Emerald Coast Magazine August/September 2020

HEDGES

Like fences, living green screens make good neighbors

ROUND 2

Pandemic disrupts lives of students who dealt with storm

MUDBUGS

Recalling an instance of remarkable crustacean cooperation

Generation 3 takes the baton

New leadership emerges at enduring family businesses

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Homeowner’s Collection Johnson Rice & Co., LLC

Amavida

Seaside Associated Stores Office

La Vie Est Belle

Central Square

Anne Hunter Galleries

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Mr. Gyro Hero Quincy Circle

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Gulf of Mexico EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

August-September 2020

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MAKING OUTDOOR LIVING A DESTINATION

MOTORIZED LOUVERS

4

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

+

LED LIGHTING

= OUTDOOR PARADISE

Contents

AUG/SEPT 2020

FEATURES 48 THE NEW GUARD

56 DISTANT SOCIALIZING

They comprise a small business elite — those enterprises employing no more than a few handfuls of people that endure as a function of their commitments to professionalism, sparkling reputations, capacity for adaptability and continuing relevance. Some, as exemplified by E.F. San Juan Inc., The Ships Chandler and McCaskill & Co., may even enter a third generation.

For generations, people left behind lovers and loved ones and traveled the world as scholars, soldiers and scientific explorers. Those left behind would visit mailboxes each day in hopes of finding a letter written home and were disappointed far more often than not.

Today, people can visit mailboxes almost continuously, but the pandemic brought a different kind of isolation.

by ZANDRA WOLFGRAM

by WYNN PARKS

illustration by LINDSEY MASTERSON

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

August-September 2020

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Contents

AUG/SEPT 2020

19 68 GREEN SPACE

THE WAVE

19 RECREATION The Rock

Out Climbing Gym in Destin gives coastal flatlanders a chance to scale new heights while testing their grip on things.

GASTRO & GUSTO 35 DINING OUT

40 LIBATIONS A mobile

coffee bar based in Panama City Beach is enlivening events along the Emerald Coast.

E XPRESSION 61 ART Rock Paper

Scissors, a small handson art studio, moves well beyond construction paper, crayons and Elmer’s glue.

HEDGES

ABODES

65 EXTERIORS Climbing

27 CITIZEN OF STYLE

Sales professional Chris St. John finds it to his advantage to dress with his customers’ tastes in mind.

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EMERALDCOASTMAGAZINE.COM

plants and hedges make for useful, attractive additions to yardscapes.

Like fences, living green screens make good neighbors

» DISTANCE SOCIALIZING » PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

PANACHE

mudbugs or crawdads, if you will, but for crayfish connoisseurs, the smallish crustaceans are mini-lobsters.

ROCK CLIMBING

Jim Shirley’s latest eatery, a pizzeria, employs the freshest of ingredients while giving a nod to a rough-andtumble past.

38 DINING IN Call them

PUBLISHER’S LETTER EDITOR’S LETTER DINING GUIDE POSTSCRIPT

AUG–SEPT 2020

in Bay and nearby counties have had their scholastic careers interrupted twice in three years, once by Hurricane Michael and again by the COVID-19 pandemic.

women are traveling lighter by favoring more compact purses and backpacks.

Even wallets are slimming down.

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12 14 94 98

EMERALD COAST MAGAZINE

22 HEALTH Students

30 FASHION Men and

IN EVERY ISSUE

ROUND 2

Pandemic disrupts lives of students who dealt with storm

MUDBUGS

Recalling an instance of remarkable crustacean cooperation

Generation 3 takes the baton

New leadership emerges at enduring family businesses

ON THE COVER:

32

WHAT’S IN STORE: For many anglers, the latest is the greatest and gives them a special feelin’ when they’re reelin’.

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

Edward San Juan, Carolyn Brigman and Peter Wright Jr., photographed here at 30Avenue, are carrying forward the traditions and best practices of their parents and grandparents. PHOTO BY

MICHAEL BOOINI

PHOTOS BY MODUS PHOTOGRAPHY (61), MICHAEL BOOINI (19), COLLIS THOMPSON / MELLOW MEDIA (35) AND COURTESY OF NOMAD DESIGN (32)

61

Gardeners carry on despite weather that appears to be enough to give bugs a sunburn.

Santa Rosa Beach, meet Capital City Bank.

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EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

August-September 2020

7

Contents

AUG/SEPT 2020

SPECIAL SECTIONS AND PROMOTIONS

Pharmaceuticals Built

for

You

because you are unique ...

70 ↑ DEAL ESTATE

A dreamy home in Panama City Beach, complete with Gulf breezes is on the market, while in Tallahassee, a charming Lake Bradford estate is sure to tempt the most discriminating of buyers. In Santa Rosa Beach, the sale of a Gulf-front home for $5.7 million set a record.

75

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It’s the season for outdoor festivals.

From beer, wine and food to music, cars and boats, there’s a festival for everyone in our calendar of events.

Fax: 850-622-5802

PHARMACY

NEXT ISSUE We announce the results of this year’s Best of the Emerald Coast balloting.

PROMOTION

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August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

2020 of

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August-September 2020

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EMERALD COAST MAGAZINE

VOL. 21, NO. 4

AUG–SEPT 2020

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BRIAN E. ROWLAND

EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR Steve Bornhoft MANAGING EDITOR Jeff Price CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Hannah Burke, Devante Carroll, Les Harrison, Thomas Monigan, Rebecca Padgett, Wynn Parks, Zandra Wolfgram

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY Daniel Vitter CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jennifer Ekrut EDITORIAL DESIGNER Lindsey Masterson SENIOR PUBLICATION DESIGNER Shruti Shah PUBLICATION DESIGNERS Sarah Burger, Jordan Harrison GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sierra Thomas CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Jessica Anderson, Michael Booini, Les Harrison, Scott Holstein, Chelsea Kornse, Modus Photography, Saige Roberts, Collis Thompson, Wright Media PC

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EMERALD COAST MAGAZINE emeraldcoastmagazine.com facebook.com/emeraldcoast twitter.com/emeraldcoastmag instagram.com/emeraldcoastmag pinterest.com/emeraldcoastmag youtube.com/user/emeraldcoastmag ROWLAND PUBLISHING rowlandpublishing.com

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SUBSCRIPTIONS One year (6 issues) is $30. Call (850) 878-0554 or go online to emeraldcoastmagazine.com.

Single copies are $3.95. Purchase at Barnes and Noble in Destin and Pensacola and Books-A-Million in Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Panama City and Pensacola.

Availability may change subject to COVID-19 restrictions.

CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUBMISSIONS Emerald Coast Magazine and Rowland Publishing, Inc. are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. Editorial contributions are welcomed and encouraged but will not be returned. Emerald Coast Magazine reserves the right to publish any letters to the editor.

Copyright August 2020 Emerald Coast Magazine Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.

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August-September 2020

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from the publisher

A TIME TO BE GRATEFUL — AND FLEXIBLE

12

But in March, the office went dark, and Rowland Publishing shifted abruptly to a work-from-home mode.

Each of us had to find a new pace and way of living and working.

For a couple of weeks, I found that transition quite difficult and challenging. I felt out of sorts, and time slowed to the pace of a glacier. Fortunately, the team is in its second year of the Entrepreneurial Operating System Traction program, which has gone a long way toward making us more flexible when things don’t go as planned.

Daniel Vitter, our director of production and IT guru, got team members from throughout the region set up to design and publish magazines while physically removed from one another. I had much trepidation about how well the RPI machine would function, and to my delight, it has done quite well.

McKenzie Burleigh, our vice president for corporate development, and her sales team maintained contact with our advertisers, and our digital folks joined them in a supporting role.

Each morning, McKenzie, Daniel and I meet for a 15-minute checkin call. I take the pulse of the team by asking each member for a word of the day that reflects their state of mind. I am logging all the responses and will share them with the team at some future point as we reflect on the roller coaster ride that led us to a new normal.

Executive editor Steve Bornhoft has been keeping the editorial ship between the buoys, and in that role, he advised me that this column was due. I found it fitting to write about adjustments we have made, even as you have had to revise your own approach to your days.

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

None of this has been easy, and circumstances will continue to evolve for me and for you from both personal and professional perspectives. Flexibility, as I alluded to earlier, will be key. Resistance creates stress and dissonance with friends, family, partners and employees.

So as I get ready for my daily call with senior managers, set lines in hopes of catching more pompano, mentally prepare for a big custom publishing presentation and take my morning walk along a special stretch where water meets land and the horizon activates a sense of wonder, I recognize that I must be open to a new way of life.

All of us can do no better than to go with the flow while remaining grateful for all that we have and accepting what we do not have and cannot change.

Stay calm, carry on, and be safe and healthy.

BRIAN ROWLAND browland@rowlandpublishing.com

PHOTO BY SCOTT HOLSTEIN

I have become keenly aware in recent months that I am a creature of habit and routine.

Typically, I am the first to arrive at our offices, always with my chocolate lab Stevie at my side. I make coffee, give the dog a rawhide bone to gnaw on and sit down to a good 90 minutes of quiet time before other members of the Rowland Publishing team arrive.

This is my valued, uninterrupted opportunity to think, review my notes from the previous day, set goals for the day and reply to dozens of emails while a couple of cups of java kick in.

Soon, regularly scheduled morning meetings commence, after which I keep to appointments and react to whatever the day brings. In the publishing business, no two days are alike, and I have learned to just keep my eye on the ball and not get frustrated when the unexpected happens, as it so often does.

About a decade ago, I got past the need to do lunch every day. I find that taking a long walk with Stevie as an alternative is therapeutic. With her in the lead, I process the morning’s developments and anticipate the afternoon while getting exercise critical to physical and mental health.

Back at the office, I take a quick shower and embark upon more dialogue and decisions related to the average of five publications that are being created by our team on any given day. There are story lineups to pore over, pages to proof and sales strategies to refine.

What I most enjoy is the honor of working with the men and women who make up the Rowland team of publishing professionals serving communities throughout Northwest Florida. My face-to-face interaction with them is a source of great satisfaction.

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EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

August-September 2020

13

editor’s letter

IF THE SHERD COULD TALK An artifact of clay is a source of intrigue

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August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

found, while snorkeling, on the bottom of a tributary to the Chipola River. There was a time, long ago, when I could calculate the area of a trapezoid, but that knowledge, I fear, has been erased by time’s ravages along with verses 2-4 of America the Beautiful, the scientific names of Darwin’s finches and the names of most constellations, the plot of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, the penultimate cause of the French and Indian War, most anything having to do with physics, the meaning of diphthong, and the number of elements in the Periodic Table.

Might Jason be able to tell me something about my sherd?

“I’ve washed a few of these, but since I’m no arky, I will ask our resident expert,” Jason texted me upon receipt of the photo.

And presently came another text: “Wakulla checkstamped; late Woodland Period up to Mississippian Period, 500-1200 AD.” Cryptic, sure, as you might expect from an arky, but enough to stimulate in me a desire to learn more about the pottery-stamping residents who inhabited what would become Florida those many hundreds of years ago.

To date, I have learned that my sherd is characteristic of the Weeden Island culture. Its members fished, engaged in some agricultural practices and favored fixed locations on hammocks from which to hunt and gather.

