Monday, December 25, 2017

Merry Christmas!!!

A short and sweet blog from Destin today. It was a quiet week around here. So… Sunshine Cindy and I want to wish everyone a fantastic Christmas. We hope everyone counts their blessings as we close out 2017.

Destin Steve

Monday, December 18, 2017

Almost time for the big guy to come visit

Yep, in one week Santa will be sliding down the palm trees to bring rum and tequila to all the good folks in Destin. Hey, I can dream!

This past week was pretty typical for this time of the year. It was cold then it warmed up and we got some thunderstorms and rain. The town is pretty quiet as most of the snowbirds have not showed up yet and the holiday crowds are not here either. Give it a week and all that will change.

My work has been busy. I had to go in on my off Friday for a while. When I got home Sunshine Cindy and I did some shopping. We went to Harborwalk Village as I needed a new pair of flip flops and a shop there had the ones I wanted. The flip flops are made in Hawaii so I not only shopped locally but bought American Made too!

We wanted to visit a shop we had been to in the Summer that had tons of local stuff but it was closed down and the location was up for rent. There were actually a bunch of empty shops in Harborwalk Village. I can imagine the rent is astronomical down there making it hard to turn a profit. The shops seem to come and go pretty quickly.

Since we were down there we stopped into Harry T’s for a drink. Red was working the bar. I got my traditional tequila sunrise. There were a few folks around the bar. Harry T’s has a great all day happy hour. Susan came in to start her shift while we were there. It was good seeing her and Red.

We decided to go to Ciao Italia for an early dinner. We really like this place. The food is great, the people friendly and it has a nice warm atmosphere. We were stuffed when we left and headed home for the evening.

Saturday was spent visiting with Sunshine Cindy’s parents. It was her Dad’s birthday so we all celebrated. When it got dark the lighted boat parade took place. The boats leave Bluewater Bay marina and make a pass in Rocky Bayou right in front of their house. A couple of neighbors came to join us we went to the dock to watch the boats. It was nice as the weather was comfortable.

Chaos was a good girl while we were gone. She didn’t tear apart the Christmas gifts under the tree I’m glad to say. Chaos loves to be outside and she doesn’t mess with stuff in the house anymore. (I hope I didn’t jinx it.)

Sunday Funday saw me watching football at Landshark again. The Browns still lost but it was a good time with our friends. I saw Curtis and also saw Amy as they were watching some of the other games. We only have two more games to get a win. This is like deja vue again from last year. Ugh!

Down on Okaloosa Island at the Boardwalk, The Black Pearl restaurant has closed. It was open for 11 years which is a long time for a restaurant. The Black Pearl was an upscale restaurant in a an area that was not upscale. Kudo’s to them for surviving 11 years. It’s reported a new restaurant is already in the works for that location as it is a prime beachfront location looking out at the Gulf of Mexico.

Have a great week. See ya’ll next Monday for a Christmas day “Living and Playing in Destin” blog!

Destin Steve

Monday, December 11, 2017

This loss hurt...

As any long time reader of my blog knows, I am a big Cleveland Browns fan. Yes, they suck but being a fan means you root for your team through thick and thin. But yesterday’s game was hard to take. The Browns had the game in control right up into the fourth quarter. Then it all fell apart and they lost in overtime. They have still not won a game this year but they should have beat the Packers yesterday. They need to learn how to win I guess.

On a brighter note my hockey team, the Tampa Bay Lightning is the best team in the NHL right now. They are playing awesome. So I have that going me! LOL

Mother nature decided to send Destin some winter weather this past week. A lot of areas in the south got snow but it stayed warm enough in Destin that we only got rain. We did have temps in the 30’s and 40’s though. That is way too cold me! My blood is thin and ”75 is pretty chilly to me.” (Thanks to a Jim Morris song for that line.) The Sun came back out on Saturday and it is warming back up into the 60’s today.

Friday night the Parrot Heads had our monthly meeting at Landshark Pizza. It was our Christmas party and also election of the new board of directors. We had BT playing for us and a big crowd of about 125 folks showed up. I will be Secretary again in 2018 and Sunshine Cindy was voted onto the board as a Member at Large. Our club has donated over $18,000 to local charities this year. We really do “Party with a Purpose!”

Saturday was the Destin Christmas parade. I planned to walk in the parade with Chaos but I had to go into work so we had to miss it. It was really cold so I am half glad I had to go to work. Sunshine Cindy and I did go to O’Quigley’s for dinner and to watch the second half of the Army / Navy game. I know our future is in good hands with these fine young men and women of the academy’s coming up through the ranks.

And of course on Sunday I went to Landshark to watch the Browns game with Bobby. We had good natured banter back and forth with Sue as she was trying to get her Packers to play better. I guess it worked!

