Destin Happenings

Sunshine Cindy and I had a quiet few days in Destin. We did get out a little though. Friday afternoon we headed to The Back Porch restaurant for lunch. Julie joined us as we sat outside overlooking the water. It was a gorgeous day with the aqua blue water contrasting with the blue sky. The food was excellent as usual. We were surprised how crowded the place was for a late afternoon. There are still a lot of tourist in town I guess.

When we left we decided to stop in at the bar at the Palms to see what was going on there before heading home. There was one guy sipping on a beer at the bar but it started to fill up as residents were getting off work. Tommy came in and we talked to him. He told us Daniel and his girlfriend JoJo were back in town. Daniel is the percussionist for the Zac Brown Band and we had met him a few weeks earlier. They did come to the bar and greeted us like long lost friends. Daniel just finished a leg of the ZBB tour and he was now spending a week in Destin. It was great seeing them again.

Shannon came in. We asked her if the Sand Bar on the beach was still open as she manages it. She told us this weekend was the last weekend they would be open. We almost stopped in too.

There was a couple from New Orleans at the bar that we talked with. They own a few units at The Palms and were enjoying a weekend in Destin. They were nice folks.

Speaking of folks from Louisiana…A major brew-ha-ha erupted during the week about some LSU fans not being seated at Harry T’s for the Florida game the previous week. It had something to do with Harry T’s being the home to a Florida alumni association and those people not wanting LSU fans in their area. Anyway, this blew up into a major PR disaster for Harry T’s when someone in management went on Facebook and blasted LSU fans. That was not a smart thing to do. Harry T’s tried to minimize the damage but it was too late. People from Louisiana come to Destin in droves and right now Harry T’s is on their “stay away” list! Textbook case of how not to run a business.

Saturday Sunshine Cindy and I didn’t do too much. She went to get her nails done we did breakfast at the Waffle House but other than that, I spent most of the day doing some computer work and watching sports. Ohio State looked as good as they finally played up to their potential with J.T. at quarterback. The Tampa Bay Lightning had a tough overtime loss to Chicago. We just can’t seem to beat those guys.

Sunday I went to Landshark Pizza to watch the Browns game. I should have saved my time and money…they sucked. But Brian had the smoker going and smoked a bunch of wings. They were fantastic too. Sunshine Cindy stayed home getting ready for our trip to the Keys. We head south next weekend. Can’t wait…

I talked to Sue about when the new Landshark Pizza will open. She said it looks like sometime in the middle of November. They have extended their current lease for one month so they should be good to go with the move. Sue is excited as she is meeting her sisters in New Orleans next weekend for Halloween. They will have a blast for sure.

This is the last week of the fishing rodeo and soon the snowbirds will start to come to town. Our friends Alan and Jackie get here next week. We are looking forward to seeing them when we get back from the Keys!

I will most likely not publish a blog next week but will be back on track the following week with a full update on our trip. See ya then!

Cooler temps invade Destin

I know some parts of the country had some snow over the weekend so I won’t make a big deal out of it but we had some low temps in the 50’s Saturday and Sunday mornings. Yes, I am complaining. I don’t like cold weather. I want Summer to come back!

There was a lot going on in the area this past weekend with the Mullet Festival in Niceville, Southern Drawl Band in the area and a craft beer fest at Baytowne Wharf in San Destin. Sunshine Cindy and I took it easy though. Friday evening we stayed in hanging out on our back porch listening to Trop Rock music while having a few beers. Our neighbors came over for a while too. It was a gorgeous night and very relaxing. 

On Saturday afternoon we headed to the harbor and The Red Door Saloon. We wanted to get out for a while. A big crowd of locals had the bar full. College football was on and the beer was cold. We had some food and enjoyed the atmosphere at the bar. When we left we went back home and ended up watching some football and hockey on the TV. Both Tampa in hockey and Ohio State in football won their games.