How was the check pattern imprinted on the pots?

What did it signify? Was the pattern a cultural mark of some sort, an early form of branding? Was my sherd from a pot of a ceremonial or utilitarian nature? I aim to find answers.

The older I get, the more history I read, and the more cognizant I become of the truth that I am not of this world. Like countless souls before me, I am just visiting.

Stay curious, my friends,

STEVE BORNHOFT

sbornhoft@rowlandpublishing.com

PHOTO BY SAIGE ROBERTS

I don’t often open my mojo box for fear of changing the course of history in uncontrollable ways by unleashing its power upon the world — power derived from the co-mingling of a 1930 Mercury head dime, a 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, some World War II-era nickels, two Bahamian dollar bills, acquired during a trip to Eleuthera, a pin earned by catching a qualifying northern pike during a trip to Lake Sabourin in Ontario, a hook (other than my own) removed from the mouth of a largemouth bass I caught at Pike County Lake near Troy, Alabama, a chip from a mastodon tooth, two shark’s teeth, a portrait of me as a young man hoisting a pike landed at Long Lake near Siren, Wisconsin, a tape recording of a eulogy — the most stirring speech I ever heard — delivered in Panama City by the late Rev. Joseph Lowery at the funeral for a young black man who was shot in the back and killed by sheriff ’s officers, and a pottery sherd.

The box, measuring 5 by 3½ inches by 2 inches deep, is of a sort that people buy unfinished at craft stores. It was given to me by a friend and artist, Katie Kendall, who had adorned its top with a depiction of a fish that most closely resembles a cod. Katie is from the Northeast, has the hair of a mermaid and most often paints angels. Her influence, perhaps, keeps the box from combusting.

Jason DeHart, who was working as a writer when I got to know him, called me the other day to see how I was doing amid the COVID. Jason works these days for the state at a historical site in Tallahassee performing re-enactments, that is, when the gates are open. When the pandemic forced the attraction’s closure, Jason was tasked, he told me, with washing and brushing a long neglected collection of pottery sherds, boxes and boxes of them.

Sherds, you ask? I did, too, at Jason’s use of the term, but later found that a sherd, per Merriam Webster, is “a fragment of a pottery vessel found at sites and in refuse deposits where pottery-making peoples have lived.” Shards are what you get when your 5-year-old grandson “accidentally” drops the ceramic piggy bank you gave him to the floor, scattering riches from wall to wall.

I told Jason that I would send him a photo of my sherd, trapezoidal in shape and patterned, not smooth, which I

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August-September 2020

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PROMOTION

EMERALDCOASTMAGAZINE.COM DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE

Music Unites During Quarantine Visit EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/ music-unifies-during-quarantine to read more.

RESILIENCE

The staff at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center is prepared to deal with any life-threatening situation. When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the nation, FWBMC’s health care professionals knew exactly what to do to deal with the crisis. Visit EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/ resilience to learn more.

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August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

@emeraldcoastmag Emerald Coast Magazine @EmeraldCoastMag

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FORT WALTON BEACH MEDICAL CENTER (RESILIENCE) AND SKYLAR CAPRI (DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE)

What began as a woman and her guitar playing her favorite songs on an island in the middle of her neighborhood lake, resulted in a concert series cleverly titled “Isolation Island,” which brought together a neighborhood separated by quarantine.

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EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

August-September 2020

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COMING THIS WINTER, OUTSIDE LIVING OUTSIDE OF ORDINARY. Introducing NatureWalk at Watersound Origins.

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August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

wave RECREATION

Rock Out

|| HEALTH

Double Whammy

THE

AUG/SEPT 2020

A CONSCIOUS, COOL COMPENDIUM OF COASTAL STUFF

RECREATION

ROCK OUT Climbing gym in Destin is taking hold

by DEVANTE CARROLL

↗

Gym owner Ken Sheyka presents coastal flatlanders, young and old, with vertical challenges.

photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

August-September 2020

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wave

THE

←

Sheyka’s climbing gym attracts members from beginners to accomplished wall scalers. Programs include the Rock Out Adult Member Bouldering League.

O

20

Sam is a full-time nurse at North that meets on the first Saturday of every Okaloosa Medical Center. Ken and Sam month. Daily, weekly and monthly met in Udon Thani, Thailand. After a recurring memberships are available, stint in Okinawa, Japan, they moved to and the gym offers youth, military and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and arrived family discounts. on the Emerald Coast in May 2014.

Clearly, Ken has applied his military They soon realized the area had no background to his business operations. rock climbing gyms. New to business He is a taskmaster when it comes to ownership, Ken started doing market situational awareness, accountability and research and attended a few conferences standards. The staff pays close attention about starting and maintaining a to detailed checklists. business.

Since her initial visit over two “We wanted to establish a culture of years ago, Ashley Escue and her two climbing in this area by bringing that children have been weekly regulars. experience here,” Ken said.

She has joined the women’s climbing The gym offers programs, including circle, and one of her sons is on the youth climbing for ages youth climbing team.

7–9 and 10–12. Adults “There are no age participate in the Rock boundaries or cliques Out Adult Member there. Everyone climbs Bouldering League at together, cheers each the gym. Teams are other on and respects one Meet the members of formed and compete for another,” Escue said. the Rock Out Climbing six to eight weeks while She and other gym Gym staff, and find information about observing a spirit of members are grateful to the gym’s rates, camaraderie. the Sheykas for leading policies and events at The gym also offers a them to reach new rockoutclimbing.com. women’s climbing circle heights. EC

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

→

n the Emerald Coast, options for scaling a height had been limited.

One might shinny up a palm tree or climb the stairs in a condo tower.

The Rock Out Climbing Gym in Destin provides a third alternative. The indoor facility is the only one of its kind in the region, and since its opening three years ago, it has attracted everyone from beginners to people who could give Spider-Man a run for his money.

As former members of the United States Air Force, owners Ken Sheyka and his wife, Sam, are no strangers to heights and are not the type to be intimidated by a challenge.

Ken, who is now in the Air Force Reserves, has been climbing since 2007. As an Air Force navigator, he logged thousands of instructor hours and over 10 years instructing at formal training units. He started climbing while involved in scouting and is an Eagle Scout. He is a National Outdoor Leadership School certified outdoor educator and Leave No Trace Master Instructor as well as a Climbing Wall Association Climbing Wall Instructor.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

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August-September 2020

21

THE

wave

HEALTH

DOUBLE WHAMMY Pandemic intensified difficulties in county recovering from hurricane

↓

The physical damage to the Florida Panhandle wrought by Hurricane Michael topped $25 billion and still is mounting. The mental impact, however, is not as easy to measure or treat. Less than two years later, families are still living in FEMA trailers, and many attractions, businesses and schools remained shuttered — before the COVID-19 pandemic erupted. Welcome nowhere, the virus was especially unwelcome in still-reeling Bay County, where Hurricane Michael made landfall. In late April, Bay County had reported 70 coronavirus cases and three deaths. Officials, for weeks, closed beaches, restaurants, non-essential businesses and schools, forcing students to shift to digital instructional learning platforms for the remainder of the school year. Still, Michael left Bay County families with something helpful to healing. A head start.

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Mounting Tensions

The Life Management Center (LMC) in Panama City provides mental health support to individuals and families in six counties including Bay. Eileen Booth, a licensed mental health counselor, is the center’s director of family services.

Following Michael, LMC relied upon telehealth services to reach clients who were not able to get to the center.

For children, they used a dashboard platform called Let’s Talk Interactive — among its features is a Zoom app that allows counselors to connect with kids

ILLUSTRATION BY SOLARSEVEN (LEFT) AND MUQAMBA (RIGHT) / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

by STEVE BORNHOFT AND ZANDRA WOLFGRAM

via screen and a white board for drawing pictures and playing games.

“We had a bit of an advantage, strangely enough,” Booth said. “Because of the hurricane, we knew how to use it, and because we had already developed policies and protocols around it, we were prepared.”

LMC estimates it serves 1,500 kids annually. Booth expected to see that caseload decline a year and a half after the storm. But then the pandemic happened.

Serving thousands of youth digitally has required adjustments.

“Rates of no-shows and cancellations are not as high because counselors can call patients, use Zoom or text them to follow up and encourage them to keep their appointments, so we have better show rates,” Booth said.

“But we’ve had to adjust, especially with younger kids. Instead of a typical one-hour session, we’re doing shorter and more sessions.”

With families home together 24/7, tensions are mounting. For kids already suffering with mental health and behavior issues, Booth said, the situation is amplified for both students and their guardians.

In March, Malik landed a full-time job at a Lowe’s Home Improvement store.

“My mom has not had steady employment since before Hurricane Michael,” he said. “She had a job at a doctor’s office that was wiped out by the storm, and things didn’t work out after the office was moved. She has been cleaning condos, but COVID-19 has eliminated most of that work.”

Remarkably, Malik, in addition to completing graduation requirements at Mosley, has been dual-enrolled at Gulf Coast State College, where he has amassed 40 college credits that he will be transferring to the University of Central Florida. Completing coursework while homebound has proved difficult.

“I was planning to move to Orlando in June, but a day after I got my acceptance letter, they decided to make all the summer semester classes online,” Malik said. “They

are going to decide in July when to resume classroom instruction, maybe in August.”

So it is that Malik’s personal independence day has been postponed.

“The hurricane was bad, and now COVID-19 has pushed everything back,” he said. Nonetheless, Malik’s ambitions have survived. He plans to study aeronautical engineering.

Restoring Order

“Even though our routines are disrupted, the best way to handle a lack of a routine, is to create one,” Booth said. “It’s new and different, but we have to have some version of one, because we need to feel we have some kind of order and control.”

Lois Collier, a registered mental health intern with LMC, started there as a liaison for Project Hope, a free program designed to help people traumatized by Michael.

When appointment cancellations spiked

Delayed Dreams

At this writing, Austin Malik, 18, was nearing the end of his senior year at Mosley High School in Lynn Haven.

Hurricane Michael affected his life dramatically, and the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated difficulties.

The storm destroyed his bedroom, and he now shares a room with his singleparent mother. Two siblings, ages 6 and 8, occupy the only other bedroom in the house. The home remains in substantial disrepair; the four occupants compete for time in its only bathroom.

“As the oldest child, I have assumed the role of the other adult in the house,” Malik said.

And its chief breadwinner.

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THE

wave following the hurricane, LMC focused Collier squarely on youth outreach.

“First Lady DeSantis wanted to place a kiosk in every school to reach our children in need,” Collier says. “I love it because it gives kids a service where they spend most of their time — school.”

Thanks to a federal Restart grant awarded the school district, kiosks were in place when COVID-19 concerns arose.

Dawn Capes, director of student wellness programs for Bay District Schools, is standing up what she calls “triads” — teams including a licensed mental health worker or intern, a mental health professional and a support care manager.

“The goal is to flood the school system with as much support as possible to calm things down and give students the support they need — it’s like we are putting ice on an angry spot,” Capes said.

Capes hopes to have a triad in place at each of Bay County’s 31 public schools in time for the 2020-21 school year.

Craving Connection

Michael’s destruction and COVID’s disruption, while both calamitous, differ markedly.

