Put in Bay, Ohio - Phlocking Fun!

I know the blog is a day late but it was a long travel day yesterday. Due to delays, I didn’t get home till almost midnight. But anyway, it was a great trip. I had to go without Sunshine Cindy as her schedule would not allow her to go and I missed her not partaking in the fun.

My first stop was in Cleveland where I visited with my family. The first night I went out to dinner with my Mom, my Aunt and my Uncle. I had not seen them in years. It was an enjoyable time having some great Italian food. The next night my brother and his family came over. We visited a while and then headed to dinner. My niece Emily graduated a couple of days earlier so it was a chance to celebrate with her.

Wayne and Jerry

Thursday Wayne and I headed to Put in Bay, Ohio. It was cold and rainy but that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. The Kaley’s put on this fun event called Phlocking of the Phaithful. A couple of hundred people register for it and make the trip to PIB. Jerry Diaz opened the musical entertainment. As he tried to get the sound right he enlisted me to help. There I was on stage repeating over and over…check 1,2,3 check 1,2,3…till everyone was about to throw me off the stage. Jerry finally got it right and put on a great show.

It was a pretty late night as Wayne and I hit several of the local establishments on the island. We passed Bob Bannerjee as we walked by the Roundhouse Bar and we all went in. Bob was crazy and we all had a good time. Wayne and I ended up at the Beer Barrel Saloon. They have the longest bar in the world. Something like 450 feet or so. We watched some drunk dude basically pass out on a bar stool. Security and the cops got him out of there.

Rich found a new use for the Crab Island Mambo koozie

Friday the fun continued with Rich coming over from Detroit. He is an old friend of Wayne’s. It was a full day of music and going from one place to another. The temps were still cold. It only got up to 58 during the day. We managed to find a way to keep out of the cold though. I was glad I brought several long sleeve Crab Island Mambo Tee’s with me. They were perfect to ward off the cold. I ended up at the Beer Barrel where some young guy started talking to me. I guess he was surprised to see an old man there at 1 am! He asked me my age and said he wants to be just like me when he gets to be my age. I THINK that was a compliment! LOL

Saturday it warmed up and the island got packed. I think every golf cart on the island was rented. How some of these kids don’t get themselves killed is beyond me. Youth and booze is not a good combination. The Phlocking fun continued all day and into the night. We packed the Boardwalk to listen to Corned Beef and Curry play late night. Wayne and I closed down the Boardwalk and we walked over the Put in Bay Brewery. We ended up closing it down too. I don’t know where we get the energy from.

Bob playing the fiddle at the Boardwalk

Sunday was more laid back. Corned Beef and Curry were playing an afternoon show at the Boardwalk. About the time they were finishing a big group of Phlockers came in. The party was on at that point. They played longer to the delight of the crowd. A group of us left there and headed to Mojito Bay. From there everyone went to the houses at the Island Club to help finish off food and drinks. Michele took Todd and John from the band plus Wayne and myself there in a golf cart. It was a crazy ride as Todd and John are really funny.

As we left the Island Club house Michele and her husband John rode us back to the Boardwalk. Wayne joked about taking us around back and here goes John between dumpsters and into an alley that was barely big enough for the cart to fit though. It was a wild ride. The rest of the evening was pretty laid back since we had to travel on Monday. 14 hours or so later and I was home.

John and Todd relaxing at Mojito Bay

Back in Destin while I was gone there were several deaths from people drowning in the gulf. Rip Currents were very bad and people ignored the red and double red flags. I have heard tourist say they spent their money to come on vacation and they were going to swim no matter what.  Mother Nature is powerful and you have to respect her. We have lifeguards risking their own lives to try and save these people. Come have a good time on our beaches but look at the flags and don’t become a statistic. Sorry to close on that somber note but this is not Disney where everything is perfect.

Okay, time to get back into the regular routine. See ya Thursday….