Destin Staycation

I took last week off but we stayed home and played “tourist” in our own town. Sunshine Cindy had to work but she left early one day and took off Friday. It was a great week as the weather was perfect almost the entire time. This is longer blog than normal but enjoy!

On Monday I spent most of the day working on a special project at home. In the afternoon I headed to the beach and The Sandbar. There was not much going on but having a cold beer by the Gulf of Mexico was priceless. From there I went to Hogs Breath. Some local fishermen were in there telling stories about the one that got away. I got some lunch and picked up my new locals card as I had lost my last one. Then I was off to the Rotten Apple. Courtney was behind the bar. Tommy and a couple other folks were in there doing some day drinking. I went home from there but my week was off to a good start.

Tuesday was even better. I took Chaos to the dog park where she was able to run around like a mad dog. lol  I took her back home and I headed to the harbor. I stopped in at the boardwalk bar at Tailfins. I watched as Galati’s Yacht’s was putting into the water a huge cruiser. Next stop was Fishheads. Melissa was there behind her bar. There were a lot of people there. We had a chance to chat a little but she was mostly busy. I sat in the sun enjoying the warmth.

I continued down the harbor. I decided to stop at the outside bar at Jackacuda’s. I was the only one there. Adam the bartender was a nice guy who loved to talk. He used to work there when the place was The Crazy Lobster. We knew some of the same people. His main bartending job now is at Ruth’s Chris steak house. He even gave me the secret to parking there. That is also priceless. My last stop was at Crab Island Cantina. While there Brian (BT) Turner came up. He was getting ready to head to The Boathouse for his Tuesday show. I told him we would try to make it. And we did…Sunshine Cindy and I went there and had a blast. BT puts on a fun show and he had the crowd energized.

Now the week was really getting going. On Wednesday I stopped in at The Crust for lunch. I love their pasta dishes and at lunch they are a great deal. I could eat it every day!!!! In the late afternoon I went to Harry T’s to meet up with some friends. Judie and Kelly were there as was Robbin and Jeff from Milwaukee. It was a lot of fun seeing them and hanging with them. We did happy hour downstairs then went upstairs for the sunset. Dan the owner came by and when I told him about our out of town friends he offered them a cigar (it was cigar night) that Jeff accepted then Dan sent over a huge plate of pork skins. That was cool.

I went back down to the harbor on Thursday to enjoy more of our fantastic weather. I got a beer at Fishheads and watched the tourist walking by. From there I went back to Harry T’s. Red was bartending. I have known Red from her day’s at Anglers on the island. Dan was there talking to a customer, saw me and remarked how I could not stay away. Then he bought me a beer! While there I had a tourist sit next to me start to talk…and talk…and talk. He was a nice guy but he never shut up. LOL  Harry T’s has a great happy hour at the bar. It goes from 11 am to 7 pm with all drinks half priced and appetizer specials too. The bar is almost always packed for good reason.

After Harry T’s I stopped once again at the boardwalk bar at Tailfins. Cheryl was working inside but saw me and came to say hello. I also noticed they had a small band stage set-up with a banner for Ronnie Satterfield. Ronnie used to perform on the boardwalk at AJ’s for a couple summers. He is a good entertainer who moved to Nashville. He is back in Destin and I filed it away for future reference. Last stop before heading home was the Rotten Apple again. Tracy was working the bar. Tommy and several others were there again. I think we solved some of the world’s problems.

Thursday evening Sunshine Cindy and I decided to go to Landshark Pizza to listen to BT perform. This is a special trial BT and Landshark are trying to see if they can make it work. The week before it was crowded but not this Thursday. We were there for the entire show. There was 10 or so others who came and went. The problem was a big festival in Harborwalk Village that drew most of the people down there. But we had fun! The tequila was good too! LOL

Sunshine Cindy was off on Friday and we got a lot of things done around the house. In the late afternoon we had a Parrot Head meeting at LuLu’s. Our friends from Texas Jerry Diaz and Hanna’s Reef were playing for everyone and they were great as usual. We had a lot of fun.

The good times continued on Saturday. While Sunshine Cindy was preparing for a party we were having on Sunday I took off to get some stuff from Publix then I headed down old 98 for a top-down ride in the sun along the beach in Badass. Heading back I decided to stop in at TFI Fridays. It has been a long time since we were in there as the management ran the place into the ground. I heard they had new management so I wanted to give it another chance. It looked the same. I ordered a draft beer. It was stale. Enough said…probably another long time before we go back.

