It was a great Thanksgiving weekend in Destin

It was a nice relaxing holiday weekend in Destin for Sunshine Cindy and I. We went to her parent’s house on Rocky Bayou for Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful day. We were able to sit on the back porch and watch some boats and jet ski’s that went out for afternoon rides. Sunshine Cindy works part time for Honey Backed Hams and she had gotten a turkey from them for dinner. It was awesome. It was a nice visit and good day to relax a little.

I was off on Friday. I took Chaos out in the morning for her customary walk. Actually Chaos demands it. She gets me up and follows me around until we leave. All I have to do is say the word “walk” and she goes nuts. Then our walk is more like her dragging up and down the street. If a squirrel runs out she about rips my arm out of its socket. It is good exercise for her and me!

Friday was a special day for us and Chaos. It was two years ago on Black Friday 2015 that we brought Chaos home from Alaqua. She was a little 8 pound puppy who has now grown into a 65 pound bundle of energy. She is smart as a whip, loving and she is the princess of the house! We love our Chaos!!!

On Friday afternoon I decided to take my bicycle out for a ride. It has been many months since I rode it. I ended up riding to Joe’s Bayou park and back. It was about a 7 mile ride. Not very long but long enough when you have not been riding in what seemed like forever. The weather was perfect to be out and it was great exercise.

When I got back home Sunshine Cindy was working on putting up our Christmas tree. So while she was doing that I went to Beach Liquor to stock up on a few things for the holidays. They have a craft beer/liquor bar inside the store that opened for the day when I was there. So after paying for my stuff I stopped at the bar and had a couple of craft brews while watching some football. It was a great way to spend an off Friday.

In the evening Sunshine Cindy and I watched some movies. Chaos was tuckered out from running in the backyard all day and she slept with her head on Sunshine Cindy’s leg. It was a perfect ending to a good day.

Sports stated to rule the schedule on Saturday. Sunshine Cindy went to do some shopping Saturday about noon while I stayed home to watch Ohio State beat that team from up north! It was a great game as the Buckeyes came from behind to win it. Then on Saturday evening we headed to Crab Island Cantina and Charley’s BBB Bar to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game. Darla, Bob and Wayne joined us. We all try to get together at least once a year to watch a game. We had fun but the Lightning didn’t play very well and lost. They took good care of us at Charlies. We had sound for the game and it was on several TV’s. The food is excellent and the beer cold. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Sunday Funday was spent watching the Browns at Landshark Pizza. Sunshine Cindy decided to not go this week. Bobby joined me as we once again watched the Browns lose another game. He had a couple of his motorcycle riding buddies join us for part of the game. We also had Joe watching the game from across the room. He was in town and is originally from Cleveland. We all talked for a while commiserating in the sad state of the Browns. Oh well, they have to win another game sometime…right?

Around town it was announced TGI Friday’s will not be returning. The old TGI’s closed at the end of 2016 due to mismanagement. The building was torn down and two new building are going up on the land it used to occupy. It was announced previously TGI’s was going to take over one of the buildings but now the word is they won’t. It’s going to be a Panera Bread and Starbucks and Advanced Auto Parts. I don’t know what happened to Friday’s. They are making progress with the buildings. There was even guys working there on Thanksgiving day.

Down on the harbor, I have written about a new building going up next to the Boathouse. Last spring we were down there with Alan and Jackie when we got to talking with a guy who said he was building a new restaurant and bar on that spot. The site work had begun. There used to be an old restaurant there and small docks but for a couple years it was empty. Since the spring a lot of work has been done. It was now reported in the Destin Log that Claude Perry is doing the building. Claude owns a lot of land in that area. He is the owner of the building that houses the Red Door and the building that houses Landshark Pizza and Asiago Skillet.