“Yes, this is yet another traumatic event, but the people who endured Hurricane Michael will tell you how the community came together — they grilled together, they rebuilt together, they interacted together. This is different. This is about isolation,” Collier said.

“We are craving connection and yet are being told, ‘You need to keep six feet from me,’” Collier said.

And many are literally worried sick.

“We are seeing an increase in anxiety,” Collier said. “People are scared of getting

sick and nervous about the economy. This is different, because we can’t escape it.”

One of Collier’s clients is a 14-year-old girl, who was highly anxious before the pandemic grabbed headlines. Collier helps her “self-regulate by using mindfulness skills and breathing.”

She is fearful because her mom is an essential employee and wonders what would happened if she were to get sick.

Collier calms her client by breaking down each of her fears and building up her sense of control.

“We talked about the virus and its symptoms in terms she would understand.

We talked about modifications and actions she could make each day — calling, talking, texting and drawing, a hobby she loves,” Collier said.

Four months into her therapy plan, she’s improving. EC

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BEHOLD THE BEST 2020 of

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OAST MAG C AZ D L I A

E’S N

EM ER

OUR NEXT ISSUE WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS

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BEST E

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ERALD

CO

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We want to thank every community member who cast their votes for the 2020 Best of the Emerald Coast awards.

Your votes cultivate community even as we experience distance. We value the health and safety of our Emerald Coast community above all, and as a result, have made the decision to cancel the 2020 event. Your votes and voices are important, and we look forward to revealing the deserving winners in our October/November issue.

EMERALDCOASTMAGAZINE.COM/BESTOFEC #BESTOFEC Stay tuned for additional fundraising opportunities to support our beneficiary of this event, The Junior League of the Emerald Coast

B E NE F I T T I N G

S PO NS O RE D BY

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panache AUG/SEPT 2020

ELEMENTS OF STYLE RANGING FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE MORE SUBLIME

CITIZEN OF STYLE

Clothing Chameleon

↖

Sales professional Chris St. John sports a casual business look in clothing from J Crew. After 5, button-ups give way to T-shirts.

Chris St. John works to mirror customers’ tastes

by REBECCA PADGETT

FASHION photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

The Things We Tote

|| WHAT’S IN STORE

Retail Round Up

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panache

C

hris St. John is a style chameleon whose dress reflects his surroundings, his activities and the people he meets.

As a systems designer and sales professional at Audio Visual Excellence in Santa Rosa Beach, St. John meets with clients, studies their floor plans and drafts solutions that may range from motorized shades and draperies to state-of-the-art home audio/visual systems that can be controlled by phone.

“One of the most important aspects of being in sales is dressing appropriately,” St. John said. “You only get one chance at making a first and lasting impression. It’s very important to dress for the part and to try to mirror the customer.”

If he’s meeting with homeowners, his go-to style is a long-sleeve buttondown or a pullover in a nice fabric and black dress shoes. If he’s meeting with builders on a job site, he prefers polos and boots. No matter the client, a fitted pair of jeans is a must, and no matter where he goes, St. John cannot escape his boy-next-door look.

“People like to buy from people that they like and are like them,” said St. John, whose career has included selling door-to-door and calling on officers at large corporations. “What I am selling sets the tone for my attire.”

St. John prefers shopping at J Crew, Express or Banana Republic for pieces that are fitted or can easily be tailored.

When 5 o’clock rolls around, he trades business attire for the comforts of coastal casual. Boots and buttonups give way to flip-flops, shorts and breathable T-shirts suited to his interests in golf, travel, spending time at the beach and attending concerts.

He enjoys shopping for casual wear at beach and surf shops and often picks up T-shirts from concert merchandise tents.

“I believe in comfort, and I’m a very laid back person,” St. John said. “If I

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had it my way, I’d be in a concert tee and board shorts all day every day.”

Because he spends a lot of time outdoors, St. John tries to be mindful of the damage that the sun can do.

His wife Melissa, an aesthetician at Destin Plastic Surgery, doesn’t let him forget.

“Your face is the first thing people see,” St. John said. “For that reason, skin health is especially important.”

Influenced by his wife, St. John regularly gets facials, peels and dermabrasion treatments, and he always wears high-quality sunscreen.

St. John and Melissa were high school sweethearts and have been married for 13 years. They have two daughters. St. John lives in a world full of pink. photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

“Melissa and the girls have a big impact on my style,” he said. “My wife buys the girls matching outfits. I have a feeling when she buys me clothes, it’s usually something that goes with what they are wearing. When I buy clothes though, it’s usually a shade of blue. It could be my internal male trying to counter the pinks.”

Always, St. John believes in being adaptable and open to embracing styles that coincide with phases of life.

“Personal style is what makes everyone unique,” he said. “It’s a way to show who you are and what you believe in. Right now, for me, those things are my family and my career and spending free time doing things I enjoy.” EC EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

↑ DECKED OUT St. John slips out of his sale persona and into shorts from Quicksilver and a T-shirt he picked up at a concert performed by G. Love & Special Sauce, his favorite hip-hop band. Flipflops from Rainbow are at the ready if he needs them.

August-September 2020

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panache

←

FASHION

THE THINGS WE TOTE Compact carry options won’t weigh on you

by REBECCA PADGETT

T

he Emerald Coast is home to abundant festivals, concerts and other outdoor events. To fully enjoy them, you want to be weightless and worry-free, especially when it comes to your style.

Outdoor events call for easier, breezier clothing. From soft cotton sundresses to linen shorts to stylish sandals, our clothing becomes light and bright. This same thinking should apply to the things we carry.

The last thing you want is to be bogged down by a heavy bag purse or carry-all when a carry-only-the-essentials will do.

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Explore other options. Have a fall fling, if you will. Women may wish to consider wristlets, crossbody bags, fanny packs or waist bags, lanyards or backpacks. For men, slim wallets, cardholders, slings or backpacks may be ways to lighten loads.

“The No. 1 reason to invest in options that aren’t solely purses is to keep your hands free so you can enjoy the music or activity, hands in the air, and not have to worry about setting it down and losing your valuables,” said Diane McLaughlin, manager of Lee Tracy Pensacola.

Each option has its benefits. Your preference may depend on where you wish to wear it — wrist, waist or back. Wristlets have become increasingly popular, given their small size and sleek stylishness.

“We sell a lot of wristlets because they can be used every day, even when you aren’t attending an event,” said Kristyn Hasel, manager of Pink Narcissus in Panama City Beach. “They can be thrown into your purse and taken out when you just want to carry the basics. That way, you don’t have to do constant wallet swaps.”

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

Crossbody bags vary in size but are typically smaller than your average purse. They stretch across your body, distributing weight, and they are less likely to be lost or stolen.

Laurie Olshefski, owner of Coastal Casuals in Panama City Beach, sells a line of crossbody pocket purses by a company called Save The Girls. The line comes in a variety of styles, colors and patterns with the goal of keeping cell phones snug and safe during any activity.

“Cell phone pocket purses have a clear area that allows you to text and answer your phone without even taking it out,” Olshefski said.

While fanny packs hit their heyday in the ’80s, they are making a resurgence today as many opt for them as a hands-free option.

Embrace the variety of bright and bold patterns available or go more subtle with a classic shade of black or navy.

As always, backpacks are an option for both men and women. Many come in fashionable fabrics, such as leather or suede, so you feel less like a grade-schooler.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAVE THE GIRLS, PATAGONIA AND WILL LEATHER

Crossbody pocket purses, like these from Save the Girls, are big enough for a few essentials, but not so big that they will accumulate clutter.

Josh Wakestein, co-owner of Hy’s Toggery in Panama City Beach, is a fan of the Recon backpack from North Face, which features a laptop sleeve, is hydration-pack compatible and has compression straps for comfort.

“I’ve had mine for five years now, and it’s been my mobile office, overnight bag, day pack and carry-on for countless business and personal trips,” Wakestein said.

For men who don’t need the room of a backpack, Wakestein recommends the Patagonia Atom Sling. This product features one strap that crosses the front of your body and buckles but rests on your back.

A man’s most reliable and consistent carrying companion, however, is his wallet.

“Where women are more likely to change it up, men tend to focus on one wallet that they keep forever and carry everywhere and use for everything,”

said Dennis Reeves, owner of Dennis & Company in Fort Walton Beach.

After 30 years in business, Reeves knows many men who still carry the same trusted and tattered wallet after many years, but recently he has noticed that men are opting to carry less and are interested in slimmer options.

The brand Secrid, has become increasingly popular in his store. Made in Holland, this company’s options include card protectors, money bands, card slides, mini wallets and slim wallets.

For men preferring a traditional wallet, Reeves recommends Martin Dingman or Will Leather for ornate leather wallets that are handmade in America.

Even compact options can accommodate ID, money/credit cards, phone, Chapstick, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, hairbands, tissues, mints or gum.

With your essentials perfectly packed, you’re ready to enjoy whatever adventure awaits you, unburdened. EC

↑ For some men, a traditional wallet, like this one from Will, remains a constant companion. ← Patagonia’s Atom Sling qualifies as a mini-backpack.

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August-September 2020 5/27/20 2:3131 PM

panache Outcast Tackle & Marine, Pensacola ➸ Chase Birdwell said that NOMAD DESIGN DTX MINNOWS are proving popular this summer. The high-speed trolling lures are equipped with a large bill that causes them to dive deep, and they are durable enough to keep running straight after multiple battles with bruising pelagics.

“A lot of people use them for wahoo,” Birdwell said, adding that the lures retail for about $34 a copy. “But they’re worth it.”

Outcast is a saltwater shop that equips bottom fishermen who work to tempt grouper from the rocks with cut and live baits and bluewater anglers who drag lures behind sportfishing yachts in pursuit of billfish and tuna. Many prefer the versatility of a two-speed reel.

Birdwell said the offshore crowd is biting this year on the SHIMANO SPEEDMASTER II LEVER DRAG REEL, which at $245 is one of the more affordable reels in its class.

NOMAD DESIGN DTX MINNOWS

Howell Tackle, Panama City ➸ Chris Rushing is tempting inshore anglers with the SHIMANO

TWIN POWER FD spinning reel ($399.99), which is new to the

↑ WHAT’S IN STORE? We stop by some of the region’s top tackle shops

by STEVE BORNHOFT

Fishing, once an angler moves on from BreamBuster poles and baskets of crickets, is an equipment-intensive pursuit. Every aspect of the sport, from line and lures to rods and reels and guide shirts and deck shoes, constantly evolves.

Why a fish would prefer a current-model-year lure to one that was successful last year is an enduring mystery, but anglers nonetheless find that the latest tends to be the greatest.

Florida Watersports, Panama City Beach ➸ For sneaking up on skinny water species, store manager Jeff Lange recommends the FEELFREE DORADO 125 PEDAL-DRIVEN KAYAK ($2,500). Anglers can comfortably stand in the highly stable Dorado, which is chockablock with features, including a built-in wheel in the keel, battery box, USB port, phone charger and interior and bow lights.

At 120 pounds, the Dorado is a wee hefty, Lange said, and is best suited to a truck bed or a trailer. It may be upgraded to electric power, bringing the total price to $3,800.

