The Holiday Season is upon us…

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Destin saw a big influx of tourist for the holiday. Heading home from work on Wednesday the traffic on 98 was heavy but moving.

Thanksgiving day saw Sunshine Cindy and I take Chaos to Cindy’s parent’s house for dinner. We had a nice dinner then spent time down at the dock. Chaos loved running in their big back yard and looking over the side of the dock into the water. We have not had any rain in many weeks so the water was crystal clear. Chaos kept us entertained. By the time we got home about 7 or so Chaos was a tired puppy and slept all night.

Black Friday was a special day for us. It was one year ago on Black Friday 2015 that we brought home Chaos from Alaqua. She was an 8 pound pup who didn’t know what was happening. Now one year later she is over 60 pounds and is the princess of the house!

We took Chaos down to the harbor as she loves to sniff all the smells down there. The harbor was packed with folks. Charter boats were coming in from a day on the water, sunset cruises were getting ready to go out and the restaurants and bars were busy. We parked by The Boathouse and walked towards Harborwalk Village. We stopped at Fishheads for a beer. Melisa was working and staying very busy as a steady stream of people were stopping and buying drinks.

Our next stop was at Crab Island Cantina. We got our usual spot at the outside bar. Bob was working the bar. Chaos was the star as folks were coming up and petting her and saying how beautiful she is. You really can meet a lot of folks when you have a dog.

We planned to walk back towards the car but at Hooks on the Harbor we saw Kerby and David. We stopped to chat with them and next thing you know we are there for an hour. Scotty was there and Tony stopped by too. We got some sad news there. Hooks was having their last day on Sunday. Their lease was not renewed as that prime land will be sold. We heard Alan from AJ’s might be getting it but we are not sure. Hooks was a good locals hangout. We don’t have many of those left anymore.

Sunshine Cindy, Chaos and I then headed to Duck Duck. Passing the Boathouse I saw Jack at his usual spot at the bar. I stopped in to say hello. Jack is a good guy and a fixture on the harbor and at the Boathouse. We got to Duck Duck and saw the sunset. It was another wonderful day. This was another night where Chaos got home and slept all night.

On Saturday I wanted to watch the Ohio State / Michigan football game at Charlie’s inside the Cantina. Carlos is a Michigan guy so one of us would be crying in our beer. Sunshine Cindy and I got there in the middle of the first quarter and stayed for the entire game. It was a great game as Ohio State won in double overtime. It was a lot of fun watching the game there as Carlos has changed things up a little. They have a 2 for 1 happy hour all day long as long as you order some food. That’s one of the best deals going. They are also now doing pizza on the weekends and it really looked great. I would be having one real soon!

After the OSU game we stopped at Landshark Pizza to hang out for a while. A big crowd was there watching the Bama / Auburn game as well as Wisconsin / Minnesota. We had fun talking to a couple of airmen who were sitting next to us. It was a nice end to the day.

So on Sunday I wanted to torture myself and watch the Browns play. Sunshine Cindy and I went back to Charlie’s. Wayne joined us. Josh was working the inside bar and took good care of us. Sunshine Cindy and Wayne both ordered one of their signature burgers. And yes, I got a pizza. It was really good. It was big and tasty. I highly recommend it. Having it helped with the pain of watching the Browns! LOL  And with that the holiday weekend came to a close.

Around Destin the construction of the “Baby Grande” is getting ready to get started. It is supposed to include a hotel, condo, retail and restaurant space. They have to do something before the end of the year or their permits will run out. So I expect to see some dirt moved and some type of small structures built.

The Donut Hole is having their usual December closure. They will reopen right before Christmas. And on the harbor across from Sexton some old buildings have been torn down. I understand there will be some type of condo going up there too. The building boom in Destin is not slowing down.

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

Destin Steve

Happy Thanksgiving!

The 2016 holiday season is opening up in Destin with Thanksgiving this Thursday. I remember back in the mid 1990’s when I first came to Destin you could not find a place open to have Thanksgiving dinner. Before I moved here I remember coming to Destin and the only place open for dinner was a Shoney’s. My how the times have changed. Now there is probably a couple dozen places that do a special Thanksgiving dinner.

This past week we did a lot of things around the house. I was finally able to wash Badass as it was caked with dirt from our trip. Sunshine Cindy got the garage cleaned up and we threw away a lot of junk that was  collecting dust. I took Chaos out for a walk each morning as she loves to get out. We also visited her parents one afternoon. It was a weekend to get caught up on things.