They say this is going to be a 8000 square foot, two story building. Claude is looking for someone to lease the space from him. This end of the harbor is more laid back and local than the Harborwalk Village area. That is more Disney’ish while this east end is more hard core partying. It will be interesting to see who will be leasing this space and what they do with it. A high-end fancy place won’t make it here in my opinion. They need an affordable fun place. Of course no one is asking me but if they did…LOL

Only 29 more days till Christmas…Ugh! Have a great week. See ya next Monday!

Destin Steve

Winter comes to Destin

Winter weather in Destin is best described as either warm and wet or cold and dry. We had both ends of that scale this weekend. Saturday was warm and humid. It felt great. But with that warm weather we also had some rain. Then Sunday morning a front went though and it got cold. But at least it was sunny. When I took Chaos for her morning walk the wind was hollowing but she loved the cold temps. Me, not so much!

Speaking of Chaos, she is getting so much exercise running in the back yard after squirrels she has lost some weight. She is now a lean, mean squirrel chasing machine!

Sunshine Cindy and I didn’t do much away from the house this weekend. I did some work on our fence and cleaned paw prints from our pool deck. I also tried to put some chairs together but the first two I worked on had manufacturing problems that would not let me proceed. They are going back to Wayfair. We should have known better.

Meanwhile Sunshine Cindy was out buying some new cabinet hardware and she finished putting the Beach Room together as the new bed frame came in. That room looks awesome. It looks out at the pool and she did a fantastic job of making it beachy!

The last major remodel project is getting the new backsplash installed. That will happen next week. Then I will stop with all the project updates! Finally our house will be done…at least for the major jobs.

Sunday Sunshine Cindy and I went to Landshark Pizza to watch the Browns game. We had a good group of friends watching several of the different games. Bobby, Cheryl, Ken, Donny, John, Bob, Sue as well as some others who stopped in. Sue didn’t realize she could have so much fun despite her team (the Packers) getting crushed. I told her I wrote the book on having good times with a bad team!

In town the long awaited work on The Point is getting underway. There is a big barge there as they work to strengthen that area to keep the sand from washing into the entrance to the harbor. With the largest charter fishing fleet in the state, keeping the mouth of the harbor open is very important. I will be curious to see how this all looks when it’s done. They have several phases to the project and the first part should be done by May 2018.

This week kicks off the holiday season in Destin. Over the next five weeks there will be parades on land and on the water, Santa will be arriving at our various shopping centers, holiday musical presentations will be held at many locations around town and last but not least the Snowbirds are coming back! Our winter season is officially in full swing. Hopefully our favorite Snowbirds will be back soon. Get well Alan! We miss you and Jackie!

Have a great Thanksgiving celebration. We will be celebrating with Sunshine Cindy’s parents. We also will be going to Charley’s BBB bar inside of the Crab Island Cantina on Saturday evening for a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey viewing party. Come join us if you are in the area! See ya next Monday with a full wrap up of the week!

Destin Steve

The Blog Returns!

It has been a couple of weeks since my last blog posting as Sunshine Cindy and I were traveling to the Keys and Key West. We had  a wonderful trip where we partied with Parrot Head friends, celebrated my 60th birthday, relaxed a lot, and enjoyed good food and drinks. All in all it was a great time.

The Keys are recovering from Hurricane Irma. Key West survived pretty well. There was not a lot of obvious damage. You could tell where trees came down, decks and stairs were rebuilt and a few places were still closed. But all in all, Key West is back in the tourist business.

The same cannot be said for the Middle Keys. It was sad to see the destruction as mountains of debris were piled along US 1. The area around Big Pine Key was the worse. It is going to be many months before there is any semblance of normalcy for those folks. Talking to a FEMA supervisor one evening he said about the half the homes in Big Pine will be demolished as they are uninhabitable. Very sad but the folks in the Keys are a strong group and they will bounce back.

Back at home Chaos had a pretty normal time while we were gone thanks to Susie staying at our house to watch Chaos. She said Chaos spent most of her time running around in the backyard chasing squirrels. That is Chaos’s new favorite pastime. It is good exercise for her. She has lost some weight and sleeps well at night! LOL

It didn’t take long to get back to reality after we got home. We both went back to work and within a day or so the vacation seemed like a distant memory.