Lange is turning offshore anglers on to the STAR PLASMA II SLOW PITCH JIGGING ROD ($235). This fishing stick is equipped with spiral wrap guides that prevent tangles at critical moments and counter the tendency for a rod to rotate in an angler’s hands when fighting a big fish.

Lange suggested using it with diamond or butterfly jigs and coupling it with a Penn Fathom 30 single- or two-speed reel or Seigler’s Small Game Narrow (SGN) model. The Plasma II in the 30–50 pound class, while remarkably strong, weighs no more than a bass rod.

ST. CROIX LEGEND MODEL LTIS70MHF FISHING ROD

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF NOMAD DESIGN (MINNOWS), ST. CROIX (FISHING RODS) AND HEYAKSHAK.COM (KAYAK)

ST. CROIX LEGEND MODEL LTIS70MHF FISHING ROD

market. The tightly sealed reel is equipped with a Silent Drive system that eliminates noise and vibration due to parts that have been designed to micro-tolerance levels.

“It has a bearing count of 10, and it’s smooth,” Rushing said.

He likes to pair it with a 7-foot, medium-light, graphite rod such as the ST. CROIX LEGEND MODEL LTIS70MHF, which is ideal for reds, specks and flatties, he said.

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gastro&gusto AUG/SEPT 2020

DINING, IMBIBING AND LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST

DINING OUT

A PIZZERIA CAPONE MIGHT HAVE LIKED Award-winning chef Jim Shirley adds to his collection of restaurants

PHOTO BY JESSICA ANDERSON

by HANNAH BURKE

Fresh from a coal-fired oven: Margherita pizza featuring house-made dough.

DINING IN Where the Crawdads March || LIBATIONS Coastal Coffee Bar EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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gastro & gusto

A

s I bellied up to the bar at Farm & Fire Southern Pizzeria, the only thing that tethered me to South Walton was the view of the 331 Bridge over Choctawhatchee Bay beyond the restaurant’s sleek, sash windows.

The eatery’s alabaster, honeycomb-tiled walls, the churning gears of a steampunk clock, a cocktail infusion tower and barrels of aged bourbon and tequila transported me to the clandestine speakeasies of the Prohibition Era. I was almost disappointed that my seat neighbors weren’t a pair of cigar-puffers in pinstripe suits with a flapper between them, but instead a trio of colleagues in business casual attire, about two drinks in and halfway through a tray of roasted chicken wings.

“These are phenomenal,” the woman who should’ve been Clara Bow said of

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the wings, which were bathed in a lemon juice, olive oil and fresh herb and garlic marinade. “It’s the peppers and cheese they put on top that really makes them.”

I may have ordered them myself, but bar manager Damon Williams intervened, suggesting that I begin with an aperitif. A gin girl myself, I looked past the menu’s offerings of smoked Old Fashioneds, melon balls and Arnold Palmers to the tumeric sour, a concoction of house-infused orange turmeric gin, bitters, sour mix and egg white.

Williams, clad in a dark waistcoat and derby hat and looking every bit the bootlegger, really sold me as he made navigating about his chemistry lab of a bar look as effortless as pouring water from the tap.

“This drink is what I like to call a happy accident,” Williams said, garnishing my

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

frothy, Dreamsicle of a glass with a fresh orange slice. “The molecular blender we use to make this can’t use a fruit base, so we needed a root. We experimented with ginger, but the taste was off. The turmeric we just happened to have lying around worked.”

And work it does as the citrusy, yet piquant bite of the root adds an extra dimension of warmth and relish to the classic gin sour. Its velvety, whipped-eggwhite-and-simple-syrup topping is the first thing to hit your lips. And, it does not dissolve, allowing one to comfortably nurse it through Farm & Fire’s daily, 4–6 p.m. happy hour.

Apart from a cocktail menu that Jay Gatsby would have endorsed, the main draw of the establishment is its Southerninspired menu of farm-fresh salads and starters, fire-baked pizzas, fish and

PHOTOS BY COLLIS THOMPSON / MELLOW MEDIA

↑ Guests enjoy a rotating collection of imported, seasonal and local beers on draft. ↗ Farm & Fire's Speakeasy bar overlooks Choctawhatchee Bay, making it an idyllic place to meet up with friends and enjoy a craft cocktail.

↘ Smoke(d)less Old Fashion served with a splash of roasted-apple bourbon, dash of sage bitters, slip of simple syrup and topped with a smoke(d)less cube. ↘ Tuscan 22-ounce ribeye, marinated in fresh herbs, charred to perfection and served with roasted root vegetables. Perfect for sharing with two to three people.

↑ Chef Jim Shirley has added Farm & Fire Southern Pizzeria to the assorted lineup of eateries he owns along the Emerald Coast.

meat specialties. The creation of local restaurateur and award-winning chef Jim Shirley (he of The Bay, The Great Southern Café, North Beach Tortilla Co. and other establishments), Farm & Fire proudly showcases its approach. At its entrance, diners encounter homemade dishes, locally sourced goods and 800degree, coal-fired ovens.

The glassed-in dining room supplies a family-friendly atmosphere but one that also will work on date night. I spied several couples watch the sun disappear as they shared meals of Tuscan ribeye or freerange chicken with fire-roasted veggies.

I opted for pizza after listening to the gentleman next to me painstakingly adding ingredients to his dream slice from a “build-your-own” list of veggie and meat fixins, gluten-free crust and “white” pizza options.

My pie, a house specialty with a pleasingly charred and chewy crust, was loaded with creamy, herbed ricotta and portions of Farm & Fire’s popular starter dish, the ground beef, pork and veal meatballs.

Out of six generous slices, I wasn’t ashamed to have devoured three. Then, on my way out, I knew I wasn’t done yet.

The market tempted me with sumptuous towers of cheesecake, cannoli and chocolate confections.

If Gatsby had been waiting for me outside, I wouldn’t have said no to a ride home in his canary yellow Rolls-Royce.

As long as he promised not to touch my tiramisu.

At this writing, Farm & Fire had morphed due to the pandemic from restaurant to strictly a market but planned to restore normal operations as soon as possible. EC

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gastro & gusto

DINING IN

WHERE THE CRAWDADS MARCH Mudbugs make for some fine eating; just be sure not to let them wander off

“G

ive me 5 pounds then,” he once relented.

Mac had first asked for just a pound of crawfish but was shamed into the larger order by the veteran orange-haired waterman at the register at Shrimp City in Panama City Beach. His limp, suggesting that some calamity may have befallen him at sea, was more pronounced then his accent.

Large man, he was.

“Y’all, I like to have 3 pounds for just me,” he had said.

Presently, we were on our way to my house with a bottle of hot sauce, a tin of Old Bay and a black plastic bag of live mudbugs. Once there, we set the bag o’ ’dads in the middle of the garage floor and set about finding a pot large enough to handle our purchase.

Funny thing. When we returned to the garage, the durned crawdads were gone. I looked toward the street thinking I might spy a bandit but saw no one.

“I found them,” Mac announced, with apparent relief. Somehow, a marching band of mudbugs had proceeded in lockstep to a spot amid garden tools in a corner of the garage.

Mac and I used to practice journalism together at the News Herald in Panama City. He’s a professor these

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days at Western Kentucky University.

He’ll tell you the crawdad story, but when he does, he leaves out the shaming part and adds his belief that there had to have been a lead crawdad in the bag communicating orders to the rest.

Mind you, the two of us plowed through the five pounds just fine, washing them down with the “Champagne of Bottled Beers” in my case and the “King of Beers” in his. Long time ago, but the memory is clear.

I recall, too, a backyard crawdad boil that Vern, a photographer friend of mine, and his girlfriend, Marcie, hosted. Vern was a short, hot-tempered Italian, but the Nordic Marcie, 6 inches taller than he, didn’t let him get away with much.

The hosts filled a newspaper-lined wheelbarrow with crawdads and new potatoes and sweet corn that night as music escaped Vern’s inherited old house and the sun dropped unseen into the Gulf of Mexico beyond St. Andrew Bay. Beer and those freshwater minilobsters are inseparable, seems to me.

I suppose I would suck the juice out of a crawdad head without a beer in front of me, and it would taste no different.

I don’t know that for sure, though.

Ain’t never tried it. EC

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

PHOTOS BY PAMELA_D_MCADAMS / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

by STEVE BORNHOFT

↙ Baron’s Crawfish Boil DIRECTIONS

Fill 5-gallon cook-pot with water and add: ➸ 3 jars, Baron’s BBQ Shrimp Marinade ➸ 10 lemons, quartered ➸ 8 ounces, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce ➸ Tabasco sauce to taste ➸ Sea salt and cayenne pepper to taste Bring seasoned water to boil and add: ➸ 3 pounds, new potatoes ➸ 8 ears of corn, halved Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Then add: ➸ Blue crab, cleaned ➸ 10 pounds, thoroughly rinsed crawfish Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Turn off heat. After 10 minutes, drain and serve.

Recipe supplied by Matt Anderson, Baron’s BBQ Shrimp Marinade, Callaway

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gastro & gusto

↖ Entry to the mobile coffee-for-events business by Kasey Perry, behind table, and her husband Donavan, at left, made a latte drinker out of Kasey.

LIBATIONS

Creative concoctions, memories to savor

by ZANDRA WOLFGRAM

S

ome 64 percent of Americans start the day with a cup of joe, but that giant coffee collective did not include Kasey Perry.

That is, until she and her husband, Donavan, established the Coastal Coffee Bar Company in Panama City Beach.

“I grew up in New Orleans and did not drink café au lait. I lived in Seattle, the coffee capital, and managed not to drink it,” Kasey tells. “Once I tried chai tea latte, I realized that I had never had really good, well roasted, well-crafted coffee.”

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Kasey is now converted and caffeinated.

“I’m hooked. I love iced caramel macchiatos,” she enthused.

Kasey, 42, and Donavan, 44, have poured their creativity, business sense and hearts into an enterprise that they hope will energize the wedding and event business along the Emerald Coast. The couple let their idea of a mobile business simmer for a bit and then started the Coastal Coffee Bar Company in 2019.

Kasey, who has a degree in marketing from Louisiana State University, handles

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

→ Lavender White Chocolate Mocha Recipe courtesy Coastal Coffee Bar Company INGREDIENTS

➸ 1/4 ounce Pink House Alchemy Syrup ➸ 1/2 ounce Hollander Chocolate Sauce ➸ 6 ounces milk, steamed and frothed ➸ 2 ounces Amavida ingle Origin espresso or strong coffee DIRECTIONS

Pour lavender syrup and chocolate sauce into coffee mug. Add in the hot espresso or strong coffee and stir. Add in the steamed, frothed milk.

PHOTOS BY WRIGHT MEDIA PC

COASTAL COFFEE BAR

Fresh, to go.

WE STEAM, WE PACK TO TRAVEL

the daily business operations. Donavan, who emigrated to the U.S. from South Africa when he was 21, engages customers and tests and selects coffee profiles.

“We balance each other out,” Kasey said.

“Our sweet spot is weddings under 500 people.”

They also cater small events, such as house parties, fundraisers, ribbon-cuttings, grand openings, appreciation events, bridal shows and “over-the-top birthday parties.”

