Sunshine Cindy's Big 5-0 weekend

It was another incredible weekend here on the Emerald Coast. We celebrated Sunshine Cindy's birthday all weekend!!! It started Thursday as I documented in my last blog. Friday Sunshine Cindy went to TGIFriday's in Destin to meet her Mom and her Mom's friends. They get together for lunch on a regular basis and this day they all got together with gifts for Sunshine Cindy. Even TGIF got into the act by buying her lunch and drinks. I guess she goes there a lot to get this kind of treatment! lol

Anglers Beachside Bar

Friday evening was a Parrothead phlocking at Anglers on the island. Bwana Ray was playing and did a great job. It was a beautiful evening out on the deck with the gulf behind us. Saturday was the big party for Sunshine Cindy at KC's Sandbar in Fort Walton Beach. I invited all of our friends to come and party with us. Over 50 of them took up the offer. We had Jeff Brewer and the Camaro's from Panama City playing for us. He did a great job. Owners Mike and Bev were more than generous in taking care of Sunshine Cindy's food and drinks for the day and getting the music.

Sunshine Cindy and Loujean

A special thanks goes out to Cindy's parents Jim and Pam and our friend Loujean for all their help with getting decorations and arranging for the cake. Renee did a fantastic job on the cake. We had another perfect weather day with it actually being a little hot so most of the party was upstairs on the balcony tables. Being able to share this day with all of Sunshine Cindy's friends was important to her and she was moved by all of their love.

We had planned to take it easier on Sunday. Sunshine Cindy stayed at home to catch up on some things but I decided to go the Pointe to spend one more day on the sand with Dennis before he heads back to Afghanistan on Wednesday. I know it is a broken record but we had another glorious day. There was a deep blue sky with only a hint of a breeze. Russ, Jan, Loujean, Anny and Dennis's daughter Whitney and her sons were all there to swim and soak up some rays.

Tipsy Turtle

As the day was winding down Jan and Loujean wanted to go to the Tipsy Turtle on the harbor. I called Sunshine Cindy and told her to get ready. I picked her up and over there we went. The area around the bar was packed. Matt and Mindy were playing music and bartender of the month Matt was serving. A fun time was had by all. Jan even got up and did a couple of songs with Mindy. The Tipsy Turtle is fast becoming one of our favorite places in Destin.

Till Thursday....

Post Rendezvous Blues

It is always hard to get back into the swing of things when you are gone even if it was only for a few days like our trip Panama City Beach was for Rendezvous. But somehow we always find a way to get the motor going again. The blog is a little late getting out as we celebrated Sunshine Cindy's birthday yesterday. We will have a big party Saturday at KC's Sandbar with all of our friends. Everyone is welcome.

Sunshine Cindy in the BIG chair

Otherwise we did get out and about a little this week. Wednesday we went down to the harbor. We wanted to check out the new Crab Island Cantina. It is in the old Dancing Iguana location. They have only been open a few days and it showed. We sat at the bar and it took a while to get served. The place was pretty crowded which was nice to see. The prices are good so I know they will get the kinks worked out. We got to talk briefly with Carlos who is a partner in the venture. Maybe one day Crab Island Mambo and Crab Island Cantina will be able to team up.

We left there and went to Hogs Breath. We sat inside at the bar as the outside bar was packed. We had some dinner and a few drinks. I got to watch some hockey too as the Caps were beating the Bruins. We called it a night afterwards.

Sunshine Cindy and her new crab necklace 

Thursday when I got home from work Sunshine Cindy's parents were here with cake to start the days long celebration of her birthday! lol  We had fun talking and having a couple of beers. When they left we went to La Famiglia for dinner. This is turning into our favorite Italian restaurant in town. Always great food. After dinner it was to the Rotten Apple for a nightcap and then home.

Tonight is a Parrothead phlocking at Anglers on the island. Then to KC's tomorrow for the party. Jeff Brewer and the Camaro's from Panama City will be playing at 3:00. Come on out......

Panama City PHC Rendezvous

This weekend was the 7th annual Panama City PHC Rendezvous. This is a gathering of over 500 Parrotheads from all over the country to party and raise money for the Children's Home Society. Crab Island Mambo was a sponsor this year.

Sunshine Cindy and I got there Thursday afternoon and got checked in. We saw good friends Barry and Kathy from Lake Charles. Thursday was spent catching up with old friends and making new ones. We ended up going to Tootsies at Pier Park for some music. Sunshine Cindy and I were there with Tonya, Dave, Kat, Steve and Debbie. We had a good time and got back to the room about 12:30 am. We sat outside and ended up talking to a tourist from Canada about hockey and one of the bartenders from the Barefoot Beach club.