The work on the house continues. After we got home we had the last of the kitchen counter granite installed on the new cabinet we had added to the kitchen. It looks awesome. Now all we have left to do in the kitchen is pick out some new backsplash and get that installed. Saturday Sunshine Cindy and I went and purchased a new dining room table. It gets delivered this Thursday. It is a Teak Wood base with a round glass top. It looks amazing and we can’t wait to get it in the house. We are just about done with the major work and purchases for the house.

On Saturday after we did the dining room table shopping we stopped for a beer at Mellow Mushroom. Then we headed across the street to Ciao Italia Bistro for dinner. This place is quickly becoming my favorite for Italian food in Destin.

Friday night was our Parrot Head meeting at Landshark Pizza. We honored all of the Vets in our club. We have a lot I am glad to say. We could not be doing what we do without the sacrifices they and their mates made. Thanks to each and every one of them!!!

Sunday was Browns football again. We decided to mix it up and go to Tailfins and try and change the Browns luck. It didn’t work. They still lost. I have to give a shout-out to Bobby. He continues to come to the games with us to try and root the Browns to a win. He even bought a Browns tee shirt. One of these days Bobby, we will taste victory! I hope!

After the game Sunshine Cindy and I walked down to AJ’s. BT and Nicole were there with a bunch of their friends watching the Cowboys/Falcons on the big screen. It was great catching up with them as we have not seen them in several weeks. AJ’s has done an outstanding job with this outside area. They just continue to grow and grow.

We were only gone for about 11 days but the road construction on Hwy 98 got underway big time. From in front of Wal-Mart all the way down to Airport Road they have moved lanes, put up a million barrels and made travel in this area dangerous. I can’t believe they did all this in such a short period of time. That will put more folks on Commons Drive now.

Destin was busy this Saturday. They had a 3k run/walk from the American Legion. There was a Pooch party at the dog park with hundreds of people and pets there. And something was going on at Morgan’s Sports Complex. Hundreds of cars were parked everywhere. I don’t know what it was for but they had a ton of folks there. Destin continues to stay fairly busy.

It’s fun to go on vacation but it is great to be back home. Have a great week everyone and I will be back next Monday “Living and Playing in Destin!”

Destin Steve

Destin in the Fall

We had some hot and humid temps this past week but that all changing as Fall makes an appearance in Destin this week. With some heavy rain on Sunday night we are now getting more seasonable lower temps and lower humidity. A lot of folks around here love this weather.

It was a busy week for Sunshine Cindy and I. Tuesday and Wednesday the new kitchen granite was installed. It looks awesome. We are just waiting for a new cabinet/bar to come in and get installed then all we have left for now is to pick out some new backsplash. We are getting close to having friends over to check it all out.

We didn’t get the water and gas back on in the kitchen until Thursday. We had to let all the glue and granite stuff set up. So Wednesday on my way home from work I stopped in at The Crust to pick up some pasta to take home. There was a strange occurrence while I was there. When I walked in there was only 4 people sitting at a table. After I placed my to-go order, a couple of other families came in. About this time the first 4 people left. Then one of the guys come storming back into the restaurant waving a piece of paper around hollering who was the tough guy who put this note on her car (who ever “her” was). No one knew what he was talking about. He even “invited” everyone outside to talk about it.