“We offer an experience. Which would you rather have? An air pot with warmed up mud water or a real barista serving you and providing education and entertainment?”

Donavan asked.

Serving Bay, Walton and Okaloosa counties — and beyond for a travel fee — Coastal Coffee is a full-service coffee bar.

According to the They serve only organic, National Coffee fair-trade coffee sourced Association, through South Waltonbased Amavida. Their menu coffee originated includes espresso, cortado, on the Ethiopian cappuccino, latte, Americano plateau, where and chai beverages.

“We provide our menu a goat herder and then add two signature is said to have drinks options. We concoct noticed that his fun names and gear them to the theme of the event,” goats, when Kasey explained. they ate berries The business served Meow from a certain Made Vibe at the opening of Kittenish Boutique in Grand tree, became so Boulevard and offered 3 energetic that Carat Caramel Macchiato they didn’t sleep and Rosé Latte sprinkled with pink glitter at the kickat night. off of Sinfonia Gulf Coast’s Le Vie En Rosé fundraiser.

Aware of the growing popularity of cold brew coffee, Kasey and Donavan will serve everything on the menu over ice.

The couple plans to methodically grow their business.

“There is a lot we want to do, but we also want any expansion to be thoughtful and well planned,” Kasey said. “As with our brand rollout, we know we only have one shot.” EC

• • • •

Buckhead Beef Fresh deli salads and entrees Mrs. Dean cakes Assortment of breads & wines

Thank you for voting us Best Seafood Market!

Destin Ice Seafood Market & Deli 663 Harbor Blvd • Destin, FL (850) 837-8333 • destinice.com

2008 - Best Italian 2009 - Best Pizza 2010 - Best Pizza & Best Chef 2011 - Best Pizza, Best Italian & Best Chef 2012 - Best Italian 2013 - Best Pizza & Best Walton County Restaurant 2014 - Best Pizza, Best Walton County Restaurant & Best Chef 2015 - Best Pizza 2016 - Best Pizza 2017 - Best Pizza & Best Chef 2018 - Best Pizza 2019- Best Restaurant in Walton County

The original, award-winning wood-fired pizza and classical Italian cuisine

Lunch M–F 11–2 · Dinner M–Sat 5–9 · 850.650.5980 12273 US Hwy 98, Miramar Beach · fatclemenzas.com

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CUISINE In 1984, the late great Chicago newspaper writer Mike Royko devoted a column to discussing punishment employed by the state prison system in Arizona to discourage violations of Big House rules by inmates.

Third-time offenders were fed meatloaf — morning, noon and night — for a minimum of seven days.

At the time of the column’s publication, Arizona’s 7,000 inmates included only two who were on the meatloaf diet, leading Royko to conclude that the threat of such a penalty was working. We are omnivores, not monovores.

Along the Emerald Coast, diners are free to explore a diverse, practically unlimited array of dining options offered by establishments that place a premium on freshness and authenticity, often employing ingredients that are locally sourced and reflect our

Restaurant Spotlight

special part of Florida. Because no one lives among us who does not tire of her or his own cooking, dining out becomes an almost necessary activity, one that comes as a reward, a departure from the stir fry, again — a kitchen pass, as it were.

Freed from the chore of cooking, we consume prepared fare that is light and not light. We eat well and too well. We look forward to meals so greatly enjoyed that we believe we could eat, say, seared and chargrilled scamp with scallions and mixed steamed vegetables every day for a month and not tire of it. We try new things, too, in environments dark and formal one Friday night and salty and breezy the next.

And, as often as things go well, we never fail to utter aloud four delicious words: Yum, that was good.

— Steve Bornhoft

Bijoux Restaurant + Spirits

atmosphere exudes an upscale modern flair that makes guests feel like they are dining in a big city while being only minutes from the beach.

Appearance matters, but Bijoux Restaurant + Spirits is keenly focused on how their atmosphere makes each guest feel.

“We want each guest to walk in and feel the possibility that something special and memorable will happen, and it often does because many are visiting us in celebration,” said Jack McGuckin, coowner and chef at Bijoux Restaurant + Spirits. “We love becoming a part of these memories, whether it’s the place a couple gets engaged, a 60th birthday celebration, a job promotion or a vacation with family and friends.”

The staff greatly contributes to the welcoming atmosphere. They go the extra mile to care for customers by connecting with each table and getting to

know patrons, whether they frequent the restaurant regularly or visit once a year.

The menu is an eclectic mix of creative upscale dishes and homestyle comforts.

Chef Jack is influenced by the places he travels and leans toward an emphasis on coastal cuisine, New Orleans flavors, Mediterranean techniques and American favorites. Beloved menu items include the lobster spring rolls, the fried oyster salad, the filet mignon and the grouper almondine.

“Where we always have innovative specials and are adaptable within the industry, the things guests love, we never

change,” said Leslie McGuckin, co-owner of Bijoux Restaurant + Spirits. “For the people who come once a year or once a week, there is comfort in knowing they will always receive unparalleled service alongside the menu item they most look forward to eating.”

BIJOUX RESTAURANT + SPIRITS 9375 US HIGHWAY 98 W MIRAMAR BEACH | IN THE MARKET SHOPS OF SANDESTIN | (850) 622-0760 | BIJOUXDESTIN.COM

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Restaurant Spotlight

The Havana Beach Rooftop

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE PEARL HOTEL

is an al-fresco dining oasis. A distinctly coastal, casual dining experience awaits atop the Havana Beach Rooftop, the Pearl Hotel’s al-fresco restaurant. Guests can enjoy Havana Beach Bar & Grill’s award-winning joyful celebration of living, eating and drinking well in a laid-back, bistro-style outdoor setting that serves stunning views of the Gulf and of the charming coastal town below. Enjoy tasty tapas with family, take in a Gulf Coast sunset as you toast with friends, gather by one of the firepits, or lounge in a private cabana as you sip on a cocktail and experience your own dining oasis.

The Rooftop’s delicious menu includes an array of shared plates and hand-held items, as well as lighter fare. Served tapasstyle, the menu is intentionally meant to pair perfectly with conversation and is characterized by the flavors of the Gulf, incorporating ingredients sourced locally from local and regional purveyors. Must-try favorites include the coconut-crusted Gulf shrimp, fish tacos (made from the freshest daily catch) and the Havana Beach classic burger — which guests continue to tout as the area’s best. Additionally, a well-curated drink menu provides access to handcrafted cocktails typically reserved for luxurious bar settings in a casual and friendly atmosphere.

Popular Rooftop libations include a White Pear Sangria, El Diablo and the restaurant’s signature Frosé (ideal for sipping under the sun). Happy hour specials are available from 3 to 6 p.m.*

“The Rooftop provides a great opportunity to sample the very best of the Gulf Coast — from our views and our flavors to the service that has made The Pearl and Havana Beach Bar & Grill a beloved and welcoming spot for our guests,” says executive chef Todd Rogers.

“Not only is the food delicious, but you just can’t beat this view for a sunset!”

Whether for a quick happy hour drink, a casual meal shared among family and friends, or an unforgettable gathering under Florida’s sun (and stars), no spot elevates the Gulf Coast dining experience more than the Rooftop — with warmth, hospitality and flavors that are sure to leave you as speechless as the view. *The Rooftop is a smoking-free venue and is open daily, weather permitting, from noon to 8 p.m. Hours may vary seasonally.

THE HAVANA BEACH ROOFTOP LOCATED IN THE PEARL HOTEL | 63 MAIN ST., ROSEMARY BEACH | (850) 588-2882 | THEPEARLRB.COM

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Restaurant Spotlight

Seagar’s Prime Steaks & Seafood Seasonal Menu For a private event, family dinner or a romantic evening for two, visit Seagar’s Prime Steaks & Seafood — the area’s only AAA Four-Diamond steakhouse.

Located within Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, this renowned New York-style steakhouse brings traditional elegance back to the finedining experience. Indulge in a delicious meal, and surround yourself with the luxurious wood furnishings, a cozy fireplace and live piano entertainment.

The restaurant is open to hotel guests, visitors and locals alike. Diners enjoy captain service, private dining areas, sommelier service and tableside preparation of items — including the restaurant’s famous Caesar Salad for Two.

Seagar’s was voted “Best Fine Dining Restaurant” and “Best Romantic Restaurant” by Emerald Coast Magazine readers, and we couldn’t agree more. Other accolades include the Distinguished Restaurants of America Award of Excellence and Open Table Diner’s Choice Award.

Visit Seagar’s, and experience a taste of the good life. The menu features classic steak dishes and an array of delicious local entrees, such as Pan Seared Diver Scallops and Crab Cakes. End the night with their delicious Bananas Foster for Two that is prepared tableside!

But Seagar’s is more than just what’s on your plate. Fill your glass with a

selection from the restaurant’s awardwinning wine list. Full of the finest Burgundies, Bordeaux and more, the list has repeatedly garnered Wine Spectator’s “Best of Award of Excellence,” cementing the restaurant’s place as one of the finest on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The professionally curated wine list perfectly complements your meal — from the Anderson Valley Champagne to the Domaine Matrot Pinot Noir. You and your guests will be able to sample wines from around the world without ever leaving your table.

Seagar’s offers an elegant, one-of-akind fine dining opportunity. Be sure to treat yourself to their fine dining experience this season.

SEAGAR’S PRIME STEAKS & SEAFOOD 4000 S. SANDESTIN BLVD, MIRAMAR BEACH | 850.622.1500 | SEAGARS.COM

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Restaurant Spotlight

Bodacious

Enrich your every day the Bodacious way, with healthy choices to fuel a happy life. From our always fresh café creations and locally ground coffee brews to our signature selection of extra virgin olive oils, we’ve got everything you need to make each day a celebration of simple things done in a big way.

Our Bodacious Café is a full-service, artisanal café serving breakfast and lunch, and our coffee menu is stocked with hand-crafted lattes, cappuccinos, cold brews and pour-overs. Our flatbreads, acai bowls and signature salads are fully customizable to give you the energy to take on any day.

Empower yourself to make restaurant-quality meals at home with a cooking class in our state-of-the-art teaching kitchen, and find all the tools you need in our fully stocked kitchenry.

Coffee lovers will swoon at the rich aromas in the Bodacious Roasting Lab, where we blend single-origin coffees from around the world to create oneof-a-kind brews. Swing through or stop

by the Bodacious Brew-Thru when you want our best brews on the go.

Ready to get out of the house?

Cleanliness and your safety have always been and will continue to be our top priority. Our kitchen and patios make the perfect setting for an intimate gathering of family and friends. Indulge in rich red wines, crisp whites and savory charcuterie boards overlooking Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola, or take them along to enjoy in your favorite setting.

“The Bodacious lifestyle is about celebrating the simple things in life and making mindful choices to lead a healthier, happier life,” says owner Rishy Studer. “We believe in the power of

good food, good friends, great olive oils and natural products to enrich our lives.”

BODACIOUS SHOPS 407 S. PALAFOX ST., PENSACOLA | (850) 433-6505 | BODACIOUSSHOPS.COM

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PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM EICHELBERGER

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Restaurant Spotlight

Cocina Cubana

Building on the success of their Airstream eatery, Crêpes Du Soleil, which opened in Seaside in 2018, Liz and Jay Eichelberger and Chef Rob Masone added a Cuban restaurant: Cocina Cubana. Pronounced Co-sin-a Ku-ba-na, the new restaurant opened in time for Labor Day 2019 in the building that formerly housed Amavida Coffee & Tea on the beach side of town.