Our tent on the beach before the storms trashed it

Friday was a great day. The weather was perfect. We set up on the beach and welcomed our local Parrotheads as they made it there. The music was great with Capt. Josh, Brent Burns and The Boat Drunks. You could not ask for a better day. We were up till past 2:00 am with friends.

Saturday the weather was as bad as it was good Friday. Storms blew in all day. Most of the music was washed out on the beach. They put Gene Mitchell and the Barefoot Man upstairs in the Barefoot Beach Club. It is small but everyone made the best of it. We threw a party in our room with Larry boiling shrimp. A bunch of other food was there and we all dodged raindrops as the party continued. Later some musicians did an acoustic jam under an overhang. It was a lot fun. This turned into another late night as we partied with some folks from Texas who were in the room above us.

Jello shots on the beach

Sunday it cleared out again. We had another great day on the beach. More wonderful music. We passed around Sunshine Cindy's drunk fruit to rave reviews. Finally in the evening we went with Larry, Brodie, Barry and Kathy to dinner at the Back Porch. Good food and good conversation made a nice close to the party. Finally today we packed up the two vehicles and headed home. It was a fun weekend. We can't wait to do it again!

Till Thursday...

Destin in the Spring

One of the nice things about living in Destin is being here this time of the year. The spring break crowds are gone and the summer season is a month and a half away so the roads and restaurants are less crowded right now. Add to that the weather is warming up and you have reason number 689 as to why we call this area paradise! There are people already in the water at Crab Island and the boating traffic is picking up considerably. I love living here in case you had not noticed.

Destin Beach

The first couple of days this week was spent getting ready for our trip to Panama City Beach. We will be there this weekend for the Parrothead Rendezvous. Over 500 of our closest friends will be there. We were getting all of our Crab Island Mambo merchandise ready as well as our decorations. It will be another great time on the beach with Trop Rock music and good friends. Other than that, Monday and Tuesday was pretty quiet.

Wednesday was a different story. We picked up Dennis and headed over to KC's so Dennis could do some guitar picking with Jan and the other sunset sing-a-long folks. Well, turns out there was a band booked so no one played but we still had a great time. The place was packed and just about everyone we know was there. Of course Jan and Loujean were there plus Wayne, Kenny, Scott, Michele, Terry, James even Russ made the trip over two bridges to come out. Matt and Melissa were behind the bar. Jan was in fine form as Mike bought him a couple of shots of Jagar. That got him wound up! Even though Dennis didn't get to play any music, we all had a great time as usual.

Drunk fruit at Rendezvous

Getting ready to head over to Panama City Beach for Rendezvous. We can't wait to catch up with all our old friends. A full report to be published Monday (I hope lol). Till then....

Fun weekend!

There are days where we don't have any idea what we are going to do but somehow these kinds of days always turn out to be fun. Friday was no different. After signing our taxes Sunshine Cindy and I decided to head to the harbor for some lunch to enjoy the fantastic day we were having. We went to Tightlines for lunch where Autumn waited on us. We had Mahi and Grouper sandwiches which were okay. We left and walked down to the Tipsy Turtle for a beer and to enjoy the sun. Dennis was across the harbor at The Pointe and we were waving across the water. We planned to go to the Crazy Lobster but heading over there a golf cart was passing by and the driver hollered at us. It was Carlos from Extreme Marketing who has done our T-Shirts. Carlos is a partner in a new venture at Harborwalk called Crab Island Cantina where the Dancing Iguana used to be.

Sunshine Cindy and Dennis

We got a personal tour as they are prepared to open  in a few days. Looks like it will be a great place. They have a million dollar view that will help! Up to Harry T's we went where the views are also great. It was time for us to head to Fuds for a Parrothead meeting. We got there and had a great time. Steve Hall was playing and he always gets the crowd going. Saw some friends we had not seen in a while. Dennis came there too. It's great having him home from Afghanistan  for a few weeks.

A group decided to head to the Legion for some karaoke. We took Dennis there where his wife met him. Wayne, Julie, Suzanne were all there. I actually did a song. Yes, me! lol  We did have a special moment. I told the commander about Dennis being back for a while. A few minutes later he came out with bagpipes and did a speech about how important everyone is in a battle field including people like Dennis. It choked everyone up. Then he played Amazing  Grace on the bagpipes. What a special moment! Like I said, you never know what we might end up doing in Destin.

