Monday, January 25, 2016

Slow time of the year in Destin

Other than the snowbirds we have in town, it is real quiet around Destin. It’s nice being able to get around town and not sit in traffic. Sunshine Cindy and I laid pretty low the past week ourselves only getting out to make a few trips to some stores for food for us and Chaos. Otherwise we were bums hanging out and doing things around the house.

The snow storm that roared up the Mid-Atlantic states actually brought a lot of rain and wind to Destin before it headed north. We had wind gusts up to about 40 mph with a gas station having its awning blown apart. It also got cold as we had highs only reach the 50’s and lows in the 30’s. This is totally unacceptable for us. Heck, it was even cold in Key West as they had to break out the long pants and socks. I am ready for summer!!!

With the NFL Championship games on Sunday we know now who is in the Super Bowl and who is still alive in our Crab Island Mambo Super Bowl pool. Julie and Alan are the last two alive in the pool. Bad news for Jan and Lynn as their teams lost. We will be doing a Crab Island Mambo Super Bowl party at a still to be determined location. I will announce where it will be in next week’s blog. 

Driving by the old Wendy’s in Destin I saw a sign saying Panini Pete’s will be moving in soon. This is a restaurant that started in Fairhope, AL and has since opened a location in Mobile. This is their first location in Florida. It will be interesting to see how they do here.

Our pup Chaos is getting big. She is up to almost 30 pounds now. She is so smart and learns quickly. She is good about not chewing on things in the house but then we don’t leave her alone for too long yet. Like any pup she loves to play. She also loves to be outside. Our walks around the neighborhood is more like an aerobic exercise as she wants to almost run the whole way. It’s good exercise for her and me!

If you want something fun to do this Saturday evening head out to Val-P and The Boathouse for a night of music from Rob Romans. The Boathouse in Val-P has good food, excellent drinks and a cool location on the water. Rob always puts on a fun show too.

Then head over to Panama City Beach on Sunday afternoon for a show by Gene Mitchell at Sharkey’s. Gene is a Trop Rock superstar who will have you up and dancing to his original songs.

Have a great week. See ya next Monday!!!

Destin Steve

Monday, January 18, 2016

Fun busy week in Destin

Sunshine Cindy and I were on the go a lot this past week. It started out Wednesday evening. We headed to KC’s Sandbar to listen to Trop Rock musician Don Middlebrook play. Don was going to start at 7 pm inside the big tent on the sand. Ten minutes before he was supposed to start he told us he was cancelling the show because they allowed people to smoke and he is allergic to it. That was a bummer but we still had a good time with our friends who showed up for the music. We all sat around and still had a fun evening.

Thursday was Julies birthday. A group of us celebrated it at McGuires. There were twelve of us around a big table. It was cool as they had a big Lazy Susan in the middle of the table that was used to get drinks and food to those of us on the back side of the table. It’s always fun getting together with our friends like that. 

Friday was a beautiful day. I washed BadAss3 as it had been a while. The sun was out and it was nice and warm. Friday evening was a parrot head meeting at the new Landshark Pizza. Landshark is the clubs new home. Brian and his staff did a great job taking care of us. Jan and Kenny played for our entertainment and they sounded real good in there. We had over 100 people show up to party with a purpose. The new board did a great job on their first night on the job too.

Sunshine Cindy and I headed home after the party at Landshark. It was still a warm evening so we sat out on our back porch. Before long our neighbors joined us. We ended up on the porch till almost 1 am. Even Chaos had enough and went in the house and laid in her bed to sleep.

We pretty much relaxed on Saturday. The parrot heads were marching the Mardi Gras parade on the island but decided to stay home instead. We did some things around the house and on the computer but that was it. I did head out for a while to Landshark to watch some football. I sat at the pizza bar. Austin was working there. I had some wings and a few beers. Steve and Ida came in and sat next to me. Steve is a real character. I enjoy talking with him as you never know what he might say. I left Landshark as the Packers game was starting and the place filled up. I watched that game at home. It was the most exciting game of the weekend.

This must be our week for birthdays. Wayne’s birthday is today but we celebrated it on Sunday at Charlie’s Burger Bar inside Crab Island Cantina. We had a good turnout of friends show up. We ate, drank and watched some more football. A perfect Sunday Funday! Josh and Jasmine were taking of our group. Carlos had warned them we were coming. It ended with Alan and Jackie coming in too. They had just got back from New Orleans.

