Day 24 Sunday at the Red Bar

Today was to be the last day Sam Bush would be in town as he was heading back home to Nashville. Dread Clampitt was playing at the Red Bar from noon to three so we kind of expected him to show up for a last gig. Not wanting to get trashed too early, we waited until almost two o'clock to walk up there. We couldn't believe it, the place was nuts. I got us a couple of drinks and Sylvia wormed her way up front to get a better view of the best music session we had ever witnessed;better even than the week before. The band was totally into it and the crowd knew it. They played off each other non-stop for over an hour and a half. Sylvia didn't move except to sip her drink and wipe tears from her eyes. I don't know how to describe the music except that it was bluesy-country-jazz with a little reggae thrown in and it rocked. The bar was full of other musicians (they obviously knew this would be a great day) and several of them would sit in for a song or two. Donnie Sundal was one of them and he was really good. Also, an old local legend named Duke Bardwell, who played bass for Elvis in '74 and '75. When it was all over people just milled around and shook their heads. Word was passed that one of the locals was having a birthday party up the street at Pandora's and it would be a party. I didn't think we would make it so around five o'clock we went across the street to Shorty's and listened to a small group called The Steeno's with Smilling Fritz. Smiling Fritz was a pretty good guitar picker, but after the Red Bar it was hard to get into. After talking to some people there, we thought dinner might be a good idea and headed up the street to Pandora's for a bite. Walking in from the parking lot we met up with Donnie Sundal and his wife Jennifer. They suggested we have dinner with them and we accepted. It was a totally enjoyable meal all the while listening to them talk about his music career and their 18 years of traveling around the country looking for gigs. After dinner we went into the bar where the party was going on and listened to a band that came down from Alabama to play for this guys birthday. They were a geared up big sounding Alabama country group that I suppose were good (I really couldn't tell) . After a listening to a couple of songs we headed home all music'd out.

Day 22 Odds and Ends

Not much to report the past few days. Things have been mostly uneventful. There wasn't much sun today which, I suppose was good, since I was beginning to get sunburned...why am I smiling as I write this? Like I said, not much happening here, so just a few thoughts about the few things we have been doing. Obviously we've spent some time at the Red Bar and Shorty's. The good news is that we're now considered "locals" since both places are charging us local prices for drinks which are significantly different than tourist prices. We've also been to the Hurricane Oyster Bar and Grill several times and had delicious oysters. For their happy hour you get a dozen oysters for five dollars and a beer for a dollar. Imagine, a dozen great oysters, four beers, and you get change back from a ten dollar bill. Another place right next to the Hurricane is the Pickle Factory, which is a pizza, beer, and wine bar that an older guy from Chicago/New York/Thailand opened a couple of months ago. He makes one of the best thinnest and lightest crusted pizzas I've ever had and since it's a small place and is mostly empty, he's been kinda trying to teach me how to duplicate it...I don't think I can, but I WILL try. He enjoys us stopping by and chatting.

Day 20 Apalachicola

Unable to agree on what to do today, we compromised on a 200 mile round trip drive over to Apalachicola. Eleven years ago, on a drive around the Gulf coast, we spent two days there and thought it was pretty neat. It's an old oystering town that doesn't appear to have changed very much over the last 90 years. Highlights of that trip were the Gibson Inn and a restaurant with a massive oyster menu called Boss Oyster. Well, after a two hour drive we found Boss Oyster and although changed somewhat--you used to have to walk through the kitchen to get to the dining room--it's still an old rickety waterfront building. We sat on the deck and dove right in with: Oysters on the half shell, followed by Citrus Jewels - chilled with citrus and ginger salsa (oranges, lemons, limes, tomato, onion, ginger, balsamic vinegar), Oysters Sashimi - chilled with siracha, seaweed, wasabi, and fish roe (pictured), Oysters Rockefella, and Oysters Boss Gouda Gouda - flame broiled with carmalized onions, spicey creole soy sauce, and smoked gouda. Sylvia liked the Citrus Jewels best and I most enjoyed the Sashimi, but both agreed the oysters on the half shell were unbeatable. We also had to try a fried Grouper Basket and the Grouper chowder. The table next to us had the Gumbo and it looked great, but alas we had no more room. On the drive home we stopped in Toucan's Bar and Grill in Mexico Beach which is worth a stop if you're in the area.

