Monday, August 27, 2018

Parrot Heads, beach and pool weekend in Destin

It was a fun laid back week in Destin last week.  With most of the tourist gone our traffic is back to a more normal level so getting home from work is a breeze now.

Sunshine Cindy and I did get out and about a few times. Thursday I went to Landshark Pizza to watch the Browns preseason football game. The pizza was good as usual and the Browns won the game so that was all good. Michelle was working the bar and took good care of me. But Wednesday night a person was hit and killed right in front of Landshark. Michelle was working and said it happened about 8 pm. The restaurant was packed and everyone saw it happen. She said people screamed in horror. A couple customers were nurses and they ran out to help and perform CPR but the guy didn’t make it. Michelle said everyone was in shock. She went from table to table to help the folks cope with what they just saw. She was still shaken up on Thursday talking about it.

The person hit was a local who had a bad hip. His girlfriend said it gave out on him and he fell into the street. What a sad time for everyone involved.

Friday night we had a Parrot Head phlocking at O’Quigley’s across from the Commons. O’Quigley’s was temporarily shut down the previous week by the health department. The board voted to keep our phlocking there. We did that because the health department went back and said everything was back up to code and we felt that this restaurant would now be the cleanest one in town. Sunshine Cindy and I talked with Charley the owner and he was embarrassed and said it was the only time in his career he has had a problem like this and he said it will be the last time too.

We had a fun time with music by Jeff and the Camaro’s from Panama City playing for us. The club made a check presentation to Alaqua Animal Rescue in the amount of $2000 from our May party. Alaqua does great work. That’s where we got Chaos from and we are glad we can help them with this donation.

Saturday the Parrot Heads had another beach cleanup on Okaloosa Island. The cleanup went well and then we had a fun beach party. The Gulf of Mexico was calm and there was no seaweed or jelly fish. It’s always fun on the beach.

On Sunday Sunshine Cindy and I spent the day at our pool. I cooked out and we had a nice relaxing day.

Around town the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant at the Outlet Mall closed on Tuesday. This was a fun place when they first opened but the word I’m getting is the corporation that owns this chain never followed through on their plans to expand the brand and basically let it die.

In the never ending parking drama at Harborwalk Village, they have announced they will stop charging for parking after Labor Day except on peak weekends like the Seafood Festival and New Year’s Eve. There is no way in hell the snowbirds would pay $10 to park there. And I know most of the locals have stayed away so this was really the only thing they could have done to keep some crowds coming down.

With this coming weekend being Labor Day weekend, we will get one more big tourist weekend. But this will be a come in on Friday and leave on Monday kind of weekend. So get out and enjoy everything Destin has to offer. See ya next Monday!

Destin Steve

Monday, August 20, 2018

And that’s a wrap…

Another summer tourist season has come to an end. Sure there are still a few stragglers hanging around but we can now drive around our town without having to worry about how backed up it might be. We will be busy on the Labor Day weekend but it’s time for the locals to come back out and enjoy our slice of paradise.

Sunshine Cindy and I had a pretty quiet week. Friday when I got off work we headed down to the harbor and Tailfins to watch the Browns preseason game and to listen to BT play. It was a beautiful night with a nice breeze keeping things comfortable. Jesse was working the bar and Rayleen took good care of us. Johnny stopped by and chatted with us for a while. BT had the crowd up and going as usual. When he started there was no one on the docks but by the time he was about an hour into his show the docks and tables were all full. Johnny has already hired him for next year playing Wednesday through Sunday again. BT has found a good home at Tailfins.

Saturday we ran a few errands and on Sunday we had a few friends over for a cook out and pool party. One nice part of the day was a toast we made to Kenny. I have had a bottle of Bud that we have been waiting to open. We felt Sunday was the perfect day. Cheer's to Kenny!!!


It was all in all a nice relaxing weekend.

Around town parking in the harbor district continues to be a major topic of discussion and discord. Now the city is exploring building one or two parking garages on the north side of Hwy 98. In a story in the Destin Log, preliminary estimates for a garage with about 531 parking spaces at the Marler Street lot might cost about $13.6 million and a garage with about 613 spaces at the Zerbe Street lot might cost about $18.7 million. That’s a lot of money but it would be worth it. The only other thing they need to do is build a skywalk over 98 so people can easily move across the highway without having traffic always stopping.

Destin is also exploring having an emergency corridor on the beach so emergency vehicles can get through. We have many places where it wall to wall people on the beach and they can’t get trucks through. Of course I wonder what all the rich folks and condo owners will say about losing some of their precious beach front. The same beach front they don’t want any of us commoners using!

Okay, this weekend is the Parrot Head beach cleanup. It really is! LOL  Saturday morning stating at 9:30 am we will be at beachwalk number two on Okaloosa Island. The Parrot Heads will also be meeting this Friday evening at O’Quigley’s across from the Commons. Come out and help us Party with Purpose!

Have a great week. A full recap will be coming next Monday.

Destin Steve

Monday, August 13, 2018

Destin’s summer season is coming to an end…

Local schools start back up today, other regional schools went back last week…yep, our tourist season is coming to an end for another year. Traffic last week was much better. And I expect this week to be back to normal.

Speaking of traffic…HarborWalk Village Chief Operating Officer Paul van Leeuwen must think everyone who lives in Destin is a moron. Ever since they instituted the paid parking, traffic is worse because cars back up onto 98 as they try to get into the parking lot to pay. But you would not know it to listen to him. Here is an excerpt from a Destin Log story last week and they quote the COO.

