Finally Some Rain

It has been weeks since we had any rain in Destin. That all changed Tuesday. The skies opened up and we got a good soaking for several hours. By the time I headed home from work the clouds had gone and the full moon was huge as it was rising. We are supposed to get some warmer days over the next few. I am ready for summer and it’s not even winter yet! On the bright side, hurricane season is over tomorrow. Another year with no big storm. We love that in Destin.

Dreaming of Summer

Monday night Sunshine Cindy and I headed to Sago Sports bar to grab a bite to eat and watch some of the Monday night football game. We got a big hug from Stephanie the bartender as we walked in. We sat at one of the booths. They are so comfortable. Monday’s they have $5 pitchers of beer. The place was not crowded. Morgan waited on us and she was cutting up with us as there was not much else for her to do. We enjoyed ourselves.

Most beautiful beaches in the world

Tuesday we stayed in. Sunshine Cindy cooked a ham and we pigged out. (No pun intended!) Wednesday was Christmas decorating day at the house. The tree is up and the holiday spirit is taking hold. Hard to believe but it is less than four weeks till Christmas.

Barb and Ed enjoying the beach

It’s official. The Snowbirds are back. I saw my first Ontario, Canada license plate the other day. They have also officially opened the Snowbird roost at the community center. Yep, time to get ready for slow drivers with a turn signal that stays on. As Brent Burns likes to say, “If a car from Michigan passes you this time of the year…it is stolen!”

We don’t have a lot planned for this weekend. We will go with the flow but I am sure we will find some interesting places to visit. Have fun. See ya Monday with a full report!

Post Thanksgiving in Destin

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Sunshine Cindy and I spent it with her parents. The weather was perfect as was the food and drinks.

On Friday we had a Crab Island Mambo party at Landshark Pizza. Jan Patton played music for us and everyone had a great time. We had a good turnout. The beer and food flowed. The one memorable moment was when a homeless guy riding a bicycle hit the curb right in front of Landshark and hit the ground. He could barely stand to get back up on the bike. As he tried to ride away I said he was going to hit my car BadAss. Sure enough, across the parking lot he wobbled and ran right into my car sprawling over the hood. I headed out there but Sunshine Cindy stopped and said she would take care of it. After getting an earful from her he managed to ride away not hitting anything else. The car was okay though.

The homeless drunk is about to take off

Saturday Sunshine Cindy and I spent around the house for most of the day. It was time to get the Christmas decorations out of the attic. By mid afternoon I was ready to watch some football. My Buckeyes had already beat that team from up north but Florida and Fl. State was coming on. I headed over to Hogs Breath. The weather was still nice and I had the top down. Sunshine Cindy decided to stay home. I sat at the outside bar. I got there early as they usually open the outside bar at 4 but Rikki was already opening it. I got a seat in front of the TV’s. Wayne came out and joined me. One of our Parrothead friends Bill came in and we talked to him for a while.

No, go straight...

Sunshine Cindy decided to come out too. She joined us as the place was filling up. They have good football specials. We had a good time and stayed for the start of the late game. Notre Dame was playing and I was interested in watching them. We left at halftime and went home to watch them win. They are on to the national championship game. Good for them.

Right before impact on BadAss...

Sunday was cooler but I still took a bike ride. I need to work off some of the food I have been eating. I wanted to watch the Browns/Steelers game. I headed to Landshark Pizza and once again Sunshine Cindy stayed back at the house. She is not a huge sports fan. As I walked in and sat down the Browns were already losing. Geeze, the game was only 2 minutes old. LD was at the bar. I talked to him the whole time. He was there because he was out of beer at home and they can’t sell any in the stores till 1 pm. He had an hour to go.

Black Friday at Landshark

There was a good crowd in there. Pitchers of beer are only $6 or buckets are $11. Good deals. Later Kirby and Matt came in. The Browns held on to win. It was ugly but a win over Pittsburgh is always good. I also had a good view of the Falcons game. They also won. It was a good day. Oh yeah, LD was still there when I left. Guess he didn’t need to get any beer on the way home now. LOL

Enjoy the week as we get into the holiday season. See ya Thursday!

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. Be thankful for what you have and for our troops who help keep us secure so we could celebrate each year.