Speaking of New Orleans…A huge trop rock party, Pardi Gras, was held there this weekend. Over 500 of our friends were there. This is one intense party that starts on Thursday and does not end till Sunday afternoon with only a few hours of sleep each evening slowing everyone down. We hated to miss it this year but we will be there next year for sure!

The snowbirds are back in full force. It’s amazing how a few can give the entire group a reputation of being cheap. Sunshine Cindy and her parents went to Millers Ale House for lunch one day this past week. They had a bad experience there as a sign at the entrance highlighted $2 drafts of Kona beer. She and her dad got that special but when the bill came they were charged regular price. Sunshine Cindy went back out to look at the sign to confirm the price. The waitress was arguing with them the sign did not say that. While she was arguing the hostess went out and erased the special. They got the manager there and showed him you could still see the outline of chalk where it had been erased. Someone should be fired for this.

While talking to the manager they told him they were not snowbirds looking for a free handout. He laughed and told them about a couple that came in earlier in the week. The lady wanted some hot water. She then took the ketchup and poured it into the water. She then took some crackers that were on the table and put them in the water/ketchup mixture. That was her meal. You would think that if folks can afford to come to Destin they can afford to eat while they are here.

Have a great week. See ya next Monday….

Monday, January 11, 2016

No one has been killed by a vending machine yet…

It seems like everyone in the country is obsessed with the Powerball lottery. Everyone had to buy tickets for last Wednesday’s drawing. No one won. They did the same thing for Saturday’s drawing. Again no one has won. The new jackpot is over one billion dollars. I think you can buy a pretty nice car with that. Lol  The problem with Powerball is the odds. You have a better chance of being killed by a vending machine than winning the Powerball jackpot. Personally, I have never heard of anyone being killed by a vending machine. But you have a better chance of that happening then winning this jackpot. I will put my $2 in my pocket and buy a beer instead.

Sunshine Cindy and I got out on Sunday to watch some football. We first stopped at Charlies Burger Bar inside Crab Island Cantina. We watched the Vikes/Seahawks game there. Carlos was there running around. Josh was behind the bar. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the game. There were a bunch of Seahawk fans in there and they left happy as the Hawks won when the Vikings kicker missed a chip shot field goal.

Sunshine Cindy is originally from Minnesota but she has Seattle in the Super Bowl pool so she was a Seattle fan for this game. She hooted and hollered as loud as the Seahawk fans did when the kick was missed.

From there we went to Landshark Pizza to watch the Packers play the Redskins. The place was packed as usual for a Packers game. We found some seats at the pizza bar. Alan and Jackie were there so we joined them. It was a lot of fun watching the Packer fans get all worked up but in the end they won easily. It was fun seeing Alan and Jackie.


Some friends of our went to Tailfins on Friday night. Mustang Sally was playing there. It looked like they had a good time. We were sorry we had plans and could not join them.

It was announced that a couple of big nightclubs in the area closed after the first of the year. Nighttown has been a Destin staple for almost 40 years. It catered to the young crowd from its location a couple blocks off Hwy 98. It was closed permanently. The same group also owns The Swamp on the island. The Swamp also closed but is being remodeled into a restaurant and late night music spot. The Swamp was open for over 15 years. I guess it’s hard to keep big places like those profitable when you are only open a few evenings a week.

At the airport in Destin construction has started on the new Control Tower. This has been several years in the planning stages but it finally happening.

In Fort Walton Beach they tore down the old Brooks Bridge BBQ building this past week. The city bought the place and will put in a parking lot. Across the highway from this new parking lot the Landmark Center is starting to see some activity. They have the construction site fenced off and it looks like they might be really starting it this time. It will include a hotel, condo’s, commercial space for restaurants and a parking garage. This is a major project for Fort Walton Beach.

Speaking of Fort Walton Beach…This Wednesday evening Trop Rock musician Don Middlebrook will be playing at KC’s Sandbar from 7-9 pm. Don is an award winning singer and songwriter. Come out and enjoy Don’s music. You might even get to see the TV guide he stole from Jimmy Buffett’s mailbox years ago in Key West. Lol

Have a great week. We have Don on Wednesday, a party on Thursday, the Parrot Heads meeting on Friday at Landshark Pizza and a Mardi Gras parade on the island on Saturday. Yep, it will be a busy weekend. See ya next Monday!

