2007 DDFF

(Takin' a deep breath, questioning where to start...)

10 Days.
If you do a little organizing, you can pack a lot of activity into a week and a half.
That's good, and bad.
Good, in that when it's over you can look back with a smile, realizing all you have done with the time.
Bad, because trying to efficiently use the time insures it will pass a little too quickly, and the end arrives too soon. I now realize I should have kept a diary along the way so I wouldn't forget snippets that make the journey not just enjoyable, but wonderful.

Reviewing-
We left our home on Thursday afternoon. The thing I love/hate about my beautiful wife is the fact that she is almost fanatical about wanting everything to be as perfect as possible for our friends and relatives, and she has a ton of nervous energy to expel toward that goal. Leaving Thursday afternoon locked in a wee-hour Friday morning arrival at the Condo so Sara Jean could examine the chaos our renters had inflicted on it and undo as much dirt/stain/furniture shuffling as possible prior to the arrival of our first guests, her brother and his wife. We drove through the night on Thursday and arrived at my Mother's apartment in Pensacola at 1 A.M..
Mom is a trooper... in spite of the early hour, she was packed and waiting with a smile. She loves to sit on the balcony and watch her beloved Pelicans fly by in formation, and she was looking forward to seeing Sara Jean's brother and his wife.
It was almost 3 A.M. by the time we passed the "Welcome To Destin" sign. Finding our home in relatively good shape, we put our exhausted bodies to bed.

Morning came quickly, and it was beautiful.
Sun. No clouds. Little wind. Calm water. A few Dolphins plying their way West to East. Beautiful.
But with company on the way there were provisions to buy. Off to Super-Wally World we went.
My In-Laws were arriving at Pensacola airport, then renting a car and driving the hour+ to Destin. While we were in the beer/wine aisle they called and said they were crossing the bridge onto Okaloosa Island. As we paid for our groceries they pulled into the parking lot and asked which door we'd be using to leave the store... perfect timing!
They'd never been to Destin. They were awestruck.
Friday and Saturday were spent leisurely visiting with Mom and our relatives.
Sunday afternoon I drove Mom back to Pensacola because she had medical needs to attend to on Monday. While on this mission, TwoDogs and Cindy arrived. I made my way back to Destin, and after a few adult beverages, the six of us ate at "The Crab Trap" in window seats overlooking the beach, the first of what now seems like a thousand wonderful meals.

Monday is a blur...
I know we spent some time on the beach. We may have spent a little time beneath the umbrella adjacent to the pool. I know for sure that we went to "Baytowne Wharf" and had drinks at a club with a live band- "The HooDoo Daddies", who impressed us all with their versions of Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffet tunes. The setting could not have been prettier- near the extreme East end of the Choctawhatchee bay, we watched a bright red sun set in the water. We walked a few paces and had a great meal at a Creole restaurant, then went back to hear more HooDoo Daddies until they closed the place and ran us off.

Tuesday found us bidding a sad adios to Sara Jean's brother and his wife. No sooner had they disappeared over the Western horizon than TwoDogs and I picked Sharon and TC up at the Ft. Walton airport. They had just left the Bahamas... looked rested and wonderful. Pulling into the parking lot at Gulf Winds East, we spied FlyGirl and Happy Cappy unloading their truck, having just arrived. The full complement of folks-in-residence was safely in place for the DDFF.

During the week-
Beach time. Pool time. Balcony time.
Kenny D's. Pompano Joe's. Callahan's. A.J.'s. A second trip to The Crab Trap. I bet I'm missing one or two...

Thursday, FlyGirl, HappyC, and TC went out on a "Head Boat", (a big boat that carries 40 or so folks out to fish for a per-head charge) and guess what? THEY ACTUALLY CAUGHT FISH!

Thursday evening we boarded the "Hannah Marie" for a two hour tour of Destin Harbor and Choctawhatchee Bay, watching lots of Dolphins and getting a local history lesson from first mate Glen.
After the Dolphin cruise, Carol met us at A.J.'s for dinner.

Bright and early Friday morning, a smiling Harry carried us to Holiday Isle where FlyGirl, HappyC, TwoDogs, TC, Harry and I boarded a beautiful 38 foot Sport-fishing boat, complete with kitchenette, bedroom, head (with shower), to put the FF in the DDFF. And guess what?
WE ALL CAUGHT FISH!
Grouper, Red Snapper, Bonita, AmberJack, and a Triggerfish were put into the hold.
HappyC struggled mightily for what seemed like eternity bringing a 125 pound Bull Shark to the surface, where the line was cut in order to avoid injury to all concerned.
I caught a Moray Eel. He too was released without ever making it into the boat.
All of us caught four times the fish we brought home. Some were released because they were too small... many were smart enough to take our bait and split before we even caught sight of what we temporarily had on our lines. After almost 8 hours on the boat, fishing 10 or so grouper holes, we all felt the sea beneath our legs, even standing back on the dock. I personally almost fell while taking a shower, my equilibrium was so unsettled.

Chad, our first mate, fileted our catch. Harry brought two friers and cooked our catch, along with Hush Puppies and French Fries. HappyC stopped at the Fresh Seafood Market on the way home and bought 20 pounds of fresh Oysters. Harry fried while TD and HC shucked, ate, and shared oysters.
I gotta tell ya... it literally was seafood heaven!

Saturday was a day of recovery. Balcony again. Beach again. Carol and Harry stopped by, and we spent some time visiting alongside the pool again. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Tying up a couple loose ends-
I know I promised you pictures...
I couldn't get my camera to turn on, so I bought new batteries for it. Still no joy. I tried the batteries in every possible position. If I could have tried them sideways, I would have. I even tried crossing my fingers while jumping up and down on my left leg only.
The stupid thing still wouldn't work.

TC and Sharon took pictures. Fly took pictures. I took pics with disposable cameras. I've seen some of the digital shots, and they are worth posting here. C'mon you guys... send 'em my way so I can share them with the rest of the VK's!

Joker couldn't make it. She sent her regrets... doggies and other life events got in the way. She promises to make IE's mini in October. Stay tuned.

And finally... I got on the scale this morning :>(
Fresh seafood, gumbo, beer and wine exact a penalty-
I've gained 5 pounds.
Back to the grind.

I know I'm forgetting lots of things.
DDFF attendees, gimme some help here!

Oh, one more thing-
I have really positive news about reducing the cost of the 2007 VK-Aloha mini...
More on that later!