The restaurant’s theme stemmed from Jay’s Cuban heritage; his mother, Lupe Eichelberger, is originally from Havana, Cuba. “Our menu is influenced by my family recipes,” Jay says. Using these Cuban flavors, Liz, Jay and Chef Rob created a menu that married Masone’s food expertise with traditional Cuban influences.

The main feature is a “Make-YourOwn-Bowl” meal. Pick a base of rice, couscous and quinoa or mixed greens, top it with a protein and some veggies, then pile on the toppers, which include classic mojo, grilled jicama and pineapple, papaya salsa, chimichurri, roasted tomato-habanero (muy caliente!) and chile mustard. Vegan options are

also available. Or try a traditional Cuban sandwich, like the Cubano, sweet-breaded Medianoche, and Pan con Tortilla (a delicious egg, ham, Swiss cheese and onion breakfast sandwich).

Side options include croquetas, tostones and chicharrónes. “The goal is to make our Cuban dishes accessible to people while honoring traditional family recipes,” Liz adds.

In addition to the authentic Cuban food, Cocina Cubana serves traditional Cuban coffee. “It’s very strong, very delicious and will kick you in the pants,” Liz says. “You measure a great Cuban restaurant by its sandwiches and coffee, so it’s important for us to hit those marks.”

COCINACUBANA30A.COM | JAY@GAZEBOGOURMET.COM

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The restaurant also serves frozen drinks, including “frojitos (frozen mojitos), frozen Cuba Libre, and frosés (Crêpes du Soleil’s signature frozen rosé drink).”

MARK YOUR CALENDAR 7TH ANNUAL PINNACLE AWARDS JOIN US AS WE HONOR THE 2020

PINNACLE AWARD RECIPIENTS and hear from keynote speaker and past Pinnacle Award Recipient, Lisa Walters Senior Vice President and General Counsel, The St Joe Company.

2020 Recipients Tracy Andrews Brigette Brooks Erica Grancagnolo Dana Kerigan Kellie Jo Kilberg Adrienne Maygarden

SEPT. 29, 2020 | 11:00 AM CT A VIRTUAL EVENT TO PURCHASE TICKETS, PLEASE VISIT: 850BusinessMagazine.com/Pinnacle-Awards

PRESENTED BY

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Melissa Medley (posthumous) Kay Phelan Elizabeth Ricci Martha D. Saunders Marjorie Turnbull Cindy Wilker

850 BUSINESS MAGAZINE’S 2020

PINNACLE AWARDS HONORING THE OUTSTANDING WOMEN BUSINESS LEADERS OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA

SPONSORED BY

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New

The

Guard THE NEXT GENERATION COMES TO THE FORE AT ENDURING BUSINESSES

Small businesses come and go, but among their number are some that mature, evolve and succeed through generations. Here, Emerald Coast Magazine puts a spotlight on three business leaders who are prepared to build on the past as they usher enterprises into the future.

STORY BY ZANDRA WOLFGRAM // PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL BOOINI

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From left, Pete Wright Jr., Carolyn Brigman and Edward San Juan owe debts to parents and grandparents who served them as role models and mentors. They gathered for a photo shoot at 30Avenue.

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As a deckhand, Pete Wright Jr. discovered firsthand the hard work associated with the glamorous sport of offshore fishing. He has since navigated some rough waters for businesses.

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The Ships Chandler Pete Wright Jr. is an even-keeled 36-year-old Fort Walton Beach native and a third-generation chandler — a nostalgic name for a supplier of equipment to seagoing vessels. An avid angler, Wright grew up around The Ship’s Chandler in Destin and spent summers decking on charter boats when he wasn’t working in the store.

“Charter fishing is a tough business, and my dad wanted me to see that,” he drawled.

Wright’s grandfather, William “Bill” Wright, moved to the area in the 1960s and was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base. After he retired, he spent his time fishing and ran a couple of charter boats. He was frustrated every time he had to run to Mobile or Panama City for gear, so in 1980, he filled an open niche. He started a tackle business in Destin.

Bill’s son, Peter (Pete Jr.’s dad) would eventually join the business. In 1999, the Wrights added a 24-slip marina overlooking the Destin Harbor, and the business grew.

“Granddad loved to fish, but he wasn’t a fisherman. Dad was,” Wright said. “We ran fishing charters around the world — San Francisco, the Virgin Islands and Australia.

People came for his expert knowledge on custom tackle.”

After he graduated from Auburn University with a marketing degree in 2006, Wright went to work full time at The Ship’s Chandler.

Soon thereafter, the Great Recession of 2008 and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill two years later created rough seas.

“I was scared as hell,” Wright said. “It was a tough time.”

But his fears were soon laid to rest when his father assured him, “No matter what, even if we have to work out of a shoebox, we’ll make it work.”

And they did.

The Ships Chandler has long been a waterside gathering spot. “I wouldn’t call it a barbershop, but there are always regulars who come to hang out and find out what’s new and what’s biting,” Wright said.

About five years ago, Wright’s father began to take time off and increasingly entrusted his son with the business.

“It means a lot,” Wright said. “I have a passion for the business, and the only pressure is what I put on myself. My granddad gave my dad a shot, and now he’s given me one.

“I was taught by a really good fisherman, and I like passing on what I’ve learned. Selling a boat is easy; to make someone successful is the hardest thing, but I get the most satisfaction out of seeing that happen.”

Forty years later, The Ships Chandler continues to supply serious anglers with the tackle they need along with selling and rigging sportfishing vessels.

“If it has anything to do with fishing or boats, we do it,” Wright said.

Plans are underway to expand the business, but don’t expect a lot of changes.

“I guess I feel if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Wright said.

“Dad and granddad built a terrific business, and every generation brings something different. I love the whole business. I can’t see myself doing anything else.”

“It means a lot. I have a passion for the business, and the only pressure is what I put on myself. My granddad gave my dad a shot, and now he’s given me one.” —Pete Wright Jr. EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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McCaskill & Company If Carolyn Brigman were a gemstone, she insists she’d be a Paraiba Tourmaline, the rarest of them all. Found only in Brazil, it comes in vivid blues and greens — like the shimmering emerald waters of the Gulf.

Brigman, who grew up in DeFuniak Springs, is a 34-yearold mother of two, with one on the way, and a thirdgeneration fine jeweler.

She is vice president of McCaskill & Company, founded by her parents Bill and Elizabeth Campbell and based in Miramar Beach.

“My father is the front of the business, my mother the back — I’m a blend of the two,” Brigman said.

As a young boy, Bill enjoyed visiting his grandmother, Gussie McCaskill Campbell (for whom the business is named). She dazzled him with jewels and gems that his globetrotting great-grandfather brought home. Bill never outgrew his fascination for diamonds and precious stones.

“My father has a discerning eye for color and beauty, and he passed that on to me,” Brigman said. “You look for gems with intensity that flash. They just speak to you and grab your eye.”

From her mother, Brigman learned the importance of branding and how to handle day-to-day operations. With several business owners on her mother’s side, she inherited

a drive to be an entrepreneur. “It’s a lot of fun running a business,” she said.

But it’s not always easy. McCaskill & Company had humble beginnings. “My father started out of a briefcase with a couple strings of pearls and a catalog,” Brigman said.

All that changed when Bill met with Henry Dunay, “the father of designer jewelry.” Dunay was so impressed with Bill’s energy that he created a collection for him to carry.

What’s more, he encouraged his designer friends to partner with him. Soon, Seaside’s first jeweler, operating out of a kiosk, was selling fine jewelry by Jean Francois Albert, Oscar Hayman, Paul Morelli and other top designers.

“That’s how we were able to carry couture so early on,” Brigman explained. “It was because of my father’s passion.”

Brigman helped her father pick out jewelry when she was in high school but thought she would go into hospitality and event planning.

“My parents never pressured me. They always said, ‘Do what you love and you’ll be happy,’” she recalled.

After graduating from Florida State University in 2008, Brigman’s parents invited her to rent space next to McCaskill & Company. “The wheels started to turn,” and she opened Sarah Carolyn jewelry, carrying pieces ranging in price from $75 to $400.

“It was a way to have a ‘training ground’ to learn what it takes and to get a feel for the jewelry business,” she said.

After the birth of her first son, William, in 2015 — she and her husband Todd are also parents to Alex, who’s nearly 2 — she decided to sharpen her focus.

“I realized it was time to simplify my life and head into the direction of my future,” she said.

Sarah Carolyn gave way to the Bridal Design Gallery, and Brigman joined her parents in running McCaskill & Company.

Today, McCaskill & Company employs 14 people and carries the creations of 21 designers and 12 bridal lines, including McCaskill Signature Bridal. Prices range from $350 for a David Yurman cuff to $218,000 for a 7.28-carat Signature Collection diamond ring.

There are pieces for gentlemen, too, including Rolex watches.

Five years later, Brigman remains crystal clear about her calling. “I love jewelry and the moment it represents in someone’s life,” she said. “I appreciate its beauty and how when worn it enhances beauty and makes you smile — that’s magical. It is a little piece of joy.”

“My father has a discerning eye for color and beauty, and he passed that on to me. You look for gems with intensity that flash. They just speak to you and grab your eye.” — Carolyn Brigman 52

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Carolyn Brigman inherited a fascination with gemstones — the more intense, the better.

She describes jewelry as “little pieces of joy.”

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Edward San Juan, right, and his father Ed have been immersed in woodworking all of their working lives. Said Edward: “I have sawdust in my veins.”

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E.F. San Juan E.F. San Juan founder and patriarch Eddie San Juan came to Florida at the turn of the century as a cigar maker.

He was good with his hands and would trade cigar rolling for cabinetmaking.

During the 1950s, he opened a store in Miami selling cabinets and fixtures for high-end homes, banks and department stores. The Waldorf Astoria in New York was a customer. When portable televisions became popular, salesmen called upon Eddie to craft custom pieces on castors, an activity that grew into a successful business located in Thomasville, Georgia.

In 1976, as Eddie was nearing retirement age, he and his family decided to return to Florida. They acquired a parcel in Youngstown in Bay County, located just off U.S. 231 and next to railroad tracks.

The family established E.F. San Juan.

Son Ed, now in his 30s, was ready to lead the family business. His son, Edward, was 13 years old.

From a young age, Edward loved being hands-on — sweeping floors, hauling materials, breathing in everything around him — he said he has sawdust in his veins. He learned to operate all of the wood-sharping machines in the E.F. San Juan shop.

“I love making things, and I love wood, period,” he said.

Edward joined his father on the ownership team in the 1980s. His wife, Mary Kathryn, joined as the controller; brother-in-law Buddy Czubaj is the general manager.

Today, Edward, 56, oversees the business’s operations while drawing upon degrees he earned at the University of Florida.

“Other than cutting someone’s grass as a kid, I’ve never worked for anyone else. My wife and I made a decision to sacrifice immediate opportunities knowing we could always go back. It worked, and I’ve never looked back,” Edward said.