This week has seen the traffic picking up and tourist coming into town for the holiday. Tuesday I went to Landshark Pizza to hang out and have some food. Sunshine Cindy was doing some stuff around the house and didn’t want to leave so off I went. The top was down even though it was cool. Landshark was packed. They had four big groups. It looked like families that had come into town had gotten together there for dinner. I sat at the bar and watched Brian, Sue and Steph run around like madmen. Tuesdays is $2 Corona beers. I had several and some wings. All good. I talked with Kent from the Logo Place for a bit too as he was sitting at the bar.

Jan

Wednesday the weather was about as nice as it could get. For my afternoon walk at work the temp was 78 degrees. Perfect with no clouds. We went to KC's Sandbar in Ft. Walton for the evening to meet up with some friends. Sunshine Cindy and I got there first. We sat at the bar and ordered some food. Lauren was behind the bar. She is different with tattoo’s, piercings and a Mohawk with different colors in her hair. That is the charm of KC’s, you get all types in there including us Trop Rockers.

Our crowd started coming in. Wayne, Kenny, Julie, Jan and Loujean all made it. Jan was playing so he was setting up. Mike the owner came and talked to us for a good while. I have known Mike for several years and watched him grow his place into something big. There was even a local beat cop walk in. He knew everyone, chatted for a few minutes before moving on. It was a fun night. Temps got down to about 60 but it was still comfortable. A good prelude to Thanksgiving.

Kenny

A quick note about our stop at Anglers last weekend that I failed to mention. They are remolding a lot of the place. It is mostly being done upstairs but the bathrooms downstairs are now brand new. The lights are so bright you think you are going to be interrogated. Also come on out and join Sunshine Cindy and I at Landshark Pizza on Friday. Jan will be playing from 1-5. It will be a good time. Landshark is next to Old Time Pottery in Destin.

Have a great weekend. See ya Monday!

Weekend wrap up

Last Thursday we stayed home but on Friday we got out and about. We headed to Okaloosa Island and stopped at Anglers. We had not been in there in a while. Clinton was the manager on duty and Ryan was working behind the bar. They were glad to see us as it has been a while since we have been in there. They had a party upstairs. Ryan said it was roller derby girls having a party. Note to self that night, don’t piss off any of the ladies at Anglers. LOL 

Julie came out and joined us. From Anglers we headed to Swizzle Stick. Another place we had not been to in a while. Charlie was there and we all chatted for a while. Chris Hayes was playing music and the place was pretty crowded. Of course with only about 19 seats it does not take too many folks to fill it up. When we left we stopped in at Rotten Apple. This place was pretty full too with Rose behind the bar. Julie called it a night but Sunshine Cindy and I headed to Sago Sports Bar. We sat at the bar and talked to David. He recently moved here from NYC. Not long after he got here he had a heart attack. Welcome to Destin. But he is doing well now. There was a group of about 8 young women having what looked like a bachelorette party. They were sucking down the shots and having a great time.

David and Sunshine Cindy

Saturday Sunshine Cindy and Julie went to a service for a Parrothead friend who passed away earlier this week. Wild Bill was a great guy who will be missed. He had a heart attack but was not as lucky as David. Sail on Bill.

After the service I met the girls at Johnny O’s for some dinner. This is a sports bar with about a million TV’s all around. Okay, maybe not a million but they have so many you get sports overload trying to watch them all. The food was good and we enjoyed the atmosphere. It had been a while since we had been in there. About the time we finished we got a text from Jan and Loujean asking us to go watch the sunset somewhere. We decided to head to Harry T’s as they have the best view in town.

Sunset at Harry T's

On the drive over I had a guy in a yellow Benz sports car pass by. I decided to mess with him a bit so I pulled up alongside and revved the engine then pull ahead and dropped back. He got alongside me, rolled his window down and laughing said I was wasting gas. Then he told us about a 66 Mustang he has. We were driving down Hwy. 98 carrying on a conversation with this guy. It was pretty funny.