A guy from the back said no one knows what you are talking about. Someone else asked what the note said. I heard him mumble “asshole.” Then he left. The poor waitress didn’t know what to say or do. About this time the guys storms back in waiving the paper saying it was written on a ticket from the restaurant. He looked at the waitress saying did you do this? She looked at him and said, “Like I had time to run out while I was taking care of everyone.” Then she told him the ticket was not even from the Crust. He stormed out again and finally left. I’m sure he is an asshole and that’s why the note was put there from a previous stop I bet. I joked that I wanted to follow him around town and put more notes on his window! LOL

This weekend our friends Buz and Brenda were getting married on the beach on Saturday. Thursday night the guys got together for a bachelor party for Buz. They started out at Harry T’s. I got there a little early and went to Crab Island Cantina as the bar at Harry T’s was packed. Monica was working the bar. It was not busy so we had a chance to catch up as I had not seen her in a while. When I got back to Harry T’s I found out the party was upstairs. I stayed for this part of the party. They were moving on to the Island but I headed home after chatting with Dan for a while.

Friday was a low key day for us. Sunshine Cindy’s parents came by for a visit but otherwise we took it easy.

Saturday was the wedding on the beach by the Crab Trap. Wayne came by our house to see all the work we have had done. He then rode with us to the beach. It was a day for weddings as three other weddings were going on too. Buz and Brenda looked great. Mike was a perfect “flower girl” as he dispensed miniature bottles of booze to the crowd. Yep, a typical Parrot Head wedding.

After the wedding Steve and Becky invited us to their condo that was just a short drive away. Several folks ended up there as we had a few drinks before the reception that was being held at the American Legion. Steve and Becky have done a lot of work to their place recently and it looks great. They live in Oklahoma but visit Destin often. They are great folks and a lot of fun to hang around with.

Sunshine Cindy and I stayed at the reception for a while then decided we wanted to get away to someplace a little more quiet. We went to the new Italian restaurant, Ciao Italian Bistro. We had a great meal. They get their Italian sausage from Chicago. It was out of this world. The entire meal was perfect. Gugliamo is the owner. He has had several different places in Destin over the years. He was there and we got to talk with him too. He has a hit on his hands. They just got a new pizza oven installed and are ready to start serving pies. I’m sure they will be just as good as the rest of their food. We will be back!

On Sunday I was back at Landshark Pizza for the Browns game. It was a close game but they lost again. This is getting depressing. Oh well, it was fun hanging out with our friends.

It was a dangerous week on the waters around Destin. Earlier in the week a charter boat captain was 21 miles out when he saw a couple of guys in the water. They were diving for Lionfish and their boat had engine problems and broke free. They were two very lucky guys. Then over the weekend a boat overturned in East Pass. 6 people were in the water when good Samaritans pulled them to safety. And finally a small fawn deer was rescued from the Gulf. I’m glad to say all were okay.

My next blog will be Tuesday November 7th. Sunshine Cindy and I will be taking our yearly trip to the Keys and Key West for the Parrot Head “Meeting of the Minds.” This convention, musical festival and family reunion all rolled into one is a fun time. We are glad to be able to help get some tourist money back into the Keys after Irma. See ya when we get back!

Destin Steve

Fall Break in Destin

I don’t really remember when “Fall Break” became a tourist thing but it is real. A couple years ago I noticed the crowds were picking up in early October. This year was very obvious. Traffic in Destin rivaled what we see for Spring Break last week. But that is a good thing as they keep our economy pumped up in the down time.

This past weekend Sunshine Cindy and I headed to Landshark Pizza on Friday night for the Parrot Head meeting. It was a blast with Rusty playing for our football themed fund raiser. A big crowd was there and a good time was had by all. We even had an appearance from our friend Dennis. He stopped in to pick up some wings and hung out with us. It was good to see him again.

Saturday the Parrot Heads were having a beach party. It was supposed to be a bonfire but Walton County is now charging event fees plus a bonfire fee. And they only allow a couple groups on the beach at a time. So we said screw them and we went to Okaloosa County by the Crab Trap for a Glow Stick Tree party since Okaloosa does not allow bon fires on the beach. Sunshine Cindy and I were working on the house all day and didn’t make it but from the pictures I saw I could tell everyone had a fun time. It was a great idea by the board to do the Glow Stick Tree. I think a new tradition has been born.

