Jim was one of the pioneers of Trop Rock music. He had a legion of dedicated fans who would pack his shows. Sunshine Cindy and I even traveled to Costa Rica a few years ago with Jim and his fans for a week. He and his wife Sharon were great people. Jim was taken from us way too early so it was important we were there this weekend.
Wayne rode down with us and there were 6 others from the Destin area that also went down. We got there in the early afternoon and hit the ground running. Some of our friends had never been to the Nav-a-Gator so we headed there for some food and fun. Mona took good care of us as we had a blast telling stories and relaxing. As we were winding down a monsoon hit. It poured for a good 20 minutes. When it lulled we headed to the car walking in ankle deep water.
Friday night was spent at Hurricane Charley’s where we saw dozens of friends. It was great seeing everyone even if the reason we were all there was sad. I had a chance to talk with Jimi, the drummer from Jim Morris’s band and got the story of what happened to Jim. I also learned that they are keeping the band together and will continue to play Jim’s music. That’s good news. It was a long day of driving and partying and we about ready to head to our room when our friends Jay and Kathy came in. They have a second house in Punta Gorda and Jay had just flown in. We ended up talking to them till almost 1:30 am. Yep, a long day. LOL
Saturday was the celebration. It started at 12:30 pm. I guess there was close to 2000 people show up for it. They had quite a few musicians play and many folks shared stories. It was hot out there as the sun was relentless with very little breeze. About two hours in a monsoon drenched everyone but the party went on. It was a moving and emotional day.
As the party wound down Sunshine Cindy and I took Wayne, Kenny and Becki into town. We first stopped at Fisherman’s Village and found a spot to have a few beers. At one point we were all walking around when Kenny reached back to hold Becki’s hand but she had moved off to look in a store window. The lady whose hand Kenny had grabbed was sure surprised as was Kenny. We all had a good laugh at that.
We also made stops at The Ice House and Celtic Ray. It was a lot of fun. Back at the hotel the party was cranking up at Hurricane Charley’s. Sunny Jim and John Frinzi were leading a parade of musicians who performed. The time went by way too fast.
Then Sunday morning we were back in the car and headed home. 8 hours later we were back in Destin, got Chaos who was being watched by our neighbors and we caught our breath before we had to get ready for the new work week.
In Destin we missed seeing our friends Alan and Jackie. They came into town for the weekend and we hated that we missed them. Oh well, they will be back in a couple months for the winter.
This is last week of the Summer season. We have a tropical system that has had the Worry…I mean Weather Channel all in a tizzy. They have been reporting on this thing (that is still not named by the way because it is so weak) for what seems like a month. Yes, it might become a tropical storm and it will most likely drop a lot of rain but they are making it sound like doomsday is coming. I guess they need something to talk about.
Enjoy your Labor Day weekend. I will have a full report next Monday!
Destin Steve
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