We did go watch football on Sunday at Landshark Pizza. The Browns took another beating but I had a couple strangers commend me on being a true fan. Someone has to do it I guess. LOL  We had a good group there. Ken, Cheryl, Donny, Bob and BT joined us. The Ravens and Cowboys were playing so a spirited rivalry was taking place between Donny and Bob. It was a fun afternoon being with our friends.

BT told us he is planning to release a CD of original music this spring. The title of the CD and title song will be our “What Happens In Destin” song that I helped write. BT has a lot of original songs and parody’s that are a lot of fun. This should be a cool CD when he gets it done.

When we left I decided to head to Crab Island Cantina and see if Alan and Jackie were there. We walked down the hill and saw them at the bar. We surprised them as they didn’t expect to see us. Mike and Bob were working the bar. It was not too busy on the harbor.

As with most of the country, Destin also cooled way down this weekend. It was down in the 40’s which for us is freezing. It can warm back up now!

The original Funky Blues Shack / Graffiti’s restaurant in Destin has closed. They got new owners in the past year or so but I guess they could not recreate the magic the place once had. Not to be confusing but the other Funky Blues Shack that closed in Baytowne and planning to reopen near the Commons in the old Chili building is still going forward. I believe this is owned by the original owners…I think.

The new five star hotel/resort The Henderson opened on Thursday. Sunshine Cindy and I was sitting on our back porch in the evening when a fireworks show started. It was from the grand opening. This is supposed to be the only five star hotel between Jacksonville and New Orleans. It will be interesting to see how it does. 

Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday. See ya next Monday!

Destin Steve

Back home in Destin

Sunshine Cindy and I made it back from our trip to the Keys. We had a great time spending a few days in Key Largo, a week in Key West and a night in the Everglades where I fed many mosquitoes! Going on vacation is nice but it wonderful to be back home in Destin.

Our weather continues to be perfect in Destin. Actually we could use some rain as it’s been well over a month since we had any significant rain here. Our highs have been in the 70’s and lows in the 50’s. I will take it for this time of the year.

We got out and about a little this past weekend. Friday night was our Parrot Head meeting at Landshark Pizza. I went but Sunshine Cindy stayed home to recover from our trip. It was a fun time with the Rowdies playing music for us. A good crowd was there enjoying the music and Veteran’s day as we celebrated the Vet’s we have in the club.

Saturday morning we stopped at IHOP for breakfast. This was actually the second time in a week we went to an IHOP after never being in one before. We stopped at one in Lake City for lunch on our way home. It was so good we stopped at our IHOP in Ft. Walton Beach for breakfast. They serve some of the biggest omelet’s we have ever seen. Be warned if you decide to have breakfast there!

Saturday afternoon we met up with Alan and Jackie at Crab Island Cantina. A wedding was going to take place in the main area. We sat at the bar and had a ring side seat for the ceremony. It was an interesting time at the Cantina with the wedding and some of the folks that were at the bar. Specifically there were three older ladies and the oldest got hammered on margarita’s. It took the other two a couple hours to get grandma sobered up enough to get her up the hill. We also had one of the bartenders, Mike bring out to us some BBQ wings and ribs he had made the day before. They were fantastic. We were so glad he shared them with us. He got a big tip from us for sure! lol

Sunday we had to make a couple of stops. On the way home we stopped at Hogs Breath. B was sitting at the bar. We have not seen him since Steve passed away. We got the entire story of what happened. It was a sad story. There was also some New Orleans Saints fans watching their game. The Saints lost the game in a way I only thought the Browns lost games. A blocked extra point returned for the winning points. Ouch!

Changes continue in Destin. When we got home and drove down Commons Drive we were shocked to see all the trees gone and the land leveled were the new apartment complex is going to be built on the land where Dolly had thought about building a theater. They are wasting no time on the construction as the site work should be done in a few weeks as fast as they are going.

The new strip center on Commons by Kelly Plantation is moving along quickly too as the Atlanta’facation of Destin continues. They are building on every available strip of land. The other new strip center by Eglin Federal Credit Union is also moving along. I can see some of those places opening soon.

Over in Sandestin a long time favorite, Busters has closed. I understand the rent was going up too much for the owners to handle. Gilligan’s has closed for the season. They will reopen in February. It looks like Charley is keeping The Crust Pizzeria closed for the season. They still have to fix the building where a car crashed into it a few weeks ago.

It’s almost time for the Snowbirds to start and descend on Destin. As our friend singer/songwriter Brent Burns sings about this time of the year, “If a car from Michigan passes you…it’s stolen!”

Have a great week. See ya next Monday!