Sunday Funday saw me back at Landshark for football. Yes, the Browns still lost and looked worse than ever. It’s tough watching them but with a good group of friends there we have a fun time. Landshark was packed with fans watching the games. With a Green Bay game going on at the same time, the back room was totally filled up. Landshark is a great place to watch the games.

After the game I walked down to The Boathouse Oyster Bar. Drop Dead Dangerous was playing. It was supposed to have been a charity fund raiser for Kenny. But with Kenny passing away they turned the event into a celebration of his life. Paul, Larry, JD and Lynley all joined Kitty and Melanie on stage for a fun time. The entire band will be at Crab Island Cantina in Harborwalk Village this Tuesday from 5-9 pm. Get out and listen to them as they are awesome!

Destin was hot and humid all last week. We had temps in the low 90’s and you could cut the humidly with a knife. This is definitely above average for us but I love it. I walked Chaos both Saturday and Sunday mornings. We were both wore out by the time we got back home. LOL  But as of today we are back to normal temps for this time of the year. I know a lot of folks that are happy about that.

Last Wednesday at work we had the CEO and division President in for a visit. I was invited to dinner with them. Our GM made reservations at Ali’s in downtown Ft. Walton Beach. I was very impressed with the place. They do Italian food and do it very well. Of course it helps that someone else picked up the tab! But check Ali’s out if you get a chance.

Ten years ago Thursday was a day I will never forget. Sunshine Cindy and I were first introduced. It was at a Parrot Head meeting. Cajun Mike made the introduction and as they say, the rest is history. It’s been a great ten years and here’s to many many more!

We have another busy week coming up. I already mentioned about Drop Dead Dangerous playing Tuesday at Crab Island Cantina. Tuesday is also the day we have our granite kitchen counter being installed. Saturday is special day for Buz and Brenda. They will be married on the beach. Thursday night the guys are taking Buz out. That should be fun. And of course we have Sunday Funday football. Just another typical week in Destin!

Have a great week. See ya next Monday.

Destin Steve

Destin dodges the Hurricane Nate bullet

Another week and another hurricane hitting the US. This time it was the Gulf Coast that took the brunt of the storm. Nate came ashore in Biloxi as a Cat One. It was a fast moving storm I’m glad to say. Here in Destin we had some wind and rain but nothing serious. A few folks lost power but we never lost power at our casa.

What surprised me was the lack of attention that was paid to this storm in our area. Other than the Destin Seafood festival cancelling their event it was pretty much business as usual around town. I heard some complaints about the festival being cancelled but they really didn’t have a choice. You can’t have vendors and attendee’s a couple feet above sea level when you don’t know where the storm is actually going to go. And it was a good call as Saturday afternoon and into Sunday was windy and rainy.

Destin was actually busier than normal. I heard there was Fall Break in several surrounding states and with Monday being a holiday we had more people in town than we have had in a while. I guess no little hurricane will scare them off.

Sunshine Cindy and I had a busy day on Friday. Her dad came over to help us do a few things around the house. He and I ended up traveling around the area to find some weather stripping for our front door. It’s an old door and we ended up having to make due. It was nothing a little gorilla glue couldn’t fix!

After that was done Sunshine Cindy and I headed to the granite place as our granite is in. We got to pick out exactly how they will cut it so we could get the look we wanted. With any luck they will be installing it later this week. Then we made a Publix run. The place was super busy too. Then we went to dinner at McGuire’s. It was fantastic as always. And as usual, I was stuffed to the gills. Then we headed home to relax and digest that great meal.

Saturday morning was spent getting our garage in order. I wanted to be able to get at least one car in there before the storm hit. Then Sunshine Cindy helped some folks with storm prep and I did a little grilling out. Nate blew in full bore in the middle of the night. It kept waking us up as the rain was pelting our bedroom window. But like I said, we didn’t have any damage so it’s all good.

