Destin Seafood Festival

What a weekend. It started on Thursday as Sunshine Cindy and I stopped in at Millers Ale House for some dinner and a bucket of Bud Light. They had a good crowd there. We left after dinner and stopped in at Sago Sports Bar. We sat at the outside bar and Suzy took care of us. The bar was mostly filled but one guy stood out. He was “happy” and decided to buy the bar a round of Jager. It was not too long after the round that this dude fell off his bar stool. Yep, time to go back to his room! LOL

Fuds and one of their Gators

This was the weekend of the Destin Seafood Festival. Sunshine Cindy and I had a deal with the Tipsy Turtle to set up our Crab Island Mambo merchandise by the bar. We knew there would be big crowds but we never thought it was going to be that BIG. Friday we got there about 1 pm and got set up. There was already a steady stream of folks walking around. By the time the festival was kicked off the boardwalk was full of people coming and going. We were right on the boardwalk so everyone had to walk right by us. JB was playing music, Landshark was selling pizza and JB and Tammy were selling taco’s out of a trailer. Fud’s had a booth right across from us with a couple of their live gators. This was just a small slice of the overall activity up and down the harbor.

JB kept the crowd entertained

By Friday evening the crowds were non-stop as a mass of humanity streamed by the area. Matt and Mindy were now playing music and keeping the crowds around this area. We sold some stuff and had a fun time. We closed down about 10:30, got home to bed about midnight and tried to get some sleep before doing it all over again on Saturday. Saturday was a marathon. We got there and set up about 9 am.

It was non-stop from the get-go. The crowds were huge. Even though it was sunny and hot out that didn’t deter too many folks. We had so many of our friends stop by to see us we can’t name them all. We even had Alan and Jackie, Kirsten and Jeff from Southern Illinois stop by too. I do want to mention Jack and his lovely wife Lynn came by. Lynn is a faithful reader of this blog and it was great to finally get to meet her. As Saturday went on, so did the crowds. I am not sure where everyone parked but they must have all somehow found a spot.

The crowds were huge

We sold some stuff, drank a few beers and got a suntan at the same time. Now that is what I call “working!” JB once again was playing during the afternoon going from noon to 5 pm. I don’t know how his voice held up. Matt and Mindy then took over and keep the crowd pumped. At the bar Matt, Ben, Pops and Mom keep the drinks flowing. The Turtle was having a great weekend as the folks lined up for their ice cold beer and soft drinks. As it got dark the crowd changed to a party crowd. We decided to tear down about 8 and call it a day. We were tired! We needed some rest for Sunday so we could do it one more day.

Crab Island Mambo merchandise

The weather on Friday and Saturday was great although it was pretty hot and humid. Sunday was a different story in a good way. There was a good breeze blowing, the humidity was way down and the temps in the morning were actually cool. A perfect morning to get set up. The crowds on Sunday were almost as big as they had been the previous two days. We got there about 10 am to set up and there was already a good crowd strolling along the boardwalk. Once again JB played music through the afternoon even if his voice was almost shot from the three day marathon. We had another good day moving some merchandise and enjoying people watching.

Throwing some beads

We packed up about 6:00 and headed to Sago Sports bar to relax for a while and have some food. We met Alan, Jackie, Kirsten and Jeff there. It was great getting to catch up with them for a while. Alan and Jackie are only here till Thursday so we are not sure if we will get to see them again. We always enjoy our time together with them. We were back home and in bed pretty early. It was a fun but exhausting weekend.

Enjoy your week. See ya Thursday!