At Harry T’s Jan and Loujean had just got there. They had Scott with them. Julie made it and then Wayne came in too. The party was on. The sunset was beautiful. Dolphins were jumping in the pass. It was a perfect night. Wayne had his Key West PD hat on. A guy at a table next to us had a Key West jacket he was wearing so we had to talk to him. Turns out he was there with his wife, his daughter from Boston and another couple. They are heading to Key West in a few weeks for the winter. We are jealous. They are bikers and loved to party. We all had a good time.

Jan and Scott showing off trying to get some beads I guess!

Cherie come in. She didn’t know we were there but ended up partying with us. Jan and Scott were feeling no pain. They were so funny. The band Flash Flood played and sounded great. We talked to Binkie the drummer and ended up buying him some shots of Jager. The band sounded great. Wayne, Cherie, Sunshine Cindy and I all stayed till they finished playing at midnight. We were not expecting it to be a late night but we had so much fun we couldn’t leave. So much for an early evening!

Cherie and Sunshine Cindy having fun

And on Sunday we rested! Actually I watched some football. My Browns game against the Cowboys was on TV and I made the mistake of watching it. The Browns are great at finding a way to lose. I should have just stuck a sharp stick in my eye. It would have felt the same.

A quick mention that on Friday Jan Patton will be playing at Landshark Pizza from 1-5 pm. Come join us after shopping. Happy Turkey day. See ya Thursday!

Slow time of the year in Destin

This time of the year is when Destin is at its slowest. The fishing rodeo is over. Snowbirds have not descended on us yet. There are few tourist to clog our roadways. Some restaurants shut down for the season although fewer do that. When I first moved to Destin over 13 years ago most places would shut down for the season. Not anymore. Plus the weather is getting colder. I actually had to break out my jacket Wednesday morning as the temp was in the upper 40’s. I was not happy about that!

Dreaming of the beach

Most of this week was spent working on the Crab Island Mambo Mullet Wrapper for November. It is a day-by-day account of our trip to Key West. I published it yesterday. Check it out here: http://www.crabislandmambo.com/Mullet-Wrapper-November-2012.html

We did get out on Wednesday to Landshark Pizza. The place was packed. Good for them. We had wings and beer. We left there and went to Rotten Apple. We got a chance to talk to Rose about advertising on our web site. We had a few beers and some popcorn and saw some Parrothead friends.

Love our beach

I talk a lot how places come and go in Destin. This week we heard the Tipsy Turtle might not be back next year. Those faithful readers of this blog know we spend a lot of time there and love hanging out at this cool place by the water. It still looks like the property is being sold so that puts everything up in the air. We will probably get more information this weekend but it does not look good. Oh well, there are plenty of other places in town.

Speaking of other places and changes. KC’s Sandbar & Grill in Ft. Walton Beach is now doing a late night breakfast on Friday and Saturday nights. (Actually Saturday and Sunday early morning) They are serving from 2am to noon those days. We have not checked it out yet but will soon.

Fisherman's Wharf

I got to thinking the other day about the places that were here when I first got to Destin and which ones are still here. There are still a lot of the old local spots that have endured. Some have moved to new locations like Hooters and Harry T’s. But you still have Hogs Breath, Harbor Docks, Gilligan’s, AJ’s, The Boathouse, Dewey Destin’s on the Bay, The Lighthouse, Louisiana Lagniappe, The Back Porch, Fisherman’s Wharf, TGI Friday’s all still going strong. I am sure I am missing a few but you get the point. Destin endures and continues to grow and our places to have fun are growing right along with the town.

Get out and enjoy this pre-Thanksgiving weekend. See ya Monday!

Cool in Destin

The weather is turning chilly in Destin. We have not had to turn the heat on in the house yet but the top is up on Badass most of the time now. On Thursday I stopped in at Rotten Apple. Still didn’t get a chance to talk to Rose. I left and went down to the harbor and the Turtle. Matt is now in charge of the Turtle and he is trying to make it through the winter. Tony was there. It was a clear cool evening. There was no wind but the temp was dropping. I had shorts on too and that didn’t help. After two beers I decided to find some heat. I stopped into Sago and watched some football there. A good crowd was in there.

Sherry on the balcony of The Veranda

Sago is doing well. I heard that the night of the Alabama\LSU football game they sold over 1800 chicken wings alone. Wow, that is a lot of chicken! Tommy is doing a good job with the place.