Day 19 Birthday

Today was Sylvia's birthday and thinking that after spending yesterday panic shopping, and knowing that tonight would bring a major dinner, I needed a pretty major bike ride. Fairly early in the morning I rode up the road daydreaming the whole way only to realize after 15 miles that I had been riding downwind in a half a gale. Turning around and riding back into the wind I pedaled as hard as I could just to stay upright. Halfway back I decided sustenance was required and stopped at Angelina's Pizza Cafe and ordered a small anchovy pizza and a beer. One beer wouldn't hurt. But as usual, I ended up in a discussion with the bartender and had a few more than one. What a dope! It was a very challenging ride home. The good thing is I was sober by the time I got back. Meanwhile, Sylvia had been at the gym enjoying her new heart rate monitor (I'm such a romantic). We spent the rest of the afternoon walking the area looking for a place we might rent again next year. For a birthday dinner every local we talked to suggested we go to Cafe Tango for a nice meal prepared by a locally renowned Spanish chef. The way everyone hyped the place it had to be good. It would be the first real dinner we had since we got here and promised each other that instead of splitting an entree we would each order our own. We found Cafe Tango with no problem which was surprising since it's so tiny. It had only nine tables and 28 chairs. Immediately we each thought "How can a place this small make any money?" After reading the menu we understood. We started with a glass of champagne and split an appetizer of Serrano Ham and Chorizo Croquette served with fried onions on a brochette...very very good. Since we each had to order our own entree, Sylvia decided lamb chops and I ordered a bone in rib eye with chimichurri. This was unusual for us since we usually opt for something more out of the ordinary. Of course we had a bottle of Temparillo wine. There was way too much food; Sylvia managed to finish one lamb chop and I one-third of the rib eye. We were very full but had to order dessert since we still had wine left. Bread Pudding with ice cream seemed to go well with our wine so that's what we ordered and it was a good decision. We had a very pleasant waiter and our overall experience was good, but not good enough to go back or recommend. Once we got home I was sleep before walking in the door and Sylvia wasn't far behind. She enjoyed her birthday.

Day 17 Rest Day

After several fairly uneventful days of exercising, eating, drinking, and driving around from town to town; we decided to spend the day close to home. This really isn't much of a problem, since if you walk out our front door, turn right and walk 20 yards, you're on the beach. If you turn left and walk 60 yards, you're at the Red Bar and Shorty's is right across the street from that. So our day was set. I had visions of vegetating on the couch and watching the football games. But first, since the Red Bar opens at 7AM for breakfast we decided it made sense to just start the morning there. Nothing heavy, just something light. I had a seafood omelette with grits and a great biscuit. Sylvia had a two and a half pound burrito. We waddled home and after two hours became bored. A group called Dread Clampitt was playing at the Red Bar from noon to three and Donnie Sundal and Friends were playing at Shorty's from three to six. This seemed a little more interesting than the games, so off to the Red Bar we went. Dread Clampitt is a group of four guys including Keith Ogle, who we had heard previously, and we hoped that maybe Sam Bush might show up and sit in...he did. The Red Bar was packed. What a great place, it was amazing how many families and small kids were present (see picture). It was the most casual venue I've ever seen...just a terrific afternoon. Though Sam Bush is best known for jaw-dropping skills on the mandolin, he is also a three time national junior fiddle champion and Grammy award winning vocalist and today he played the fiddle. It was just hypnotic. Afterwards we walked across the street to Shorty's to see Donnie Sundal and Friends...Donnie had no friends today. Donnie plays the keyboard and sings, and is more than good, but for some reason he takes of his shoes when he plays and puts them back on during breaks. I think everyone down here marches to a different drummer. By six o'clock we had enough music and ordered a ceviche before a gingerly walk home. It's astounding that two small bars like the Red Bar and Shorty's have good live music every night of the week...in the off season.

