Good morning!
On Wednesday I had the opportunity to meet Bart Coleman. Bart owns and operates Banana Bart’s on the Harbor in Destin.
As part of our “Experience” series with ResortQuest, I get the chance to film and meet some amazing people in our area. Bart is one of them.
Wednesday was my second time ever being inside his shop.
Banana Bart’s is an eclectic shop inside a 1930’s home that was, according to Bart, the first vacation home in Destin.
“Everybody else here was basically a fisherman or a turpentine farmer.”
You can’t miss the brightly painted yellow buildings, and going on 35 years in business, Bart and his wife have no plans on slowing down anytime soon!
In this short 3 minute video, Bart talks a bit about his shop and how Destin was all those years ago when he first opened.
This is the last piece of Old Destin as far as I’m concerned.
TDC to spend $3.5 million on East Pass dredging
Well, last night the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council unanimously approved spending $3.5 million in county bed tax money for the East Pass dredging/beach restoration project, according to The Destin Log.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Bed tax money will pay for the entire project.
- This still needs final approval from the County Commission.
- With approval, the project could begin by early March and be completed by early May.
- The project will dredge about 240,000 cubic yards of sand from the East Pass.
- Majority of the sand will be placed at Holiday Isle.
Last night’s meeting wasn’t all that smooth with TDC member Martin Owen voicing frustration saying,
“We’re being held for ransom by three people over there!”
Owen is referring to the Condo Alliance of Okaloosa Island who, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News, “petitioned with a third party for an administrative hearing to dispute the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issuing dredging permits to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.“
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers originally would have contributed $1.5 million in federal funds toward the cost of the project, but now, will not participate.
For more info on this upcoming dredging project, I highly encourage you to read the entire article.
Get ready for the Pelican Plunge
The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island is hosting its third annual Pelican Plunge on Okaloosa Island on New Year’s Day in support of the Emerald Coast Foundation.
If you aren’t familiar with the plunge, participants take a dip in the cold, Gulf water!
The $20 participation fee helps benefit the Emerald Coast Foundation, a charitable organization committed to investing in the youth of Northwest Florida. The foundation works with children’s charities such as ARC of the Emerald Coast, All Sports Association, Children in Crisis, and the Eleanor Johnson Youth Center to fund their causes.
Pre-registration will begin at 10:30 AM at the common area below The Crab Trap and the official splash into the Gulf of Mexico will take place at 11:30 AM. A post-plunge party will take place at The Crab Trap and include celebratory cocktails, hot-cocoa, coffee, free gumbo and raffle prizes!
For more information about Pelican Plunge on Okaloosa Island, please go to theboardwalkoi.com, or find the event page on The Boardwalk’s Facebook page.
Local wounded warrior raising millions for border wall
A few days ago I hop on Twitter and I see that #GoFundTheWall is trending. I quickly glance at the thread and realized that someone setup a GoFundMe page in order to raise $1 billion to contribute to President Trump’s wall. I kinda thought it was a joke…
Turns out the guy is dead serious and has raised almost $11 million!!! Oh, and he lives in Miramar Beach too. 😳
To read more on that, click the link below.
Photo of the Day
Ok, that’s all I have for you this morning. I hope you have a great weekend and I’ll see ya next week!
Jared