Destin summer weather

Summertime weather in Destin is unique. There is always a chance for an afternoon thunderstorm. There is local lore that Destin is protected from storms by “The Destin Dome.”  The Dome is talked about a lot by the locals. The past few days were a perfect example of the Dome. Friday as I drove home from work there was a storm coming across the bay heading right for Destin. As I sat in traffic on the Destin Bridge it hit with strong winds and dark ugly clouds but no rain. I am not sure why it didn’t rain but we never got a drop.

Sunday while we were down on the harbor I saw the sky getting dark to the west. I checked the radar and a big line of thunderstorms were almost on top of us. We ducked into a building to ride it out but again, nothing. It just seemed to vanish as it got to Destin. The Dome did its job again! LOL

Drinks on the harbor

We seemed to spend the entire weekend on the harbor. Friday night we started at The Boathouse. Courtney, Jager and Gigi all greeted us as we walked in. Jason Clark was playing great country music. We hung around there for a while. Out front some friends were there. Bonnie and Scott had a night off from the Freaky Tiki. They were hanging out too.

Sunshine Cindy and I walked down to the Turtle. Matt was behind the bar. A good crowd was there. Tony and Amy were sitting at the bar enjoying the nice evening. Turtle and Ashley stopped in for a while. Sunshine Cindy and I got a couple of Sausage Brats’ from the Sinkin’ Weenie. They were really good.  We then walked back to the Boathouse to listen to Jason some more. He is a great talent. We ended up at Dockside to end the night.

Oysters at The Boathouse

Saturday we went to McGuire’s with Tiffany for dinner. We sat upstairs. There was a nice breeze. The food was fantastic as usual. McGuire’s does a great business as they serve huge portions of good food. A great combination. From there Sunshine Cindy and Tiffany went to the harbor. I had a sour stomach so I headed home. They had a great time hitting Crab Island Cantina, Crazy Lobster, AJ’s, the Turtle and the Boathouse. A good time was had by all.

On Sunday Sunshine Cindy and I headed back to the harbor to meet up with Wayne. He was at Crab Island Cantina. Sunshine Cindy and I stopped at the Turtle first to say hi to Matt. He was just getting opened. From there we walked down the Cantina. Kyle was working the bar and Dominic came in soon after we got there. We had hoped to talk to Carlos about booking some Trop Rock music but he was still out of town. There was a good crowd there having lunch. Al was setting up to play some music.

The weather was looking kind of threatening. I had the top down on Badass so we decided to walk back to the Turtle in case it did start to rain. We were there just a few minutes when it did start to rain. I got the top up but the rain stopped pretty quick. The Dome sprung a leak but quickly got it stopped up. A good crowd was at the Turtle. Everyone was in a good mood having fun.

Inside at the Monkey Hut

Off we went again down to the Boathouse to eat. Courtney waited on us. I had a dozen raw oysters. Every so often I get a taste for them and Sunday was the day! The Boathouse is known for their oysters and they were good. We listened to Kelly Bird play some music while we enjoyed our food.

We then walked over to the new Monkey Hut bar. This is in the old KJ’s location. Danny from Rotten Apple fame has done a great job fixing it up. They added a nice deck outside. I think it will do well. Wayne was wanting to head back towards the Grande where his car was parked so we made one more stop this time at Coyote Ugly. No, Sunshine Cindy did not get up on the bar dancing. There was a good sized crowd in there. Wayne left and we started towards our car too.

Staff on the bar at Coyote Ugly

As we got to the Turtle I heard someone calling my name. It was Julie. She was there with her family that got into town on Friday. We stayed and chatted with them for a while. Then it was on to the house to get ready for the short work week.

During one of our stops at The Boathouse over the weekend we learned that Zac Brown was in there a couple of weeks ago. He didn’t have his trademark skull cap on as he was trying to blend in. The girl who waited on him didn’t know it was him tell she got his credit card to pay the tab. The Boathouse is good about keeping these celebrity sightings quiet so they don’t get overrun by autograph seekers. You never know who you will see at The Boathouse.

Check out all the pictures and a video from all the fun Crab Island Mambo had in June. http://www.crabislandmambo.com/June-2013-Crab-Island-Mambo-events.html

Have a safe and happy Independence Day celebration. See ya on Thursday!