I try not to write about the weather too often. In Destin our weather is pretty predictable except for the occasional (hopefully very occasional) hurricane. But this week saw us go from winter to spring in three days. Wednesday morning we had freezing rain and ice that shut down Brooks Bridge. By Saturday we were back up to almost 70 degrees. BTW…I like 70 degrees better!
I actually tried to get to work on Wednesday. Travel was okay right up to the point where I got to Brooks Bridge. I heard there was an accident on the bridge but traffic was moving. Just as I got half way up the bridge traffic stopped. After sitting there for about 15 minutes the police came down the bridge and turned us around as they were officially shutting the bridge down.
So now as I headed back to Destin I worried they had shut down the Destin bridge. I would have been stuck in no-man’s land if that happened. The Destin bridge was slippery but it was open and I made across without a problem. They opened Brooks Bridge about 9 am but I had an eye doctor appointment in Destin at 10:45 so there was no use in going in for just an hour.
Sunshine Cindy took me to my appointment since they were going to dilate my eyes. All went well with the appointment and we headed off for lunch at Brotula’s. It was still very cold and windy. Every time someone opened the door to the restaurant an artic breeze blew in. Well the beer stayed very cold. We had a good lunch and headed home.
Friday night after work we headed to World of Beer for happy hour and some food. As I wrote about a couple weeks ago, they have adjusted their pricing and it is now affordable to go eat and drink there. And needless to say, they have a huge selection of beers to choose from. We are enjoying going there. After we left we stopped in at The American Legion for Karoke night. Tony was at the bar. Robin was there too. Amber was behind the bar taking good care of everyone. We hung out for a while before heading home.
Saturday night our friend from our old neighborhood, Beth invited us to have dinner. She also invited Wayne and another neighbor Sue. She cooked a great meal and it was nice catching up on the goings on in the old neighborhood.
Sunday morning was a glorious day. I took Chaos for her walk. Back home we went out the back where she went after squirrels while Sunshine Cindy and I had breakfast. It was warm enough for me to take my shirt off for a while to get some sun and vitamin D. We thought about going out to watch the NFL championship games. We planned to join Jan and Loujean at KC’s Tapworks in Fort Walton Beach but as the day went on we got lazy and decided to stay home. Neither team we wanted to win did. I guess my old Browns curse carries over to other teams as well.
I seldom agree with the actions of the Destin City Council but they are finally doing something I can get behind them on. Destin is one of the few cities in the area that you can’t buy alcohol in stores on Sunday until 1 PM. You can go to a restaurant or bar and get a drink but you can’t get it at Publix or Beach Liquor till after 1. The city is getting close to approving an ordinance that only prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages between 4-7 am each day including Sunday. This makes a lot of sense. I hope it happens.
Around town several changes are taking place. I had wrote a couple weeks ago about Lucky’s Rotten Apple taking over the old Tipsy Pig in downtown Ft. Walton Beach. That was very short lived as there is now a big “For Lease” sign in front of that building. I don’t know what happened there.
On the island the Ramada Inn is remodeling their entrance. It is all tore up right now with construction equipment all over the place.
Back in Destin the Waffle House across from the harbor is back open. I guess they were just doing some remodeling of the place. I also heard the old building that used to house Popeye’s and Arby’s behind Goodwill has been sold. No word on what is going in yet as they are keeping that a secret.
Back when the old Tipsy Turtle was going strong, the land was owned by a guy named Tim. He had a couple of houses on the land on the bluff. He ran a pontoon and jet ski rental. He sold a big chunk of the land to Johnny to build Tailfins. He still had some land and a house next to Tailfins. I am now hearing he sold that land to Dewey Destin and some others. It does not surprise me. I ran into Tim at the post office last year and he said there is so much activity down on the harbor now they can’t enjoy the house on weekends so it does not surprise me he would sell it. I will be curious to see what comes of that land.
And last but not least…speaking of the old Tipsy Turtle…our friend Matt who was the main bartender there is coming back to Destin and as he put it, “coming out of retirement.” He told me he is going to be working at The Boathouse when they open back up. We can’t wait to see Matt again. He is crazy but a good guy.
This Friday the parrot heads will be meeting at O’Quigley’s across from the Commons at 5:30 pm. Come out and “Party with a Purpose” as we raise money for local charities. Last year we donated over $18,000 to local charities.
See ya next Monday!
Destin Steve
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