Day 14 Rainy Day

Storms all night convinced us to stay inside today. We decided on a movie and headed over to Destin. Naturally we each wanted to see different movie, hence Sylvia saw Sherlock, which she liked, and I saw Avatar in 3D which I thought was technically very good. I just think that for a quarter of a billion dollars they could come up with a better story line than the old trite plot of cowboys (white guys) trying to steal the Indians (Avatars) land and a white guy falls in love with the Indian maiden. Ten minutes into the movie you knew the ending. Still, it was fairly interesting. Afterwards we stopped in a large wine and liquor store that had a modest but well stocked cheese shop and a wine bar that had a small simple menu. Of course we had to try the place out, so after a couple of glasses of wine and a very nice cheese tray, we headed back to Grayton Beach and a final drink at the Red Bar. The pictures are my attempt to show the view of the beach and the Gulf. They were taken just a few steps from our front door.

Day 12 Geezer Bar

On Monday we took a ride along the coast toward Panama City. On the way through Laguna Beach we passed what looked like an interesting little bar on the beach called the Beach House Bar and Grill. On the way back we stopped and had a beer and by the looks of things a definite redneck bar, no refrigeration, just coolers with beer and ice. The bartender told us that on Tuesdays at three they have group of guys that get together that call themselves the Snowbird Band and it's always a lot of fun. So today we showed up at four o'clock to a packed bar of geezers. No one in the place, except the bartender was under 65. The Snowbird Band was a group of (8 to 12) geezers who randomly show up to play what must be considered country. They weren't particularly good or bad, but they had a blast as did everybody in the place. They played pretty well together and had a little trouble finishing a song all at the same time, but nobody cared. And when they took a break it took awhile to get them back together. I think some of them got lost and others got stuck in the bathroom. It was a lot of fun and it all stopped at six o'clock so they could still get to the Early Bird Specials.

Day 11 A Special Evening

We decided to walk down to Shorty's for an early dinner and were surprised to see two guys setting up to play, one had a guitar and the other a mandolin. Shorty's downstairs bar is very small with only four tables and maybe a dozen bar stools, but this is where they were setting up. There's normally somebody playing there, but this looked to be a little more serious, since I noticed Donnie Sundal, a music writer/performer that we had met earlier in the week. When these two guys started to play we just knew this was something special. It was an unbelievable session that had everybody nuts (including Donnie). After a great, great first set I asked Donnie who thes two guys were and he said the mandolin player was Sam Bush from Nashville and Kyle Ogle a locally well respected guitarist. These two guys used to play together in the area many years ago and just got together for this little session. They played off each other unlike anything I ever saw. Donnie said that Sam Bush was probably the best mandolin player in the country and he was right--I later checked the internet and he was Mandolin Player of the Year in 2007 and was nominated for Instrumentalist of the Year by the American Music Asssociation. Kyle Ogle obviously played a terrific guitar. They played a great mixture of songs; blues, bluegrass, reggae, country, and rock and roll. And this was in a tiny little bar. It was the best thing like this I ever witnessed. I also had some very good Shrimp and Grits with okra and tomatoes while Sylvia had a waste-of-time salad. An unforgetable night.

Day 10 Still in Grayton

It was a fun weekend in the area around Grayton Beach. Unknown to us, it was this weekend there was the Route 30a Songwriters Festival. About 50 songwriter/artists from around the country came to the South Walton beach area and performed at 15 or so different venues (mostly bars). This was the first festival of this type they had tried and it was a tremendous success. Unfortunately we were unable to get tickets since they were sold out a few weeks ago, but we still managed to be places where we could hear good music. There were musicians all over town and they would show up to listen to whoever happen to be playing. It seems as though every bar and restaurant has music most every night. Grayton Beach has no more than 100 houses and one of them is belongs to Sheryl Crow. We didn't see her, but her house is a half a block up the street.

Day 8 Stinky's

Got up this morning and did the gym thing before going for a little bike ride through several smallish beach towns. It was the first good weather we've had since leaving Solomons. For lunch we went to Stinky's Fish Camp (that's right Stinky's). It was actually vey good. Sylvia had a nice piece of grouper and I had as good a gumbo as I ever tasted which was followed by baked oysters with bacon, horseradish, and a small amount of smoked cheese. Everything was excellent. We highly recommend Stinky's. In the late afternoon, as the cocktail hour approached, we walked over to Shorty's to discuss the evening plans over a liquid refreshment. It was a long discussion...too long. We decided it would be best to go back to the house and skip any evening events we might have discussed. Dinner wasn't required after lunching at Stinky's. We crashed very early.