Friday was a Parrothead meeting. It was held at The Veranda above Crab Island Cantina. Sunshine Cindy and I stopped at the Cantina first. We had a few drinks and even did a shot to get in the mood for the meeting! LOL  We talked to Carlos for a bit. He said they had a good first season at the Cantina. Good for them. It is a great location and the staff always takes good care of us. We went up to the Veranda. There was a good crowd. The view from the balcony was great. It was fun. From there a bunch of us went to the Turtle. Matt had a fire going. It was chilly but the fire was nice. Sunshine Cindy and I ended the evening stopping at Waffle House for some food. Can’t beat the Waffle House for a late night stop!

Capt. John and his bubbles

Saturday I spent most of the day working on Crab Island Mambo stuff. I did get to watch Texas A&M beat Alabama. I suppose that will quiet the Bama folks at work for a while. In the evening we went to Julie’s house for a dinner. Julie wanted to try out her new smoker. Russ, Loujean and Jan also joined us. Sunshine Cindy made 10 pounds (yes 10 lbs.) of mashed potatoes. We will be eating them for a while this week. Everything was great. We had a fun time. Julie had turkey and pork. Russ brought a green bean casserole. Loujean had Rum cake and of course the mound of mashed potatoes we brought. Everyone went home stuffed.

Sunday was warm but windy. I rode my bike and felt like I was climbing a mountain when I was heading into the wind. It was a good workout. In the afternoon Matt was having a type of tailgate party at the Turtle. Julie brought chili and Loujean brought bean dip. We should have brought the potatoes. There was a good crowd watching football and the NASCAR race. A loud roar erupted when Jeff Gordon got into the fight with the pit crew from Clint Boyer. It was windy but warm.

James by the fire

It looks like it will be cooling off this week. Oh well, it is getting closer to the holidays. Pretty soon the snowbirds will be showing up too. There goes the sweet and low from the restaurants! Have a great week. See ya Thursday!

Back in the Saddle!

Now that we are back from our trip down south, things are getting back to a normal pace. We had a blast on our vacation meeting a lot of old friends and making new ones. But it is now back to reality and the real world. I took Tuesday off from work to recover after the almost 13 hour drive on Monday. I did get to Landshark Pizza and got to talk to Brian and James. Sunshine Cindy and I also went to the Rotten Apple to talk to Rose but she was off that night. The rest of the day was spent getting caught up on our paperwork and such from the trip.

Wayne and Sunshine Cindy

Wednesday we met with Matt from the Tipsy Turtle. Matt is now running the bar and quizzed us on what he can do to get people to come down to the harbor during the winter. Matt has some good ideas starting with beer at $2 a bottle! He plans to be open on Friday’s, Saturday’s and Sunday’s for the time being. He is setting up some heat and hopes to get some type of enclosure. Depending on what happens with the lease we might make the Tipsy Turtle the official home of Crab Island Mambo. That would be cool.

We met Matt at Landshark and saw a bunch of friends there. Paige was working the tables and they sold a bunch of wings. They sell them for 49 cents each on Wednesday. A great deal. When we got home, Julie stopped by to exchange vehicles. She let us drive her SUV on vacation as it was bigger than Sunshine Cindy’s SUV and allowed us to get all of our merchandise down to Key West. We really appreciated her letting us do that.

Julie's car

The changes continue to come in Destin. While we were gone, the old McDonald’s on Hwy. 98 was sold and is already being remodeled. It will become a Shrimp Basket restaurant. This is a family owned chain that we have eaten at in Gulf Shores. They have good food and it will be a good addition to Destin. The old Hampton Inn across from the Track is being demolished. It is almost gone. I had not heard anything about this so I don’t know if they are rebuilding or what is going to happen there. Gilligan’s has closed for the season. They will reopen in February.

Get out and enjoy the weekend. See ya Monday!

Back to your regular program...

Sorry for the lack of updates. Key West and MOTM kept me so busy I didn't have time to try and get a posting out. I will have a full report on Thursday about all the fun we had in the Keys. But for now, I am bushed after driving 12 and 1/2 hours today getting back home.

See ya Thursday!