Sunday I went to Landshark Pizza to watch the Browns lose again. This is getting monotonous. Landshark was packed. Bobby, Ken and Cheryl were there trying to help me root on the Browns. Then Donny and Bob came in for the late games. It was a fun atmosphere. I saw a ton of friends there too. Amy, Tony, Michelle, Curtis, Hayden were just a few that I saw. Oh well, maybe next week will be the week to get into the win column.

Last week I mentioned the Golden Corral restaurant closed suddenly. I guess they were serious about it as all signs have been removed and there is nothing left to identify it was ever a Golden Corral. They wasted no time.

A couple years ago the city of Destin received funds and approval to fix Noriega Point to stop the sand from washing into the mouth of the harbor. About once a year they have to dredge the harbor mouth so the fishing fleet can get out. It was announced that the work will finally begin this week. They hope to have the first phase done before the start of summer next year. I hope we don’t get any more hurricane’s in the meantime.

Another project that has been talked about for many years is also underway. Hwy 98 is being widened between The Commons and Silver Sands Outlet mall. Traffic there will be a mess for a year or two as this work takes place.

Finally I want to mention a small business that sells cupcakes. Small Cakes is in the City Market area. Sunshine Cindy has bought cupcakes from them a couple of times. They really are “small cakes” and they taste outstanding. They even have cupcakes for your dog. Chaos loves her cupcakes too.

This Friday is our monthly Parrot Head meeting at Landshark Pizza. Rusty is playing for us and it is a football theme. Come out and “party with a purpose” with the Parrot Heads.

See ya next Monday!

Destin Steve

Fall has arrived in Destin

The calendar said Fall came almost two weeks ago but it took till this weekend for it officially feel like Fall in Destin. All last week we had temps in the low 90’s. Saturday afternoon we had a cold front push through with rain and dropping temps. By Sunday the wind was howling and the temp only got up to about 80. What a difference a day made.

The nice thing about the warm temps was I could still use our pool. Friday when I got home from work I went swimming and it felt so good. Speaking of the new house…we are checking tasks off the remodel list. The gas line was approved by the city and we hooked up the gas grill. All painting inside the house is done. The recessed spot for the TV is done. The granite folks came out to measure the kitchen counter. The rest of the trimming of the trees is done. Yep, the place is shaping up.

We invited Sunshine Cindy’s parents over on Saturday to break in the new grill. I cooked up some burgers and we had a fun visit. The grill worked like a champ. I think I will really like it. They weren’t gone 5 minutes when the skies opened up. That was a surprise rain shower for sure.

Sunday Funday we went to Landshark Pizza to watch the Browns. They still suck. But we had a good time with our friends Ken, Cheryl and Bobby. Paige took good care of us. It was a good atmosphere with a lot of hooting and hollering.

Earlier in the week the Emerald Coast Parrot Head club had a fund raising dinner at Landshark. 10% of the food sales went to our Alzheimer’s charity fund. We had a small but fun group there. Ron and a friend of his, Ken who is a true Cajun were there. We were the last ones from our group there and we had a blast. Ken was a fun guy. While there a Parrot Head friend, Mike came in. We had not seen Mike in months as he is fighting colon cancer. He looked pretty good all things considered. He said he has 4 more chemo treatments but so far so good. Keep up the fight Mike!

We get asked all the time how Chaos is taking to her new house. She loves it. She runs after squirrels all day long if we let her. She actually almost got one last week but I’m not sure what she would do if she caught it. She also loves to play ball in the house. It’s funny but she takes her ball up the stairs and then she rolls the ball back down the steps and she waits till Sunshine Cindy or I throw the ball back up to her. Yep, Chaos loves her new house!

Around town we heard Golden Corral has closed down. I don’t know for sure but I think it had something to do with their rent being raised too high.

This coming weekend is the Destin Seafood Festival. Tens of thousands will descend on the harbor for food, drinking and music. Our friends the Southern Drawl Band will be headlining Saturday night for the third year in a row. They play starting at 8 pm. Come out and have a good time. These guys are awesome!

Have a great week. See ya next Monday.

Destin Steve