We needed to rest a little on Saturday after the fun Friday we had. I worked on the computer for a while publishing the Crab Island Mambo Mullet Wrapper newsletter.
(http://www.crabislandmambo.com/Mullet-Wrapper-April-2012.html)
I then took a bike ride to try and get some exercise. Rode about 6 miles. We then got ready to visit with Larry and Brodie in their new place in Mack Bayou. A nice house right across the street from the bay. They put out a great spread of food. Larry loves to cook and he did a Jerk Chicken that was fantastic. They also had a shrimp salad that was to die for. Then Larry opened a bottle of tequila he was saving for us. He bought it in Mexico a few months ago. Very expensive. Aged 12 years. What a great flavor. It did not even taste like tequila. I can see why it was so expensive. Thanks for sharing it Larry and thanks to you and Brodie for a great evening!

Jan and Dennis at The Pointe

Sunday was a beach day at the Pointe. With Dennis back in town it was like old times. We had the usual suspects Russ, Ginger, Bill and Wayne there. Capt. Ron and Joanie stopped by for a bit and Dave and his daughter came out too. But the highlight was Jan and Loujean coming out to party with us. Jan and Dennis broke out the guitars, we talked to tourist, called the coast guard about a sailboat that was adrift dragging it’s anchor right down the middle of the channel…yep, a normal fun day at The Pointe.

It’s a short week. Panama City Beach awaits us this Thursday. Updated blog to come out before we leave. Till then….

Dog Days of Spring

We have the “Dog Days of Summer” so I was wondering if it is possible to have “Dog Days of Spring?” If so, we are in the middle of it as the weather has been perfect here on the Emerald Coast. Upper 70’s by day and low 60’s by night. Can’t beat it. It was a quiet couple of days to start the week. Tourist traffic is down after Easter. I spent a lot of time on Crab Island Mambo stuff.

Fun in New Orleans at Six String Music Festival

I was able to book a 4 day weekend in New Orleans in August for Six String Music Festival. Crab Island Mambo is going to be a sponsor for this event. It should bring us some good publicity. I am also in the process of booking our place in Key West for MOTM at the end of October and first week of November. Have to have something to look forward to!

On Wednesday evening Sunshine Cindy and I went to KC’s for their sunset sing-along. It is always a lot of fun there. As we walked up Terry and Michele were at the bar. We grabbed a couple of chairs next to them and proceeded to catch up. Sara was behind the bar and she was kept busy with a good sized crowd. We had texted Wayne that we were there and he came out too. Pretty soon Jan and Kenny showed up. Jan is the unofficial lead of the jam session. He sings a lot of Trop Rock songs and keeps the crowd entertained. Last night he broke out a new song he wrote about Crab Island Mambo. WE LOVED IT! It gave us chills knowing what we are doing with CIM is reaching people. I hope to get a live recording of the song. If I do, it will go on our Crab Island Mambo web site.

Hoov and Jan playing music on the beach

Other than that, Jan had Sunshine Cindy and Michele up doing a few songs. Mike came by as did Matt and a few others. I had hoped to get Dennis out there too but he could not make it. Dennis is back home from Afghanistan for a few weeks. He is a little more than half way through his third year over there as a civilian contractor. Hoov, as we call him, loves to pick the guitar. He used to always be on the beach with us and after a few beers we could convince him to play some songs. When he comes home, we try to get him out. He is in a dangerous place over there and we look forward to the day he is back for good.

Time to get ready for the weekend……

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! We were able to get out a little. Friday night was a gorgeous evening. We put the top down on BadAss and headed to the harbor and La Famiglia for some good Italian food. Greg waited on us. He recited about a dozen specials they had. They all sounded good. Sunshine Cindy had her Bowtie dish and I had Mt. Vesuvius chicken. It was all to die for! One of the other servers looked like some of my family back in Cleveland. Said his name was Tony but I called him Anthony and he laughed and said that WAS his name. Of course it is!

Destin Harbor

After dinner we walked down the hill towards the Boathouse but the place was packed. Actually the entire harbor as crawling with people. We wandered down the new boardwalk and stopped at a little open air tiki bar in front of the spot where Baby J's used to sit. The "Tipsy Turtle" is a beer and wine hut only but the beer is only $2 for locals. A great deal and they even had a dude playing music. Matt was behind the bar and local fishermen like Bob Mitchell were stopping by. We even ran into Danny who owns the Rotten Apple. Then Kenny and Sherrie came by. They were meeting some friends at AJ's then they were heading to the Boathouse. We ended up going to the Boathouse and hanging out with them for a while. A fun evening on the harbor.