Day 7 Grayton Beach

Not a very exciting day. We joined the gym and rented a bicycle for a month, after which we went for a walk on the beach. I think we're settling into a routine. Late afternoon, we walked up the street to a little Bar/Restaurant called Shorty's. The theme of the place is about dogs; dog pictures, dog posters, dog menu, dog tee shirts, dog everything, and dogs are even allowed in the joint. Anyhow, it was a neat little place with live music. It seems as though every bar or restaurant, no matter what size, has nightly live music. I suppose it's the New Orleans influence. We enjoyed a few drinks at Shorty's and had some very good Lime soup. Next time we'll try their Sushi.

Day 6 Grayton Beach

Today we moved into the beach house and got settled in. It didn't take long to feel comfortable. We picked up groceries and some odds and ends before checking into the Red Bar which is an incredible place with bric a brac everywhere. We befriended Dave the bartender and he made sure that we were comfortable there too.

Day 4 Destin

Today we drove over to Grayton Beach to find a place to rent for a couple of weeks. We had driven through there last year and very much enjoyed the quaintness of the village atmosphere. Plus, there's a locally famous place called the Red Bar. We found a place one house off the beach and decided to rent it for a month. Coincidentally, it also happens to be one block from the Red Bar. Wednesday we move in. Mitchell's Fish Market was where we ended up for lunch. Sylvia had trout and I had salmon. Both were very good. The aerial photo shows Grayton Beach. Don't forget to double click on the picture to enlarge.

Day 3 Greenville to Destin, Florida

Left early this morning for Destin. It was another cold morning considering the temperature driving through Georgia was fourteen degrees. By the time we got to Florida it had warmed all the way up to twenty eight. This is not why we came to Florida. We checked in a hotel that was next door to a large mall, so we walked over and went to the Bonefish Grill and had a drink at the bar and watched the football game. We never did eat, instead ended up chatting with another couple who fell in love with Destin and decided to retire here. They invited us over to their house for dinner Tuesday night and I suspect we'll go. Tomorrow we'll see if we can find something to rent here for a couple of weeks.

Day 2 Richmond to Greenville,SC

Ten years ago on my way down route 85 to Alabama I decided to stop for the night in Greenville,SC. It was a great little walking town with a beautiful Main Street. Sylvia said she'd like to see it, so we stopped there for the night. After checking in at the Homewood Suites (very nice), we headed down town for a walk. What a difference...it's built up, but still with that small town feeling with shops, restaurants, baseball stadium, symphony hall, theaters, and a very active youngish crowd. It also had the best bicycle shop I've ever seen. They have built big high rise condos and offices in back of the quaint buildings on the main streets. All very well done. It would be a terrific place to live. We'll definitely stop there anytime we use 85. We did make a few stops and nibbled our way around town. Tomorrow we hope to make Destin, Florida, so being the geezers we are, we called it quits early.

Day 1 Solomons to Richmond

Tired of the cold, we decided it was time to head south only to discover there's no warm place to go. The whole damn country's cold, but we left anyhow. I suspect we'll end up somewhere on the Florida panhandle, although we're open to most anything. We spent yesterday packing in order to get an early start. It turned out to be a noon start...not quite as early as planned, but at least it was a start. We drove a whole two hours (110 miles) and ended up in Richmond, Virginia. We had read in the Washington Post food section about a downtown Richmond area called Carytown. So after checking in that's where we headed. It's an old part of town, about eight blocks long, consisting of restaurants, bars, and shops. Much to Sylvia's delight the temperature was below thirty and we spent several hours walking around Carytown. Of course it was all my fault that it was so cold. We went into several shops to warm up and generally enjoyed Carytown. We had a Hot Toddy at the Can Can Brasserie, which is a magnificent old French style restaurant at which, if it would have been later, we probably would have eaten. After a bit more strolling, we had very good oysters on the half shell at the Water Grill. Again, if it would have been later, we would probably have eaten dinner there. More walking brought us to Mezzanine, a restaurant we had read about and decided to eat there (finally). Sylvia had short ribs over polenta, and I had a beet, goat cheese, and walnut salad, and shrimp and grits with tasso ham. Of course it required a bottle of wine to complete the dinner. All was good and we would certainly visit Carytown again. We then went back to the hotel so we could get another early start for tomorrow's drive.