On Sunday we finally got to see our friends with Southern Drawl Band perform. They had been playing in Pensacola and Navarre but on Sunday they were back at Crab Island Cantina. Opening for Southern Drawl Band was Kitty Steadman and Melanie Howe. Kitty is an up and coming country music star. Melanie is one of the most versatile percussion players in the business and they did a great show. Folks were stopping and staying at the Cantina to listen to them.

Then Southern Drawl Band did another one of their fantastic shows. These guys are so much fun and fantastic performers. We had a good crowd there to party with us. Folks were up and dancing from the first song to their last song. The band is heading south this week with shows in Tampa, Punta Gorda and then to Key West for almost a month of shows. Be sure to check them out!

Speaking of Crab Island Cantina…They will be closed for about two weeks starting November 1st. Above their kitchen is The Veranda. This space is being turned into several condo units. The construction will impact the kitchen as new piping will need to be run so the Cantina will be temporarily closed a couple weeks.

We also noticed the Harbor Shack is closed. Harbor Shack is next to the Boathouse. Sunshine Cindy and I stopped in there on several occasions this past year. It had been fixed up nice, they had the Big Red Truck selling food in the parking lot and it was a great people watching spot. I don’t know if they are closed for good or just for the season. It sure looks like it is closed for good though.

It was nice seeing Barry this weekend. Barry is a longtime friend of Wayne’s from Cincinnati who came down to Destin for a visit. We have not seen Barry in about 3 years. I think one of these days he might move to Destin. He loves it here.

Have a great week. See ya next Monday!

Tourist still in Destin

Destin had another busy week with plenty of tourist still in town. It must have been Fall Break in some areas as there were a lot of families with kids here. As an example I stopped in at The Crust Pizzeria to talk to Charlie. There were two big groups of families in there eating pizza and pasta. You can tell they were tourist as they were talking about going to play putt putt and walk along the beach. Destin is becoming a more year round destination now.

Speaking of Charlie and The Crust, he has opened another location in Mary Ester next to the mall. He said they are doing well as that location caters to local residents in the area. With his satellite location outside AJ’s and this new place, Charlie is starting to put together a pizza empire!

Friday night the ECPHC held its monthly meeting at LuLu’s in Destin. A big turnout of almost 100 parrot heads partied with a purpose. We packed out the inside bar area but the rest of LuLu’s was also full. They seem to be doing very well since they opened.

On Saturday I wanted to go watch the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game. They had a day game that started at noon. I went to Landshark Pizza to watch the game and Sunshine Cindy joined me a while later. Glen was being trained as a new cook. Both Brian’s were there and Austin came in about the time the game ended. The Lightning won too! Plenty of college football games were also on. Having so many sports to choose from is a guy’s dream! LOL

We hung around Landshark for a while sitting outside. Brian sat with us and we talked about the new Landshark. They are about a week behind schedule on the build out but that’s not too bad. They should be opening in their new location around the end of this month. It’s an exciting time for Landshark as they are hiring new cooks and servers as they prepare to make the move to this bigger place. They will have a full bar too so they are also hiring bartenders. It will be cool to have them on the harbor.

On Sunday Sunshine Cindy and I decided to go to Tailfins to watch the Browns game. We have some friends who are Ravens fans and that was the team the Browns were playing. We knew they would be there and we would have a fun time rooting back and forth. They did show up and we all had a fun time. The Browns actually won so I had bragging rights. I don’t get to gloat too often. We also saw a bunch of friends there. Cheryl was our server, Wayne, Tommy, Kerby, Rhett and others were there watching games. The view is perfect at Tailfins and it’s a fun place to watch the games when you have a nice day.

Don’t forget we still have our Crab Island Mambo tee’s and tanks on sale. Get your own slice of Destin before they are gone! http://crabislandmambo.com/Crab-Island-Mambo-Merchandise.html

Have a great week. See ya next Monday!