The fourth generation of E.F. San Juan is already taking shape. For the past two years, son Eddie, 26, has worked as the production manager. Daughter Lydia, 22, contributes her flair for design in the cabinetry division, while the youngest, Mario, 13, waits his turn.

“I love that my children are working with me. I’m proud and impressed with what they’ve already learned,” Edward said.

“Our family extends to the 80 people who work with us, some for just a few months, but many of them for 30 years. They are also proud of the name E.F. San Juan.

They feel that’s them, too.”

In 2018, Hurricane Michael all but destroyed the business. Edward and his father assessed the damage and resolved to rebuild the business to which they have dedicated their lives.

“We both felt we had work to do,” Edward said. “We have an army, and they needed to be led.”

After rebounding from the storm’s devastation, Edward was motivated to build on the business’s success.

The family had invested in state-of-the-art technology and equipment to ensure they could consistently deliver quality legacy products. They had embarked on a strategy of hiring fewer, more highly skilled employees and paying them more.

Still, Edward wondered how best to grow and perpetuate the business through the next generation. He found the answer when a business colleague recommended he read Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, a book

by Gino Wickman that describes an “entrepreneurial operating system” designed to help businesses achieve long-term growth.

“The idea that we are creating something that is perpetual, something beyond me and my dad that these 80 families can rely on as time goes on, is what I’ve most enjoyed,” Edward said. “What makes me most proud is we’ve created something that matters.” EC

“Our family extends to the 80 people who work with us, some for just a few months, but many of them for 30 years. They are also proud of the name E.F. San Juan. They feel that’s them, too.” —Edward San Juan EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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DISTANCE SOCIALIZING

Staying connected in a new age of viruses STORY BY WYNN PARKS ILLUSTRATIONS BY LINDSEY MASTERSON

M

aybe it was predictions of a “second wave” of Miserable Malady-19 that finally penetrated my mental resistance. I had my first coronavirus dream last night — nothing about spiky naval mines or tufted golf balls, but it was a COVID dream all right.

There I was, outside at night, in a strange city in nothing but my skivvies, knocking on the darkened window of some acquaintance’s house, desperate for shelter. My car was parked across the street behind me, but locked, and my keys were in my pants, wherever they were. All around was an ambiance of dread.

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Through recent years, millennials have constantly tooted their own horns about “forever changing society,” that is, until COVID-19 stole their thunder. Of all past pandemics, COVID-19 will be the first one in the Digital Age, and so it is that the smile on the face of the Silicon Valley tiger now promises it will forever end the isolation of pandemic lockdowns by destroying space and time and joining us all as one global collective. The Borg should have nothing on us! »

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Real world people have traditionally “hooked up” through friends and family, common interest groups, professional matchmakers, and sometimes just the pure chance of love-at-first-scent. Now, with digital connections having become a status symbol, the one-time average of 150 social connections per person has skyrocketed, and as some bright spark once said, at some point a change in quantity becomes a change in quality.

Virtual classrooms, virtual proms, virtual funerals, but better yet, and a whole lot more fun, virtual dating! While not entirely a result of lockdown, the virtual dating trend has definitely gained momentum under social distancing and the promiscuous ministrations of the Facebooks, Twitters and Instagrams.

Not to mention matchmaker apps like Hinge and OKCupid and others of a type continually popping up like virtual mushrooms on virtual cow pies after a virtual rain. And there’s something for everybody. Subscribers who may be shy but are nonetheless looking for hookups via the matchmaker apps, appreciate the chance to slow down a rush to the bedroom in favor of getting to know beforehand who the selfie really is.

“If the virus doesn’t take you out,” texted one clever clogs, “can I?” Ghosting him virtually is way more comfortable than blowing him off in real time.

One researcher describes a virtual date involving a couple already hooked up but separated by the quarantine. Apart but together, they watched an Orson Welles movie, starting with the synchronization of smartphones, followed by fixing the moment to hit “play” on their intelligent pads. Then began virtual cuddling as the two exchanged comments about plot and characters at knitting speed.

But while old-school parents and Biblethumping moralists nodded vigorously at the resurgence of hooking up at

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While not entirely a result of lockdown, the virtual dating trend has definitely gained momentum under social distancing and the promiscuous ministrations of the Facebooks, Twitters and Instagrams.

Not to mention matchmaker apps like Hinge and OKCupid and others of a type continually popping up like virtual mushrooms on virtual cow-pies after a virtual rain.

head evel, rather than waist level, other digital visionaries whipped up such apps as Quarantine Together, mentoring cohabitation and wrapping itself in highminded nannyism by including online exhortations to covivants about washing their hands regularly.

It wasn’t digital puissance that set off social revolution during past pandemics.

Today, digital mind-melds apparently may offer relief from the scourge of isolation, but during the 1918 H1N1 pandemic, communications meant telephone and telegraph, and mass media meant telegraph-fed newspapers.

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

Diaries and interviews of flu survivors from that time reflect loneliness, alienation, desperation and anger. A survivor of the 1918 version of social distancing reported that flu fear had so curtailed her community’s life that the only person she might see in a given day was a neighbor peering through the window to check if she were still alive.

Psychologists who study PTSD believe there could be long-term COVID-19 effects because of the ineffable quality of life that we lose when we are isolated from the direct presence of others. That experience can undercut, sometimes

to death, an individual’s psychological resilience.

Somebody said, “COVID-19 is like somebody struck a deal with the devil seeking respite from election-year politics!” Or perhaps it’s just a case of those who slept through history class being doomed to repeat it.

For ages, humanity has been plagued periodically by outbreaks of disease that

terrorized and decimated, inevitably reshuffling the social order. In a 1300s epidemic, the decimation of Europe’s population paved the way for the destruction of feudalism and the evolution of our modern-day middle class.

Disillusionment arising from World War I and the 1918 Pandemic led to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which enfranchised women as voters.

But it led to chaos as well. Hundreds in San Francisco, frantic at the flu’s invisible threat, joined the Anti-Mask League, a move they said was justified by the curtailing of rights during the quarantine. They went marching like lemmings over a cliff, a grand defiance that promptly sent the city, where everybody’s heart gets left, into a second deadly round of the “Grip.”

All the way back to scrolls and cuneiform tablets, people’s gut reaction when facing an epidemic has been to exercise social distancing, most often simply by “getting the heck out of Dodge.”

Fourteenth century Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio tells about lighthearted youths junketing off to the country to escape the “Black Death.”

Daniel Defoe, of Robinson Crusoe fame, chronicled the 1665 London outbreak, observing that the only way people knew to deal with it was to run away. Florida is now witnessing the timelessness of that truth. COVID-19 refugees from highdensity population centers like Atlanta, Nashville and others further north have flooded Florida beaches by the thousands.

Meanwhile, as scores of researchers around the world work feverishly to find an effective treatment and develop a vaccine for COVID-19, we’re encouraged to regard what’s happening as a strange sort of “war” where, so far, our best tactic is retreating from the enemy, laying down a cloud of hand sanitizer and tracking the toll of our wounded and fallen brethren.

But be of good cheer. This, too, shall pass, and once the vaccine is developed and the anti-maskers go home, there’ll probably be some fun with the antivaxxers! You gotta either laugh or cry!

Or both. EC

Wynn Parks lives in Santa Rosa Beach and is the author of a novel, Rambulations of Andreas the Bum, whose opening pages concern a Barf-o-Rama, a Ouija board and a fire begun by a table that lurches on its own across a room.

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expression AUG/SEPT 2020

CREATIVE WORKS LAND ON PAGES, CANVASES AND STAGES

ART

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS — AND KIDS! South Walton art studio offers an outlet for youthful creativity

by HANNAH BURKE

photography by MODUS PHOTOGRAPHY

↖ NOSE FIRST: Young hands work to create the face of a llama, maybe — or a sheep or a bull terrier or an unnamed product of a child’s active imagination.

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expression

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rom the dozens of galleries dotted along Scenic Highway 30A and its endless art festivals, to the signature sculptures of Rosemary Beach and the bright murals of Seaside, it’s impossible not to notice art’s influence on South Walton.

But where there’s a multitude of artistic activities and attractions geared toward adults, Jessica Williams noticed a lack of creative avenues for children.

So she turned to her husband, Chandler, and said, “Let’s give them something to do.”

Opened in March of 2019, Rock Paper Scissors 30A is a creation studio in which children aged 3 and older participate in a variety of instructed, project-driven art sessions.

“I’ve always enjoyed being artistic and crafty,” says Jessica Williams. “I took some art classes in college but ended up being a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, so I can entertain some kids! You get new groups in every day that are so fun, so it’s a perfect way to unite my passions.”

At this interview, Williams had just wrapped up class with her 3–5 age group.

Atop a water-colored canvas, tots glued cardboard sharks amid waves of aqua-hued glass and shells. Making three-dimensional art with cardboard shapes, William says, is among their favorite crafts.

“The goal is to create projects you can’t simply do at your kitchen table with supplies you’d already have on hand,” she says. “It’s always something fun and always something messy, which they, of course, love.”

Class sizes vary per season but typically host around six children per session.

Come summertime, when more staff is available, this will expand to around eight or 10.

“We’re very fortunate to employ elementary and preschool teachers during the summer when they’re off work,” Williams says. “We’re not looking for artists, we’re looking for someone who’s amazing with kids. Our teachers help run classes, monitor open studio time and are fantastic with each group.”

Classes for children 6 and older last

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↑FOCUSED ON HIS WORK: Programs at Rock Paper Scissors 30A give children as young as 3 an opportunity to experiment with various art media.

The studio also hosts classes for women.

photography by MODUS PHOTOGRAPHY

an hour and feature projects more detailed in scope and size. According to Williams, a class favorite is a craft in which book pages are layered in watercolor, shredded and mosaicked into a three-dimensional turtle shell.

“This year, it’s my goal to focus more our locals and offer progressive art classes,” says Williams. “Parents will tell me how much their child loves their school art classes, but they maybe get it twice a month. I’d love to offer supplementary classes, but it’s important I first find that teacher who is readily available and equipped with those skills.”

Until then, Rock, Paper Scissors offers open studio time, during which anyone can walk in, pick a project and work independently. Most of these are three-dimensional canvas projects, where participants may utilize glass, rocks, shells and stencils to construct their masterpiece.

After hours, the studio becomes a haven for ladies’ night. At just $40 per person, your friend group has complete access to two hours’ worth of studio time.

“We encourage our ladies to bring something to sip and snack,” says Williams. “You’ll have free reign of the entire studio, which often leads to these groups leaving with some things they’re really impressed to have made!”

Located in Grayton Beach, Rock, Paper, Scissors is nestled between Chandler Williams’ Modus Photography Studio and Hurricane Oyster Bar, which Williams says has been the studio’s main source of foot traffic.

Because classes are instructed, parents are free to drop the kids and enjoy a drink or get in a workout at the adjacent Grayton Beach Fitness center.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

↑ Complete projects have included a llama with splashy lashes. Materials available to kids go well beyond crayons, Elmer’s glue and construction paper.

