Sunshine Cindy and I hope all of our friends had a safe and joyous Christmas. In Destin the town filled up while the weather was nice and warm. It was a perfect holiday.
There was actually a Christmas miracle happen on Saturday. The Cleveland Browns won! Yes, they actually beat another team in the game of football! Sunshine Cindy and I watched the first half of the game at Hogs Breath then we went to Landshark Pizza to watch the second half.
Landshark was packed with Packer fans but a table opened up at the TV that had the Browns game on as we walked in. That should have told me a miracle was coming. As the game wound down the bar was getting into the game. As the last second ticked off the clock and the Chargers missed a field goal that would have tied it the bar erupted like they won the Super Bowl. Finally I had a chance to cheer! It felt great!
The rest of the weekend was spent with Sunshine Cindy’s family. We went to their house after the game for Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas day. Tiffany flew in from Atlanta so the whole gang was here. Even Chaos enjoyed running around the yard and going to the dock. It was a nice holiday celebration.
There was not much else going on during the week as Sunshine Cindy spent most of the week cooking. As I mentioned the town started to fill up but early in the week it was dead. I did have a scare driving home on Monday. I was on 98 and almost in front of Landshark Pizza when a homeless guy walked right out in front of me. It was dark and he was wearing dark clothes. It was lucky I could make him out with all the headlights coming towards me. I had to almost come to a dead stop to keep from running him over. I am glad the guy behind me also was alert and didn’t hit me!
Happy New Year to all of our friends from Destin! Be safe and have fun. We will see you again in 2017!
Destin Steve
Monday, December 26, 2016
Monday, December 19, 2016
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Destin
The holiday season is in full swing in Destin. You can’t turn around without seeing a Santa or two! Sunshine Cindy and I went up to Niceville on Saturday to celebrate her Dad’s birthday. It was a nice day as we sat outside and gave her Dad a proper birthday celebration.
When we headed back to Destin we decided to stop at Hogs Breath for a while. We were sitting at the outside bar. Rikki was working and a good crowd was there. We were sitting by Bill who is a parrot head. We didn’t know Bill was 85 years old. He is always out and enjoying himself. Good for Bill.
We also got to talking to Robert and his wife. In the “it’s a small world” category we found out Robert was the person who originally was going to by the house we now live in. Sunshine Cindy got it when Robert backed out because of a fence that was going to be built. It was a new build and we have a lake right behind us. For safety purposes a fenced was going to be built. Robert was told it would be a solid 8 foot fence which would have blocked the view of the lake. So when he backed out Sunshine Cindy jumped in and they ended up putting in a small fence. That was wild talking to them about it.
Sunday Funday saw us at Charlie’s inside Crab Island Cantina to watch football. The Browns lost again. Nothing new there. Ken, Donny and Chad joined us. At least their team won. Brian, Julie, Alan and Jackie all showed up too. We had a fun time. Christmas carols were sang, jokes were told and everyone had a blast.
Saturday morning I took a bike ride. I rode over 9 miles. Come along for the ride.
I pulled out of our sub-division and rode up Commons Drive and then up to Hwy 98 at the roundabout by Home Depot. I crossed over 98 and headed east to Matthews Blvd. The new Henderson Resort is open. They are doing more building both north and south of the resort. It looks like some townhomes or something similar is going in. Now I turned east down Scenic 98 and headed towards the Crab Trap. The wind was hollowing and blowing right in my face so I cut into the Crystal Beach area and started to loop back.
Now I was heading west on 98. As I got to Restaurant Row I passed the new Home Suites hotel. They have also just opened. They actually built this place pretty fast. I stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the Gulf of Mexico watching the waves pound the shore. Some brave paddle boarders were out riding the waves. I crossed back over 98 at The Track and headed to Airport Road. I rode by Beach Liquor and went to Commons Drive.
I rode into the shopping center with Beals and then onto the Wal Mart center. There is still the big hole in the Beals center where Dick’s Sporting Goods was going to open. Last I heard the shopping center was sold and no one knew if Dick’s was still coming in. It sad because businesses were closed to make room for Dick’s and now they sit empty with For Lease signs on them. What a waste.
From there I headed back home. The entire trip took a little over an hour and I got a lot of fresh air and exercise!
Sunshine Cindy and I want to wish all of our Blog Friends a Merry Christmas. We hope Santa is good to you! See ya next Monday!
Destin Steve
When we headed back to Destin we decided to stop at Hogs Breath for a while. We were sitting at the outside bar. Rikki was working and a good crowd was there. We were sitting by Bill who is a parrot head. We didn’t know Bill was 85 years old. He is always out and enjoying himself. Good for Bill.