Monday, January 4, 2016

The first Destin blog of the new year

Welcome to 2016 everyone! Sunshine Cindy and I sent 2015 off with a bang and we welcomed 2016 to Destin in style. I was off the entire last week so it was nice being able to relax a little. Unfortunately we both were fighting a cold the whole time but that only slightly slowed us down but it didn’t stop us!

One of the highlights of the week was getting to the Pointe to spend some time at the beach. We got lucky that only time we saw the sun the whole week was the day we went. Hoov and Russ were there. Dave who lives on a sailboat was there too. Russ had Ginger with him and Sunshine Cindy came and brought Chaos for her first trip to the beach. The temps were in the upper 70’s and we actually got some sun. It was great. Then the clouds came back and within a few hours it was raining again. But it was fun while it lasted.


That was on Tuesday and that evening we went to Landshark Pizza for Music Bingo. It’s a lot of fun as you get to test your knowledge of songs. The place was packed and everyone had fun. We sat with Kenny, Becky and B.  We didn’t win any of the games but it’s a blast playing.

For New Year’s Eve we headed to O’Quigley’s for an early dinner and to watch some football. They had some good specials going on for the college semi-final game. We ate well and enjoyed some cold brews. As the second game with Alabama was getting closer to coming on, the place was filling up with Bama fans. That was our cue to head home! Lol

We got home and partied with our neighbors, the Sue’s. The pups played and we all shared drinks and some stories. It was a nice way to spend the evening away from the crazies. I heard there was a bad wreck on Hwy 98 in front of AJ’s where a car flipped over. The westbound lanes were shut down. What a mess that must have been.

Sunshine Cindy and I were total bums on New Year’s Day. We never left the house…And it felt fantastic! We did make up for it on Saturday though. We started at the Rotten Apple. Tommy and his dad were there. Tommy took the Capt home then came back for a while. Tracy was working the bar. There were some locals in there as it was pretty quiet.

From there we went to Landshark Pizza to meet up with Alan and Jackie. We had not seen them in a few weeks. Julie also came and joined us then Wayne also came. We had a good group sitting at the pizza bar. Austin and Ryan were making pizza’s left and right. Steve and Ida came in then Ken and Lisa also came in. Landshark is becoming the place to be seen!

As everyone was leaving, Wayne, Sunshine Cindy and I headed to the new place on the harbor called Duck Duck. Chris from Helen Back opened this place. It was the Monkey Bar. They completely tore it down and rebuilt. It is a nice place that is a late night spot. We will be back. From there we stopped in at The Boathouse. Gunner was playing and it looked like all the locals were there as it was packed. We saw Kenny, Tommy, Faye, Cajun Mike, Terry and many other friends. Gunner was rocking the place. It was cool out but at least there was no wind blowing. We finally called it a night and headed home to check on Chaos.

Football Sunday we headed to Tailfins. Don, Bobby, Darla and others we have seen there for the games all sat with us. The Browns season came to a merciful end…And of course the team fired everyone meaning they will start over again next year. Ugh…  But we did have fun partying with everyone. There were multiple games being watched so we could cheer for some of our friends teams as they won. After the games we headed home so I could get ready to get back to work today.

I did hear over the weekend the old Mangoes in Fort Walton Beach at the Cinco Bayou bridge is being taken over by Cash Moore and Alan Laird. Yes, the Cash from Cash’s Liquor store fame and Alan from AJ’s. Cash is going to run a liquor store there and they will still have a restaurant and bar that Alan will operate. This place never seems to be able to make a go of it but these two guys just might be able to change that. It is supposed to reopen sometime in the spring. Also in Fort Walton Beach by the mall a new Hampton Inn is being built. This should do well as it is close to the industrial park.


I also want to let everyone know we have extended our special sale on our Crab Island Mambo tee’s and tank top shirts through January!
Special Price…..Only $15 and TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE for any style or size of our favorite Crab Island Mambo shirts. (Yes, $15 gets you two shirts!!!)
CIM shirts make great gifts! Ladies look great in them...hint hint guys! And we will even hand deliver if you are in a 40 mile radius of Destin as we love to take road trips!
Be sure to email us before you order to ensure we have what you want as our stock is limited. info@crabislandmambo.com
Get them before they are gone! http://crabislandmambo.com/Crab-Island-Mambo-Merchandise.html

Have a great week. See ya’ll next Monday!!!