KC's

Saturday was a laid back kind of day. I spent the morning and early afternoon working on Crab Island Mambo stuff while Sunshine Cindy did some shopping. In the early evening we went to KC's for a while. We sat at a table in the sand and Rose took care of us. The servers at KC's get a work out walking in the sand and up and down the steps to the kitchen. We ate some food and were getting ready to leave when Pat and Wayne came in. We stayed for another round and had fun chatting with them like always. Shift change brought Scott and Matt in to work. Mike and Bev the owners also stopped by. Always a fun time there.

We stopped at Rotten Apple on the way home. The usual mix of people in the place from bikers to old farts like us. Rosalie was glad to see us thinking Eric might have run us off the other night when he as talking to us. No way! We had a few drinks and headed home.

Sunday was Easter. Jim and Pam came over and we had a few drinks while we waited for Tiffany. We then all the TGI Fridays for dinner. It was nice. Brittany waited on us and we didn't have to clean any dishes. After getting back home and the company had left, Sunshine Cindy and I took a walk around the hood. A nice day! Have a great week. See you Thursday!

Holiday weekend upcoming

It has been a pretty quiet week. Monday and Tuesday evenings were spent working on Crab Island Mambo stuff at home. I know not very exciting. We were able to get another Trop Rock musician booked into a local place. John Friday from south Florida will be playing for us at KC’s Sandbar and Grill on Sunday May 27th from 4 – 8 pm. It should be a good time as that is Memorial weekend.

Sunset from Crazy Lobster

Wednesday evening Sunshine Cindy (She doesn’t want to be called Mama Mambo anymore) and I went down to the harbor for dinner. We went to Crazy Lobster where Sunshine Cindy enjoyed a burger and I had a blackened Mahi sandwich. The food was good and the Abita Amber beer was even better! Abita is brewed in Louisiana and is excellent. The crowd at the harbor was large. There were people everywhere. We watched the sightseeing boats coming and going and they were all filled to the railings. It is a great spring season for everyone in the tourist trade.

Spring Break in Destin

We decided to make a short stop at Rotten Apple on the way home. Only a few folks in there but ended up talking to them all. Rosalyn was behind the bar and we chatted with Eric and Tracy among others. Rosalyn made some sample shots for everyone to try. They all tasted like coconut but there was no coconut rum in any of them. Rotten Apple is a nice local hangout.

The holiday weekend is almost upon us. Till Monday…

Busy weekend

It has been an exciting couple of days on the Emerald Coast. Mama Mambo and I went to Hogs Breath Saloon on Thursday evening. We sat at the outside bar and watched the world go by on Hwy. 98. Cam was tending the bar and we had a nice surprise when Chuck popped in. We sat and talked with Chuck while having a bite to eat. It was starting to get a little late but Mama Mambo and I decided to go check out a new place called Rotten Apple. It is on Mountain Drive and was the old Oasis. We went inside at Hogs and talked to John for a bit before we headed down the road.

There were only a few folks in Rotten Apple when we got there. Curtis was behind the bar. A very nice young man who talked to us for a long time. People were coming in and out. The place has a very laid back feel to it. I hope they can make it. They are still working on getting all the permits and such to sell food too. That will help.

Fun crowd at Crazy Lobster

Friday night was a Parrothead meeting at Crazy Lobster down on the harbor. It was a great time. There must have been over 130 people show up. Music by a band called, "Something Fishy" and the normal phun and excitment of a Parrothead gathering. Mama Mambo did her usual great job leading the crowd in several Team Drinks too. We left and planned to meet some friends at Lower Alabama Lounge to hear some country music. They are now charging a cover at the door, we didn't want to go that bad so we headed home.

We had a full day on Saturday. We decided to head to the harbor. Went to Tightlines and Wayne joined us. From there we headed over to The Red Door Saloon. 2 for 1 beers and some biker friends from KC's were there. Mama Mambo got a hot dog and we sat out on a new patio area they have. Left there and headed to The Boathouse. Rusty was playing and we listened to him for a while. Catfish even stopped in to play the "saw." There was a group of girls come in celebrating one of them having a birthday. They ended up on tables dancing hanging from the rafters. You never know what you will see at The Boathouse. We left there and Wayne headed home. Mama Mambo and I stopped at the stage outside AJ's to listen to Ronnie Satterfield. He is really good. While there Kathy and Don wandered by. We chatted with them for a while about all things Niceville. We left, made one more stop at Rotten Apple then headed home. A fun day.

Dancing on the tables at The Boathouse

Sunday was spent at The Pointe. Russ, Ginger (Russ's dog), Bill and Wayne showed up. The weather was perfect. A great day at the beach. That took up the whole day. Can't get enough sun and sand!

Till Thursday.....