We also got to talking to Robert and his wife. In the “it’s a small world” category we found out Robert was the person who originally was going to by the house we now live in. Sunshine Cindy got it when Robert backed out because of a fence that was going to be built. It was a new build and we have a lake right behind us. For safety purposes a fenced was going to be built. Robert was told it would be a solid 8 foot fence which would have blocked the view of the lake. So when he backed out Sunshine Cindy jumped in and they ended up putting in a small fence. That was wild talking to them about it.
Sunday Funday saw us at Charlie’s inside Crab Island Cantina to watch football. The Browns lost again. Nothing new there. Ken, Donny and Chad joined us. At least their team won. Brian, Julie, Alan and Jackie all showed up too. We had a fun time. Christmas carols were sang, jokes were told and everyone had a blast.
Saturday morning I took a bike ride. I rode over 9 miles. Come along for the ride.
I pulled out of our sub-division and rode up Commons Drive and then up to Hwy 98 at the roundabout by Home Depot. I crossed over 98 and headed east to Matthews Blvd. The new Henderson Resort is open. They are doing more building both north and south of the resort. It looks like some townhomes or something similar is going in. Now I turned east down Scenic 98 and headed towards the Crab Trap. The wind was hollowing and blowing right in my face so I cut into the Crystal Beach area and started to loop back.
Now I was heading west on 98. As I got to Restaurant Row I passed the new Home Suites hotel. They have also just opened. They actually built this place pretty fast. I stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the Gulf of Mexico watching the waves pound the shore. Some brave paddle boarders were out riding the waves. I crossed back over 98 at The Track and headed to Airport Road. I rode by Beach Liquor and went to Commons Drive.
I rode into the shopping center with Beals and then onto the Wal Mart center. There is still the big hole in the Beals center where Dick’s Sporting Goods was going to open. Last I heard the shopping center was sold and no one knew if Dick’s was still coming in. It sad because businesses were closed to make room for Dick’s and now they sit empty with For Lease signs on them. What a waste.
From there I headed back home. The entire trip took a little over an hour and I got a lot of fresh air and exercise!
Sunshine Cindy and I want to wish all of our Blog Friends a Merry Christmas. We hope Santa is good to you! See ya next Monday!
Destin Steve
Monday, December 12, 2016
Christmas in Destin
It was a festive holiday week in Destin and along the Emerald Coast. It was supposed to start on Monday with the Fort Walton Beach Christmas parade but rain and wind postponed the parade till Tuesday evening. A big crowd enjoyed the parade that night.
The city of Destin held it’s Christmas parade on Saturday. The parade started about 10:00 am and went till almost noon. Then on Sunday there was the lighted boat parade in the Destin harbor. A couple dozen boats got decorated and cruised up the harbor where a fireworks display ended the evening. Well, the fireworks almost ended the evening.
The fireworks are shot off from a barge in the East Pass. Somehow the fireworks started a fire in the parking lot at White Trash Beach. This is the parking lot at the southwest corner of the Destin bridge. Pictures show a big brush fire but the local fire departments were able to get it out. That’s the first time that has happened.
Sunshine Cindy and I took Chaos to the parade on Saturday. We went to Landshark Pizza to watch it. One of the first places we ever took Chaos last year was to the parade. She was barely 10 pounds. Today she is a big strong 60 pound plus bundle of energy. Chaos had a good time. Wayne, Loujean and several others were there to watch the parade and drink Bloody Mary’s. After the parade many Parrot Heads showed up to keep the party going. We ended up heading back home about 3 in the afternoon. Chaos was a tired puppy!
On Friday night the Parrot Heads had our monthly meeting at Landshark. BT provided the music and had everyone up and dancing. Elections for the 2017 board of directors was held. I am actually going to be on the board next year as the club secretary. An ugly sweater contest was held and a check to a church charity for $1000 was presented. For the year our club has donated about $12,000 to various charities.
We didn’t go to the boat parade on Sunday night but I did go to Charlie’s BBB Bar in the harbor to watch the Browns lose again in the afternoon. Josh was working the inside bar, Mike was outside and Carlos was wondering around too. Brian came and joined me as we watched the Browns try hard again but still fall short. Jose came by and told me to hang in there. He’s a 49er’s fan so he knows my pain! LOL
When I left I saw Alan and Jackie sitting at the bar. I stopped and talked with them for a few minutes when the old GM of the Cantina, Judy came in. She moved to Louisiana early this year. I have not seen her since and it was nice talking with her for a few minutes.