Stay-Cation in Destin

This was a wild and crazy week in Destin. It started with a monsoon. Last Monday it rained in Destin. I mean it REALLY rained…like 12-14 inches of rain in about a ten hour span. It had been pretty dry around here but that was ended quickly. We received some rain in the early hours of Monday morning but it was mostly dry as I drove to work. Then about 10 am it started to rain. Heavy rain would be followed by monsoon rain then back to heavy rain. By the time I left for home from work there were reports of flooding all around. The normal areas that flood were once again under water like in front of the new Holiday Inn on the island. But then I saw places like the parking lot for the Gulfarium under water and ponds overflowing I knew it was bad.

Driving across the island was an adventure. At times I could not see more than a few feet in front of me the rain was coming down and blowing so hard. I stayed on Hwy. 98 all the way to Airport Road figuring it would be better than getting on some of the back roads. It was a great strategy until I had to turn left onto Airport Road. The intersection was flooded but I was committed and made it through.

From the Destin Log

The next problem I knew was going to be my sub division. We flooded out two years ago and I figured it to be bad this time. I made it home but the streets were underwater. At least it was not onto the sidewalks yet. About a half hour after I got home the water was rising. It got about half way up our driveway before the rain stopped about 9 pm. If I had been coming home that half hour later I would have had to park at the office complex and walk in the water and rain home. Glad I didn’t have to do that!

I also saw some pictures posted on line about 8 pm showing the Airport Road intersection completely flooded out and cars stuck. It was a rough time but Destin survived! When I left for work Tuesday morning it was actually dry on the road in our neighborhood. Wow!

I did see the funniest thing on my way home during the storm. I was sitting on the downslope of Brooks Bridge stopped for the light when a big blow up shark came blowing across the road. It blew away from Alvins Island but it looked real as it was dodging cars and just kind of “swimming” along! Lol It must have ended up at High Tide.

This past weekend was the annual Destin Seafood Festival. This festival has grown into one of the largest in the area. Over 70,000 people visit the festival during the three days. The entire area along the harbor from Crab Island Cantina to the Yacht Club is crowded with vendors and musical acts. Our friends the Southern Drawl Band was the Saturday night headliners for the festival. But the band also had other shows in town.

Friday night they were at KC’s Sandbar in Fort Walton Beach. The weather was cold (okay, cold for us Floridians) with temps in the 60’s and the wind blowing hard. But we still had a fun time. The show they did on Saturday at the festival was off the hook. They played for two hours and that time flew by. The guys made a lot of new fans that night. Then on Sunday they were at Crab Island Cantina for a show. The festival was winding down as they did another fun show. Check them out when you can…Southern Drawl Band.

Our mini Stay-Cation actually started on Thursday evening. Sunshine Cindy and I went to World of Beer for a benefit for Alaqua animal rescue shelter. Rob Roman’s was playing for the benefit. Two dollars from each beer sold with a dog in the name went to Alaqua. This was our first time getting to hear Rob and we really enjoyed his music. We had some good beer, good food and was able to help raise some money. That made it a nice evening.

One of Destin’s great attractions is the Legendary Marina building at the foot of the Mid-Bay bridge with the whales painted on the building. This was painted by world famous artist Robert Wyland. There are only 100 of these large scale marine life murals that Wyland has done around the world and Destin has one. Wyland is back in Destin refreshing the five acre mural and adding to it. A little known fact is Wyland painted a giant American Flag on the top of the marina so the pilots from Eglin AFB can see it every time they go out for training missions. That’s way cool.

In the small world department, a friend of Wyland’s who came up to Destin with him from Punta Gorda is also a fan of the Southern Drawl Band. She was at the show at KC’s on Friday and at the seafood festival on Saturday. Yep, a small world indeed.

Over in Fort Walton Beach the city has bought the building that housed the Brooks Bridge BBQ. The city is always looking to add parking to the downtown area and bought this property when the owners decided it was time to retire. They will raze the building and add more parking in the next few months.

In Destin at the Commons they have announced a new hotel will be built. They didn’t say who was going to operate it but construction is to start soon.

Don’t forget we still have our Crab Island Mambo tee’s and tanks on sale. Get your own slice of Destin before they are gone! http://crabislandmambo.com/Crab-Island-Mambo-Merchandise.html

Have a great week. See ya next Monday!