In the afternoon Sunshine Cindy and I took Chaos down to the harbor. Chaos loves going for a car ride and walking along the harbor. We stopped at Hooks for a beer. A couple local characters were there. Destin has some unique folks and you can see most of them on the harbor. They were good guys who loved Chaos. We then went to Crab Island Cantina. Jasmine and Josh were working the bar. We had four tourist ladies sit by us. They also fell in love with Chaos. We enjoyed the salt air and watching the boats come and go. The boardwalk was filled with tourist. I don’t know where they all came from. Boats lined The Pointe too. It looked like a Summer day down there.

When we left the Cantina we stopped at Tailfins and got a table. Cheryl waited on us so that was cool. There were other dogs there so Chaos had some friends to play with. We also got lucky as Ronnie was getting ready to play. So we stayed and had some dinner listening to Ronnie. Chaos also enjoyed herself. When we got Chaos home she was one tired puppy as she fell asleep in the car.

On Sunday we had an early birthday party for Sunshine Cindy with her parents. It was a nice relaxing day and a perfect end to my Staycation!

Around town Panini Pete’s opened. We will need to check it out sometime. Also Whole Foods opened in the Commons. A lot of people were excited about the opening. It will be interesting to see how they do.

This coming Saturday we have singer/songwriter Matt Hoggatt playing at Landshark Pizza from 4-7 pm. Matt was discovered by Jimmy Buffett and signed by his record label. He is a fun entertainer. There is no cover charge so come out for good music, food and drinks! We hope to see you there. https://www.facebook.com/events/450399938491773/. A full report next Monday on the fun and chaos!

It’s now Destin’s “shoulder season.”

Once Spring Break ends and before the Summer chaos, we have what’s known as “The Shoulder Season.” This is the time between the seasons. It is when Destin is at its best as the crowds are less and the weather is almost perfect.

This past week Sunshine Cindy and I didn’t do a whole lot. I got out on Friday after work as Sunshine Cindy wanted to stay home. I went to Landshark Pizza to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game. It was a good game and Tampa won. Courtney and “By God West Virginia” (I can’t remember her name but she is from WVA) were behind the bar. Steve was there as usual. I also ended up talking to an airman. He was a nice guy who started rooting for the Lightning with me. He is from Boston and a Bruins fan but they are out so he jumped teams. LOL

Saturday was spent working around the house again. We (actually Sunshine Cindy) finished the outside work as I just helped move stuff. It really looks great now. Our neighbor Rhett come and sprayed our driveway and sidewalk with something called “White Ox.” It is a water stain remover and works like a champ on the sprinkler stains. The outside looks fantastic with new plants and mulch.

Sunday was another day of work for Sunshine Cindy but this day was inside. I just get in the way so she told me to go to the harbor so she could work. When she is in the cleaning mode it’s best to vacate the premises. I took Chaos to the dog park for a while where I got her good and worn out. Then I went to Crab Island Cantina for the Drop Dead Dangerous and BT Turner show.

The weather was perfect. There was a marathon that was run in the morning so the traffic was a mess. I parked at the Civic Center as I could not get across 98. At the Cantina a big crowd was there. Melanie, Kitty and BT put on a fun show. The girls are really starting to make a name for themselves. Check them out on Facebook and catch a show when they are in your area. And of course BT plays every Sunday at the Cantina.

After the show I went back to Landshark for some dinner and to see the start of the Lightning game three. Steve was there again and Tony came in too. I watched the first period and could tell Tampa was not into the game. After I ate I went home to see what Sunshine Cindy had done. The inside of the house was immaculate…And she was wore out! We sat outside and had a beer and talked for a while. The rest of the evening was spent watching TV and Sunshine Cindy went to bed early.

I didn’t hear too much new news from around the town this week. I guess everyone is catching their breath from a busy Spring Break.

Have a great week. I took the week off so I am sure I will have some stories for you next Monday. See ya then!

Destin Steve

Destin Spring Break winding down

We had one last busy Spring Break week in Destin last week. It was very noticeable on Wednesday when we had some rain so everyone was off the beach and in their cars driving around. Traffic was bad the entire day. I can already tell this week will be much slower. From now till Memorial Day it will be nice in Destin then look out for the summer!