After the game we had a Parrot Head board meeting. Most of the board members were going to watch the lighted boat parade in the harbor later in the evening so it made sense to have our board meeting before that. We will have a fun board next year and hope to surpass our donation total from 2017.

Around town an empty lot has been cleared next to ABC Liquor in front of Home Depot. I have not heard what is going in there. It looks like construction will be starting soon as the site work is almost done. It has the look of a fast food location but we shall see what actually happens.

Our friends with Lucky’s Rotten Apple in Destin have taken over the Tipsy Pig location in downtown Fort Walton Beach and made it into Lucky’s Ft. Walton. It looks like they are going to make it into a late night party spot with DJ’s and drink specials. Since The Swamp and Nightown closed down a void has existed for that type of club. Good luck on the venture.

One thing you hear a lot about now is so called “Fake news.” It wasn’t too long ago we just called this stuff lies! I saw a report a while back showing teenagers in Eastern Europe just pumping this stuff out to drive traffic to their web sites and they are making a lot of money doing it. In Destin someone started a Facebook page called, “City of Destin News.” This is a good old fashion satirical page that pokes fun at a lot of things in Destin and surrounding area. Nobody seems to know who is behind this page but whoever it is does a great job with it.  You can call it fake news if you like but this is not for monetary gain and instead is just satire. Check it out if you get a chance.

It is only two weeks till Christmas. Try to buy American Made if possible. There are some good web sites that only sell American Made items. Buying American Made is good for the economy and it really will make America great again!

Have a great week. See ya next Monday!

Destin Steve

Monday, December 4, 2017

Destin life…

Last Thursday was a big day along the Gulf Coast as well as the entire Atlantic ocean and Caribbean sea basin. Hurricane season ended Thursday I am glad to say. I don’t know how hurricane’s know when their season is done but I’m glad not to have to worry about them again for six months. It was a busy hurricane season this year but we survived in Destin with just a couple of glancing blows.

The other big news this week was our home remodel projects are completed. We spent more money than we planned (doesn’t everyone?) and there are still things we would like to do but for now, we are planning to just enjoy what we accomplished. Chad and his team finished up the last couple of items we had for them and the backsplash was completed.

I want to give a shout out to Tile Temptations in Miramar Beach. They went above and beyond to make sure the backsplash job got done this week. Give them a call if you need quality tile work done.

On Saturday after the last of the contractors left, Sunshine Cindy and I went to O’Quigley’s for some food, brews and watch some football. We saw and talked to Charley (the owner). He was telling us how he was just getting over the crud. He had Influenza B. That is one of the nasty ones but he looked like he was on the road to recovery. Sunshine Cindy had their Ruben sandwich. It is huge and good. I had a Cajun sausage and chicken pasta dinner that was great. It was a great way to celebrate the end of the remodel projects.

Sunday saw me head to Landshark to watch the Browns lose…Again! They had an afternoon game. Bobby joined me for a while and John was there to watch the Saints game. The early games were ending with some good finishes. The Jets guy was there going nuts for his J.E.T.S Jets, Jets, Jets! Packer fans were happy as the Pack won in OT. Donny was a happy Raven fan as they easily won too. I was the only disappointed one! LOL

Each year in early December The Donut Hole restaurant in Destin shuts down for a few weeks. They are now closed till just before Christmas. Gilligan’s is also shut down for the season.

This is a slow tourist time in Destin but we are seeing the Snowbirds return. The biggest numbers return right after the holidays but we have seen a lot of cars with Ontario, Michigan and Minnesota tags already. This is the time of the year where people are either driving 45 or 80 on the island. There is no in-between. The snowbirds catch a lot of flak for being cheap (some are but most are really cool) but they are a strong economic engine for our region. 

Our old house was in Diamond Lakes sub division. We had a lake behind our house. Last week they found a body in the lake. It was a mentally challenged person who wandered away from a group about a ½ mile away. No one is sure how he ended up in the lake but it a tragic end for him and his family.

This is a busy week in Destin. Friday night the Parrot Heads will be meeting at Landshark Pizza for our monthly meeting. BT will be playing for us. It should be a fun time. Saturday is the Destin Christmas parade. The parade goes right down Hwy. 98 from Main Street to Stalhman Ave. It is a two mile parade that is always a lot of fun to walk in or watch. It kicks off at 10 am. Then on Sunday is the lighted Christmas Boat Parade in the harbor. This is another fun Destin tradition. That starts about 5:30 I think.

Also on Sunday my Browns will be playing the Packers. You know we will be at Landshark hoping to spoil the Packers run to the playoffs. Lookout Brian and Sue…This is the Browns week!

Have a great week. See ya next Monday!

Destin Steve