Winter in Destin

First off I want to say when we talk about winter in Destin, it is nothing like what our neighbors to the north have to endure. But with that said, when it gets below 30 degrees here we feel like we are living on the Frozen Tundra of Green Bay. You don’t know how hard it is to wear flip flops when it’s that cold out! LOL

Last week we did have a couple mornings of temps in the upper 20’s with afternoon highs only in the 40’s. I am ready for summer to come back! Enough of this crap!

The snowbirds are back in Destin in full force. This time of the year always reminds me of a saying Brent Burns has about snowbirds in our communities. “If a car from Michigan passes you…It’s stolen!” Brent has a fun song titled, “If it’s Snowbird season, why can’t we shoot them?” Check him out at brentburns.com.

Actually the snowbirds are a great group that helps our local economy during the winter. They are out supporting our local bars and restaurants and recreational activities. Just don’t get in their way if there is a free happy hour buffet. You will end up with walker tire tracks on your back!

Snowbirds aren’t the only folks that love Destin. A travel website called Tripping.com rated Destin as the Number One beach location in the US. Destin is not a sleepy little fishing village anymore.

I finally started to shake this head cold a little this week. Sunshine Cindy and I decided to get out on Saturday for a while. We headed to O’Quigley’s to get some food and drinks and to watch some of the KC football game. When we got there about 2 pm the place was mostly empty. Not too long after we got there a big group of snowbirds came in to watch the Syracuse basketball game. There must have been 30 or so having a good time. Or at least a good time right up to the end of the game when Syracuse lost on a last second shot.

Before the basketball game ended the football game started. The bar had now filled up and many of the tables were full too. We talked with Charley the owner for a while. He was down almost the entire month of December with the flu. He said he lost about 25 pounds and it was the worse he has ever felt. Glad to say he is doing fine now. I also have to mention a football food special they have. It is baked Lasagna. I can’t describe it other than to say it is to die for. Try it if you get a chance.

At halftime we decided to head to Landshark Pizza to see what was going on there. They were also packed. Sunshine Cindy and I got a table and watched the rest of the KC game. It was an exciting game that Tennessee came back to win. As that game was ending and the Falcon’s game was getting ready to come on, Jerry and Leslie came in. They are big Falcon fans. Jerry was our realtor and he and Leslie have become good friends.

Sunshine Cindy and I had them join us at our table as we decided to hang around for at least the first half. Their daughter Pressley was also with them as well as another couple. We had a blast partying with them all and watching Falcons jump to a nice lead. It was a fun atmosphere as usual in Landshark. We did leave at halftime and I’m glad to say the Falcons won the game.

Sunday we wanted to do brunch. We decided on World of Beer. We had not been there for brunch but we wanted to give it a shot. We are glad we did. The food was excellent and the drinks were good too. We had a locals card but they gave us a new one so it was pretty reasonable. I had a chicken and waffles sandwich that was pretty awesome. We feel like tourist when we go there but they are really working to get the locals. We will be back for brunch for sure.

The big news around town was The Boathouse Oyster Bar being sold. Locals Missy and Chris bought it from Kelly. They are doing a remodel on the kitchen but will reopen in a few weeks. They don’t plan to change the vibe or feel of the place. The Boathouse is a great Destin dive bar. Don’t go there if you are looking for high class but you will see a lot of real, down to earth folks there having a good time. Good luck to Missy and Chris!

Another place getting a remodel job is Fud’s on the island. They are closed and will reopen sometime around spring break in March. It will be interesting to see how it turns out as the old layout was kind of chopped up.

The Emerald Coast Parrot Head club has its first monthly meeting of the new year this Friday at Landshark Pizza starting at 5:30 pm. The club donated over $18,000 last year to local charities. We hope to do better this year. Join the Parrot Heads. It’s only $20 year. And Party with a Purpose!!!

See ya next Monday with a full recap of the week!

Destin Steve