Last Tuesday Sunshine Cindy and I stopped in at Landshark Pizza for music Bingo. We have not done that in a while. It’s always a lot of fun trying to remember the old songs. While there I ate an El Diablo pizza. This is the pizza that has habanero’s, jalapeno’s, Buffalo sauce and pepperoni’s and sausage. It is HOT but it oh so good. And no, we didn’t win any of the games.

Friday night the parrot heads had a meeting at Landshark. Sunshine Cindy decided to skip it as she was planning for a weekend of yard work for us. I got there a little early and sat at the bar having some wings. Courtney was behind the bar. The big topic of conversation was a bad wreck by the Commons. Traffic on 98 was shut down both directions. One person was killed I am sorry to say. Traffic was a mess all afternoon and into the evening.

Jan and Kenny played for us at the meeting. It is always a lot of fun with those guys. We had a big crowd show up again. Some folks were talking about another wreck that happened on Hwy 20 near Freeport. This was a head on collision and another person lost their life there. It was a sad day on our area roads. After the meeting some folks headed to the Boathouse, others to the American Legion but I was a good boy and went home! lol

On Saturday Sunshine Cindy was up early and ready to go. We hit Loew’s and Home Depot for plants and supplies. Then we got home and got to work. We were at it all day. Our neighbor Guy was coming by on Sunday to pressure wash the house so we had to prepare for that too. We finally stopped working about 5:00. I was sore in places I didn’t even know I had. We were hungry and grungy so we decided to go to Landshark for a pizza. We threw on some clean clothes and off we went.

Yes, this was the third time in a few days going there. We need to buy stock in the place. But really it is comfortable and they take care of the locals. Courtney was behind the bar again we were cutting up with her. Steve and Ida came in and sat with us. Steve asked if the black Mustang in the lot was mine. He didn’t know I had gotten a new BadAss a few months ago. He loved the car. I think the four of us solved many of the world’s problems. After eating it was time to head home and relax a little.

Sunday we finished most of the yard work including putting down mulch. Guy came over and did the pressure washing for us. The house looks really good now. It was late when he finished so we didn’t get everything put back yet. That will happen this week.

Another thing we did on Sunday made us very sad. We had to cancel this year’s Phlocking of the Phaithful Trop Rock event. Registrations are way down. If we don’t hit our budgeted numbers then we are liable for the shortfall. We are so far off from what’s needed that not even the late rush of registrations would get us close to what we need to break even. We sent out the announcement and most people were understanding but there were several who didn’t. I wonder how those folks would feel if we hit them up for another $75 or $100 when they got to event because of low attendance? We all know the answer to that. Anyways we hate to cancel it but in reality many Trop Rock events are having a hard time due to so many events for folks to choose from.

I have talked in the past about how The Crust Pizzeria opened a second location in Mary Ester. This is just a few minutes from my job. I have stopped in several times for lunch including one day last week. They have a great deal of 2 slices (big slices too) and a drink for just $6. The girl running the place remembers me from coming into the Destin location. She has told me this location is doing very well. Their pizza is great and they are so friendly. I am getting some others from work going there now too.

This week we have the girls from Drop Dead Dangerous, Melanie and Kitty, back in our area. They will be at KC’s Sandbar in Ft. Walton Beach on the 13th and the 18th and they will be at Crab Island Cantina on Sunday the 17th from 1-5 pm. They put on a good show. Check them out.

Have a great week. I will have a full report next Monday!

Destin Steve

Destin in the Spring Time

I see some parts of the country is still getting snow but our weather in Destin has been terrific. That is as long as you ignore the monsoonal rains we got Friday afternoon and night. The weather was so nasty Friday night Sunshine Cindy and I didn’t even go out. But it was back to beautiful on Saturday.

We went down to the harbor on Saturday to meet up with our friends Alan and Jackie. They were heading back to Illinois on Sunday so we want to see them before they left. Their daughter and son-in-law were with them. We have met Kistin and Jeff before and it was great to see them again. We met up at Hooks for a beer and to enjoy the warm sun. They had a band setting up. The drummer for the band was about 10 years old but he was really good. That was different.

From Hooks we walked down to Crab Island Cantina where Julie joined us. We sat out by the water. We had a front row seat as the folks at Boogies Water Sports were renting jet-skis left and right. This was some good entertainment. At one point three ladies went out on a jet ski. Two of the ladies were really big. They didn’t get more than 20 feet away from the dock when they tipped over. A Boogies guy went to help them as they were in the channel into the harbor. He got them righted and they tipped right over again. A second Boogies guy came to help and they got the three ladies in. Their day was over but at least they didn’t drown or get run over by a boat.