I have been talking about how dry it had been in Destin until we got some rain last week. I looked and it was dryer than I had thought. We had NO rain in September and only .7” in October. That’s less than one inch in two months. But in the first seven days of November we had received 8.8” so we are back to normal around here.
The Destin Log reported last week the widening of Hwy. 98 will begin. They will be adding a lane in each direction from Airport Road east into Walton County. It will take several years to complete. Get ready for even worse traffic while they do this work but it should help in the end.
The route of the Destin Christmas parade was right down 98. It started in the parking lot of Old Time Pottery at Main street. Then it was about 2 miles down to Stalhman Ave. at Whataburger. The west bound lanes were shut down and all traffic was directed onto the east bound side. The city and the sheriffs were very efficient in getting the route set up and then back to normal. There were thousands of folks lined up along the highway with the kids scooping up candy and beads.
In addition to Landshark Pizza having a viewing party there was also big crowds at Hogs Breath and Mama Sherry’s. The weather was good…cool but sunny and dry. And of course Santa came up at the end riding in the bucket of the high rise fire truck. It is a lot of fun living in a small town and see how everyone comes together for an event like this parade.
Less than two weeks till Christmas. I hope you are ready! See ya next week!!!
Destin Steve
The city of Destin held it’s Christmas parade on Saturday. The parade started about 10:00 am and went till almost noon. Then on Sunday there was the lighted boat parade in the Destin harbor. A couple dozen boats got decorated and cruised up the harbor where a fireworks display ended the evening. Well, the fireworks almost ended the evening.
The fireworks are shot off from a barge in the East Pass. Somehow the fireworks started a fire in the parking lot at White Trash Beach. This is the parking lot at the southwest corner of the Destin bridge. Pictures show a big brush fire but the local fire departments were able to get it out. That’s the first time that has happened.
Sunshine Cindy and I took Chaos to the parade on Saturday. We went to Landshark Pizza to watch it. One of the first places we ever took Chaos last year was to the parade. She was barely 10 pounds. Today she is a big strong 60 pound plus bundle of energy. Chaos had a good time. Wayne, Loujean and several others were there to watch the parade and drink Bloody Mary’s. After the parade many Parrot Heads showed up to keep the party going. We ended up heading back home about 3 in the afternoon. Chaos was a tired puppy!
On Friday night the Parrot Heads had our monthly meeting at Landshark. BT provided the music and had everyone up and dancing. Elections for the 2017 board of directors was held. I am actually going to be on the board next year as the club secretary. An ugly sweater contest was held and a check to a church charity for $1000 was presented. For the year our club has donated about $12,000 to various charities.
We didn’t go to the boat parade on Sunday night but I did go to Charlie’s BBB Bar in the harbor to watch the Browns lose again in the afternoon. Josh was working the inside bar, Mike was outside and Carlos was wondering around too. Brian came and joined me as we watched the Browns try hard again but still fall short. Jose came by and told me to hang in there. He’s a 49er’s fan so he knows my pain! LOL
When I left I saw Alan and Jackie sitting at the bar. I stopped and talked with them for a few minutes when the old GM of the Cantina, Judy came in. She moved to Louisiana early this year. I have not seen her since and it was nice talking with her for a few minutes.
I have been talking about how dry it had been in Destin until we got some rain last week. I looked and it was dryer than I had thought. We had NO rain in September and only .7” in October. That’s less than one inch in two months. But in the first seven days of November we had received 8.8” so we are back to normal around here.
The Destin Log reported last week the widening of Hwy. 98 will begin. They will be adding a lane in each direction from Airport Road east into Walton County. It will take several years to complete. Get ready for even worse traffic while they do this work but it should help in the end.
The route of the Destin Christmas parade was right down 98. It started in the parking lot of Old Time Pottery at Main street. Then it was about 2 miles down to Stalhman Ave. at Whataburger. The west bound lanes were shut down and all traffic was directed onto the east bound side. The city and the sheriffs were very efficient in getting the route set up and then back to normal. There were thousands of folks lined up along the highway with the kids scooping up candy and beads.
In addition to Landshark Pizza having a viewing party there was also big crowds at Hogs Breath and Mama Sherry’s. The weather was good…cool but sunny and dry. And of course Santa came up at the end riding in the bucket of the high rise fire truck. It is a lot of fun living in a small town and see how everyone comes together for an event like this parade.
Less than two weeks till Christmas. I hope you are ready! See ya next week!!!