“I don’t wanna indicate that that traffic doesn’t back up, what I am told is that it doesn’t back up any worse than historically it has as the flows of people have increased into our lots over the years in recent years,” he said. “We’re mindful of it, we’ve had the Sheriff’s (Office) come visit, we’ve had the Highway Patrol come visit ... we’ve taken a look at all of our gate operations.”

This clown must not ever get out to look at it himself. He’s “told” it’s not any worse? How about standing out by the road and watch as cars block the intersection as they can’t pull in due to cars backed up from the tent where they pay the fee. I drive by there every day. I can personally attest to the fact they are causing traffic to be worse because of what they have instituted. I don’t begrudge them from charging to park. I would have done it long before now but don’t try and tell us with a straight face it’s not hurting our traffic issues. Figure out a way to get the cars into the Harborwalk lot quicker is what they need to be concentrating on.

It was a hectic week for Sunshine Cindy and I. Her mom had some surgery on Tuesday and went home on Sunday. So Sunshine Cindy was back and forth. Wednesday we had a Parrot Head board meeting. A big Thank You to Trish and John for hosting our meeting at your lovely home. Thursday I stopped at Landshark Pizza on the way home to watch the first half of the Browns preseason game. They actually looked pretty good for a preseason game and won too! Paige was working the bar. Sue and Colleen sat with me. Rose was there to watch the Saints game. It’s been a long time since I have seen her. It was a nice evening there.

Friday Sunshine Cindy was back to the hospital. I ran a bunch of errands then went to the Parrot Head meeting at Landshark. Paradise Bayou played and we had about 70 people show up for a fun time as we raised money for our current charity. Saturday I went to the hospital with Sunshine Cindy. We stayed for several hours. The hospital is in Gulf Breeze, about an hour drive so it was an all-day thing. When we got back to Destin we stopped at Tailfins for some late lunch.

The people watching from Tailfins is awesome. The amount of rental pontoon boats out on the water is amazing. In the late afternoon when they all are coming back in it is like rush hour in Atlanta. We witnessed two different incidents. The first one was a sheriff’s boat alongside a rental. They drifted out of sight down the harbor. Then a personal boat pulled up to Tailfins dock with a FWC patrol boat right behind them. There were 3 officers on who got out and they were all looking at the guys boat. Then a Luther’s employee came down to look too. We surmised a Luther rental must have hit this guys’ boat. The officers were watching and checking the Luther’s boats as they came back in. Eventually they handed the guy some papers and he took off. We didn’t see them id the boat that probably hit him.

Just as all that was ending we saw the sheriff’s boat going back out of the harbor. We could see a person in handcuffs in the back of the boat. More than likely they got the captain for drunk boating. Yep, never a dull moment on the harbor.

When we left Tailfins we headed home for the evening. Sunday I did some yard work, washed Badass and then we spent the afternoon in the pool. I grilled out and we had a nice relaxing day.

Around town Paula Deen and Destin Commons have announced plans to open a Paula Deen Family Kitchen family-style restaurant at Destin Commons. It is expected to open in the first quarter of 2019 on South Street by Uncle Buck’s Fishbowl & Grill.

This weekend the Parrot Heads will have a beach cleanup on Okaloosa Island. The cleanup starts at 9:30 am at beachwalk number 2 followed by a beach party. The theme for this cleanup is wings. Bring your best recipe and see if you can win the title of best wings.

Have a great week. See ya next Monday.

Destin Steve

Monday, August 6, 2018

Destin’s tourist season is winding down…

It was pretty obvious last week that some school systems have already got back in session. The traffic was much better getting home from work each night. Even with a lot of rain all week it was still pretty easy on 98. This week should be even better as more schools get back to it.

Speaking of rain…we had four days of it. I heard of some rain gauges that showed over 10 inches in just one day with other days being almost as bad. Thankfully our sandy soil drains fast so there were no flooding problems.

Sunshine Cindy and I got out on Friday evening. We went to Tailfins to listen to BT perform. Wayne and Ron joined us and we had a fun night. BT did his usual fun show. Jessee took good care of us. A nice breeze made it comfortable. The harbor stayed pretty busy too.

Saturday we went to Niceville to celebrate Sunshine Cindy’s moms birthday. It was a nice relaxing day. We cooked some Brats on the grill. Frank and Shelia who live a few houses away came over for a while. All in all a nice birthday for her mom.

Sunday I made a stop at Landshark Pizza for some wings. Sue was working the bar. Colleen was also there helping out on the floor. A guy sat next to me. I have seen him there from time to time but this was the first time I actually talked with him. Van is a big sports fan. We talked about all kind of sports. He has recently retired and is taking a month long trip to California. Good for him.

It was a good sports day for me. I watched the Indians beat the Angels. And Chase Elliott won his first NASCAR race of his career. He has finished second 8 time but finally got over the hump. Chase is Bill Elliott’s son. Bill was always my favorite driver so it’s good to see his boy doing well.

The only other thing I wanted to mention was last week Lebron James opened a school in his hometown of Akron. His foundation and the city of Akron public schools have opened this special school for at-risk kids. Right now they have 3rd and 4th graders but will be adding other grades as well. If the kids graduate they will be guaranteed a scholarship to Akron U. The kids will be fed and their school day will last longer than the traditional classes. This is a fantastic thing Lebron is doing to try and end the cycle of poverty and helplessness. He got a lot of help along the way when he was young and he is giving back. It sickens me to see Trump attack Lebron. He should be holding him up as an example of what people in power and influence can do.

Nothing really new happened in Destin this week. This Friday is our monthly Parrot Head meeting at Landshark Pizza. Come out and help us party with a purpose!

See ya next Monday!

Destin Steve