Later another jet ski tipped over. The same Boogies guy just shook his head and went into the water to help them. That poor guy didn’t make enough to have to do all that. We enjoyed watching the show though. We also had Carlos come over talk to us. They have a new GM starting to work there in a few weeks. He comes to the Cantina from Senior Frogs. It will be interesting to see what changes he recommends.

Sunshine Cindy and I walked down to The Boathouse before we left. Gunner was playing and the place was packed. Jonelle and James were there celebrating James’ birthday. We hung around for a short while talking to them then we headed home for the night.

Sunday the weather was even better than Saturday. Sunshine Cindy and I took Chaos to the dog park so she could run. There was a little girl about 5 years old who asked us if she could pet our dog. We said you could if you can catch her. This little girl spent the next 10 minutes chasing Chaos all around trying to pet her. Chaos thought it was a game and she would run away every time the girl got close. I have to give the girl credit, she kept trying and finally Chaos gave in and let her get close and pet her.

After the dog park we took Chaos home and Sunshine Cindy and I went to Tailfins for Sunday Brunch. Lacey took good care of us as we enjoyed some good food and cold drinks. The harbor was kind of quiet but we had a good time people watching the folks walking along the boardwalk.

When we left we headed back towards the house but Sunshine Cindy suggested we stop in at The Other End. This is a craft beer place right on the water across from Hogs Breath. It was pretty full but we found a table. We ended up sharing the table with a family from Atlanta who were in town on vacation. It’s always fun talking to tourist. While there Rob Romans came in. He had a couple of the guys from the band Sway Ja Vue with him. They had done a late night show at KC’s Sandbar and Rob was showing them around.

After a few drinks at The Other End, we hit the road again and decided to stop in at Lucky’s Rotten Apple. We figured it would not be too crowded in the afternoon and we were right. Tracy was working the bar. Ed was at his usual spot at the bar. Jason came in. He was off from Landshark’s and he didn’t have his baby to take care of so he was out enjoying a free Sunday. After chatting with everyone we headed home…or so we thought. We decided on one more stop. We went to Mama Sherry’s as we have not been in there in a long time. We sat at the bar and had some cheese sticks. Mama Sherry’s has been struggling but they had a good dinner crowd come in. Hopefully they will make it.

I heard from some folks that the island was packed this weekend. There was a kite flying competition at the Boardwalk on Saturday and Sunday. That and nice weather had the Boardwalk packed. Across the street at the Civic Center there was a cheerleader competition going on. That also packed out that area. I heard all the roads that lead to the Brooks Bridge were packed and it took a long time to just get to the island.

Also on the island Alan told me he talked to a guy who is going to build a new restaurant on the vacant lot next to The Elks Lodge. He is going to call it Dock of the Bay. There used to be a place there by the same name so someone knows the history of the place. It is going to be a 18 month build out as they will remove all the pilings and build a big dock as part of the restaurant. Hilton was going to build on that lot but I guess that has fallen through.

Alan also heard they plan to build a boardwalk along the bay from Fudpuckers to the Civic Center. There is going to be a pirate boat and a sightseeing boat docked there to go along with the Catywampus catamaran that our friend Tony captains from there. It sounds like the island is trying to keep people there and not go to Destin. It’s like what Baytowne did for Sandestin.

The old Staff’s restaurant and bar in downtown Fort Walton Beach has new owners. Two guys are working on getting the bar open where they will have jazz music. They will then go to work on renovating the restaurant. That is supposed to take over a year as there is a lot of work to do with this old building.

The trailer for the possible new TV show, “Bar Stools and Beach Chairs” is available for viewing. This show is the brainchild of Fred McFarlin from Atlanta. He came down to Destin about a year ago to film the pilot of the show. Sunshine Cindy and I were a big part of the filming. Fred has been pitching the show to networks as he tries to get someone to pick it up. Check it out and if you know anyone who can help get this show picked up, let me know and I will get you in touch with Fred. https://vimeo.com/153158796

This week we have a Parrot Head meeting at Landshark Pizza in Destin Friday starting at 5:30 pm. Jan and Kenny will be providing music. Come out and “Party with a Purpose” with the Parrot Heads. The weather is going to be good this week for everyone to “Embrace the Chaos!” I will have a full report next Monday for ya’ll…

Destin Steve