Destin Steve
Monday, December 5, 2016
Tornado’s in Destin
We have not had any rain in Destin in many weeks. For the last couple months we have only had a sprinkle here and there. All that changed last Wednesday. The same system that brought much needed rain to the Smokey Mountains also hit Destin with strong storms. The storms were coming in right off the Gulf of Mexico. There were waterspouts spotted in several locations along the coast.
Waterspouts are tornado’s on the water. One of those waterspouts came ashore in Mary Ester just a few blocks from my office. It caused some minor damage to some homes but no one was hurt. About the same time a bigger waterspout was in the gulf in Destin. It too came ashore but was in an area that was not inhabited. It made its way to the bay where it finally dissipated. All in all we got some much needed rain and no one got hurt.
Sunshine Cindy and I mostly stayed home and did some things around the house this past week with the exception of Friday when we headed to the harbor to meet up with Mike. We walked into Harry T’s about 3:30. Susan and Carlos were behind the bar. I recognized a co-worker who was sitting at the bar. We were chatting with Hotch when Alan and Jackie came in to join us. Not too much later Mike came in too. It was a good time as talked about some Parrot Head stuff.
As our friends left, Sunshine Cindy and I struck up a conversation with a guy who was sitting just down from me. He was a Marine who was in town on some training. He heard me say something about the Browns and he is a Steeler fan so we had to talk. He was a very interesting guy (even though he liked the Steelers…lol). Sunshine Cindy and I thanked him for his service to our country.
On the way home we decided to stop in at the American Legion. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot but the place was not too busy. Karoke was going on. Robin, John, Tony all were there. It was good catching up with them.
The rest of the weekend was spent at home. I walked Chaos each morning. She loves her walks. We watched some football but otherwise we were just doing some things that we had put off.
The Destin Log reported this week the reason the Funky Blues Shack and Graffiti’s closed was their lease was not renewed. They are reporting an AutoZone is supposed to go into that location. The owners of Funky Blues Shack are looking for another location to open back up.
Another building has been torn down in Destin. The building that was between Club Destin and Alvin’s Island is gone. The land is graded and it looks like something is going to be built there. I have not heard what it is but I am betting another strip center. The 692 strip centers we currently have in town are not enough. We shall see.
This coming weekend is the Destin Christmas Parade on Saturday and the Lighted Boat Parade in the harbor on Sunday. These are both fun events. Destin does know how to throw a party! We hope to see you at one or both events!!!
Destin Steve
Waterspouts are tornado’s on the water. One of those waterspouts came ashore in Mary Ester just a few blocks from my office. It caused some minor damage to some homes but no one was hurt. About the same time a bigger waterspout was in the gulf in Destin. It too came ashore but was in an area that was not inhabited. It made its way to the bay where it finally dissipated. All in all we got some much needed rain and no one got hurt.
Sunshine Cindy and I mostly stayed home and did some things around the house this past week with the exception of Friday when we headed to the harbor to meet up with Mike. We walked into Harry T’s about 3:30. Susan and Carlos were behind the bar. I recognized a co-worker who was sitting at the bar. We were chatting with Hotch when Alan and Jackie came in to join us. Not too much later Mike came in too. It was a good time as talked about some Parrot Head stuff.
As our friends left, Sunshine Cindy and I struck up a conversation with a guy who was sitting just down from me. He was a Marine who was in town on some training. He heard me say something about the Browns and he is a Steeler fan so we had to talk. He was a very interesting guy (even though he liked the Steelers…lol). Sunshine Cindy and I thanked him for his service to our country.
On the way home we decided to stop in at the American Legion. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot but the place was not too busy. Karoke was going on. Robin, John, Tony all were there. It was good catching up with them.
The rest of the weekend was spent at home. I walked Chaos each morning. She loves her walks. We watched some football but otherwise we were just doing some things that we had put off.
The Destin Log reported this week the reason the Funky Blues Shack and Graffiti’s closed was their lease was not renewed. They are reporting an AutoZone is supposed to go into that location. The owners of Funky Blues Shack are looking for another location to open back up.
Another building has been torn down in Destin. The building that was between Club Destin and Alvin’s Island is gone. The land is graded and it looks like something is going to be built there. I have not heard what it is but I am betting another strip center. The 692 strip centers we currently have in town are not enough. We shall see.
This coming weekend is the Destin Christmas Parade on Saturday and the Lighted Boat Parade in the harbor on Sunday. These are both fun events. Destin does know how to throw a party! We hope to see you at one or both events!!!
Destin Steve
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