy to make sure they were going to be there on Sunday as we would drop off our shirts they are going to carry in their store. Sandy was there and everything was a go for Sunday. The Shark Shack had a good crowd of fishheads hanging around like usual.

We then headed up the hill to The Crust. I wanted to see how Charley was doing after the storm. It turns out they took a big hit. The awnings over the outside seating area blew off and took out the power lines into the building. A bunch of their furniture from outside ended up blowing down Hwy. 98. They ended up having to close all day on Friday. They were back in business when we stopped. Again, at least no one got hurt.

 Wayne and Sunshine Cindy at The Crust Pizzeria

From there we walked over to AJ’s and then to the Lookout Bar at Margaritaville. Great views from both places. We decided to head to the Boathouse for some food but we made a stop at Fishheads first to talk to Melissa and Tom. They appear to be doing great with their place. Walking over we ran into James and Jonelle. We also saw Ken and his big dog Baby Girl. Finally at the Boathouse we got a table inside while the band Gunner was playing on the outside stage. We could hear them perfectly inside.

Jacey waited on us. She was pretty new there but she has a fun personality and fits right in with the others. Gigi came by to give us hard time about not being there for a week or so. They miss us! Bree and Courtney both came by to say hello and give us a hug. It’s like family in there. We were getting ready to leave when we heard the band say they had a special guest that was going to do a few songs with them. It turned out the drummer for the rock band AC/DC was there and he did a few songs. That was so cool. We ended up with an autographed drum stick and some pictures. It was then finally time to go home!

Hanging with Phil the drummer from AC/DC

And on Sunday we did not rest! Not with the Southern Drawl Band playing in Destin at Crab Island Cantina. Sunshine Cindy and I got down to the harbor about 1:15 for the 3 pm show. The band was already there setting up. It was great seeing Mike, Paul and Larry again. We were also introduced to the newest members of the band, JD and David. While they were setting up I ran a couple dozen Crab Island Mambo tee shirts to Bob so they can set them up in their gift shop. Look them up just west of AJ’s next to the Shark Shack. They have a lot of cool stuff besides our shirts.

Signed drum sticks

I ran into Matt while I was making this trip along the docks. He is working in the Marler charter boat rental booth. We are planning to do something to help drive some traffic to The Crust Pizzeria. Not sure what but something!

Back at the Cantina the crowd was growing as the weather was perfect. We probably had over 50 Mambo’ia

We were not done when they finished playing. Jan and Kenny were playing their regular gig at The Boathouse. So a big group of us ended up there to end Sunday Funday! It was quite the weekend in Destin!!!

It looks like we are going to have a good week weather wise. Southern Drawl will be playing at Juana’s in Navarre Wednesday through Saturday nights. We hope to get over there to catch another show or two! Have a great week. See ya Thursday!