“All of our classes are affordable, and they’re a great way to spend some one-on-one time with your kids or allow them to spend time independently,” says Williams. “Since we’ve been open, we’ve already had

families who have visited on vacation say they want to come back again on their next visit. It’s special becoming part of a family’s tradition and providing our repeat customers with something fun and affordable.” EC

Rock Paper Scissors 30A invites children, escorted by their parents, to attend scheduled classes or to pop in any time and leave with a “make it and take it” project. Hours of operation vary seasonally. Details are available at RockPaperScissors30A.com.

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EXTERIORS

Green Screens

|| GARDENING

Hot Weather Cultivation

Abodes

AUG/SEPT 2020

TRENDS FROM FLOOR TO CEILING, FRONT TO BACK

Green Screens

PHOTO BY POLNON PRAPANON / GETTY IMAGES PLUS / ISTOCK

EXTERIORS

Good plants make good neighbors

by HANNAH BURKE

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any homeowners are saying “adieu” to homogenized, spartan, paneled fencing and opting for a diverse, vibrant and eco-friendly flourish of shrubs, hedges and tall, grassy textures for lush privacy screens.

“We often use shrubbery to create a subtle green background or canvas, which enables the coloring from other plant species or the house structure itself, to pop,” said Callie Barker, a landscape architect at Callie & Co. in Destin.

“These are often low-maintenance plants, and since there are hundreds of new zonal varieties introduced each year, the options and benefits are endless.”

Popular among clients are plants that bloom, offer splashes of color and are evergreen. In recent years, landscaping design has shifted from a natural, forested

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look to one of intention. Modern, streamlined shrub placement that is properly maintained offers a clean-cut and crisp appearance.

“A lot of what we do encompasses dwarf variety plants that are mature,” said Clint Hill, owner of The Turf Tailors in Fort Walton Beach. “In screening situations, we’re seeing more people are wanting straight-lined hedges. Shrubs like podocarpus are good because most houses don’t have a lot of area to work with, so you need something that will get tall enough to serve its purpose but also stay trim.”

Podocarpus, or the plum plant, is an evergreen shrub, actually a conifer, with a moderate growth rate. It thrives in Northwest Florida’s warm climate.

Barker said local landscapers use

plant palettes that have been specifically tailored for the local planting zone and complement the environmental elements of a home site.

Mark Guerra, owner of Guerra Tree Farm & Nursery in Pensacola, says top sellers compatible with our climate include wax myrtles, boxwoods and yaupon holly. He has seen an increased demand for coppertop sweet viburnums, a compact, yet dense and metallic-hued plant native to Asia.

“In the South, it’s not uncommon to find hydrangeas,” said Guerra. “I know they, along with camellias, have become a staple in Pensacola. Right now, purpleblossomed Penny Mac hydrangeas have been catching landscapers’ eyes. It is a brand new, mass-produced variety that blooms on new growth.”

Viburnum shrubs may be deciduous or evergreen and are native to Asia and North America, according to the informational gardening site Gardenia.net. They produce sweetly fragrant flowers and colorful berries. Their stunning fall colors range from glossy red to scarlet purple. The shrubs are easy to grow and prefer moist, rich, slightly acidic, well-drained soil.

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PHOTO BY RUNNA10 / GETTY IMAGES PLUS / ISTOCK

Climbing plants and hedges provide all of the privacy that man-made fences and other manufactured alternatives do, but they make for much softer and more pleasant additions to landscapes.

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It is important that clients work with landscapers to carefully select plant grades and sizes to ensure they will grow into a specific canopy size within their preferred timeframe.

“However,” warned Barker, “it is an oversimplification to suggest there are general locations on a site to get maximum use with shrubs and hedges.

Designs are completely different for each site based on many factors such as optimizing light and shade elements, grade and drainage, soil variations and the overall look our client desires to achieve.”

According to Hill, more homeowners have leaned toward a “three-tier system.” For example, a tall, shady shrub such as a podocarpus is paired with a long and leggy purple dwarf loropetalum and a trim, upright flax lily.

“Smaller bed areas still have the potential to be elaborate and offer plenty of texture without having to consume so much space,” Hill said. “Shrubbery with dark leaves and deep, rich colors complement and contrast with the often white, tan and brickaccented homes you find along the coast.”

But you don’t have to ditch the fence entirely; green screening can encompass a combination of vegetation and wood.

“A section of hedges followed by a partition of horizontal slat fencing that is the same width and height as the plants creates a contemporary, natural look,” Hill said.

Both Barker and Guerra advocate for the use of Confederate jasmine vines along a trellis or wood partition, as long as you’re committed to maintaining them. Certain species of vine can potentially “creep” and crowd other plants, or embed into house siding and cause issues.

Too, most evergreen shrubs require annual pruning, spot pest and fungal control and proper irrigation.

Maintenance requirements, said Hill, can be limited by installing dwarf-variety and mature plants, so growth doesn’t exceed 6 inches per year.

But Guerra is always one to stress that beauty comes with a cost.

“Homeowners often come to us looking for a maintenance-free, extravagant yard, but those two things don’t necessarily go together,” he said. “If you want a beautiful yard, you’re going to spend some money first, and then you’ll need to make a maintenance plan. Take the time to research the care and chemicals your plants need, and invest in a professional service if you can’t put in the work.” EC

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abodes Summer Garden Chores GREEN SCENE

HOT WEATHER CULTIVATION Even heat-tolerant plants need irrigation and a blanket of mulch by

LES HARRISON

➸ The summer is a great

time to solarize garden spots.

This soil-sanitizing technique can be accomplished with a heat-trapping cover, which will kill some, if not most, of the weed seeds and insect eggs lodging in the home garden patch.

For containers or small plots, a large trash bag held down with bricks, boards or rocks will do.

For larger areas, a roll of plastic sheeting will be necessary.

The heat trapped beneath the plastic will slowly bake the potentially harmful organisms and render them inert. Luckily, earthworms are smart enough to leave the area when it heats up but always return when the soil cools to normal. Leave the plastic in place for four to six weeks.

➸ Much like colorful annuals,

Supplemental organic matter is also important to incorporate into the planting zone. Composted oak leaves are excellent and so is peat moss. Both add plant nutrients and improve the water holding capacity of the ground.

Those who are growing vegetable plants also have choices in the current environment. You may choose to cultivate plants or leave areas fallow for future use, or both.

After a morning of gardening, the air conditioner feels really good. A few months from now, the heat and humidity will be a faint memory as fall thermometer readings set in.

herb transplants can be installed this time of year.

Rosemary, ginger, Mexican tarragon and others will flourish in properly prepared sites or large containers.

➸ Late summer is an

excellent time to start fall tomato plants. Use growing media in a transplant container to start recommended cultivars.

The growing media or soil should be moderately fine with ample organic matter and effective drainage. Maintain the moisture in the soil, but do not saturate the containers as fungal disease will result.

➸ Many cool season

PESKY PESTS

Katydids: Pretty and vulnerable in pink

Summer clothing does reveal more skin to the sun’s rays, which is problematic in itself. Those who do not take the necessary precautions while remaining comfortable will likely end up with pink skin from excessive solar exposure. Curiously, not all pink residents are feeling the effects of sunburns. The oblong-winged katydid, Amblycorypha oblongifolia as identified by entomologists, is a prime example. In katydid species, this pink color mutation is a dominant trait and a major disadvantage. With the overwhelmingly green coloration of area foliage, most brightly contrasting katydids do not survive to adulthood, instead falling prey to hungry birds and animals. The oblong-winged katydid’s habitat is the eastern United States, but in Florida, it is found only in the Panhandle. Populations peak in mid-summer, and the average katydid lifespan is four to six months, if they are lucky. This katydid species is not known to damage economically important crops and is only guilty of superficial damage in the home garden and landscape.

The bright pink may look like a sunburn, but it is not skin cancer they need to be concerned about.

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crops can be started the same way. Installing healthy transplants can give the home gardener a head start on the autumn growing season.

Still, if temperature patterns are average, there is still time to refresh the garden with a new planting of peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, lima beans and others. Most of these have an average of 90 days from planting to the first harvest.

Les Harrison is a past University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Wakulla County Extension Director.

PHOTOS BY LES HARRISON (KATYDID) AND BOREVINA / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS (COLEUS)

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or those who want, or need, to install annual bedding plants, only the most heat tolerant will handle the dog days of summer. Vincas, gaillardia and coleus transplants will thrive under the intense heat of this season.

Success will depend on the proper preparation and maintenance of these colorful additions. A layer of mulch at least 4 inches deep is necessary as well as irrigating during periods when the rains lag.

Many locally popular bulbs can be planted in August and, in fact, much of the year. As with the heat-tolerant annuals, thorough plant bed preparation and mulching is critically important.

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PROMOTION

DEAL ESTATE

JUST LISTED

Paradise in this Beautiful Gulf-front Home This three-bedroom, three-bath home comes completely furnished and is ready to occupy. It features a gourmet kitchen with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, espresso cabinetry, breakfast bar and island and a glass cooktop with overhead exhaust. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide panoramic views of the Gulf and extend from dining and living rooms to the master bedroom. The split floor plan includes a large master bedroom that offers more breathtaking views of the Gulf as well as a walk-in closet and a fireplace. The extra large deck is great for entertaining and taking in salty Gulf breezes. Contact us today for your private showing.

LISTED PRICE: $1,200,000 ADDRESS: 6717 Gulf Drive, Panama City Beach SQUARE FOOTAGE: 1,803 BEDROOMS: 3 BATHROOMS: 3 YEAR BUILT: 1982 FEATURES: Spacious deck, split floor plan, gourmet kitchen and floor-to-ceiling windows APPEAL: Gulf-front living at its finest, this home is great for entertaining and boasts an amazing location.

Carl Allen, Realtor®, CCIM (850) 960-8808 Carl@CountsRealEstate.com Carl.CountsEmeraldCoast.com Tiffani Harnish, Realtor® (850) 358-6732 Tiffani@CountsRealEstate.com PanhandleBeachSales.com 21901 Panama City Beach Parkway Panama City Beach

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF TIFFANY HARNISH

CONTACT INFORMATION: Counts Real Estate Group, Inc.

F O R

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PROMOTION

DEAL ESTATE

JUST SOLD

Gulf-front Dream Goes for Record $5.7M A truly exceptional luxury residence, this Gulffront marvel exudes comfortable coastal charm. Occupying a 70-foot lot on the water, it is aptly named “Graytful.” Its sale at $5.7 million was the largest ever in Grayton Beach, a community of neighbors that The New York Times has called “a Gulf retreat for the upscale but unfussy!” The residence was designed by renowned architect Chris Stoyles of Archiscapes and built by sought-after Allen Wright of Velvet Sun Builders.

SOLD PRICE: $5,700,000 ADDRESS: 60 Auburn Drive, Santa Rosa Beach SQUARE FOOTAGE: 6,043 BEDROOMS: 6 BATHROOMS: 6 FEATURES: Dramatic arches open up to the Gulf. A negative edge pool spans the width of the house, complete with waterfall and catch basin.

The first-level flooring is stained concrete that wears well when folks return from the beach to the indoor shower and changing room/locker room. For anyone wanting to relax in the shade, a queen-size swing bed that hangs in a covered area awaits. And, a 16-foot, custom-made dining table accommodates outdoor dining and parties.

A first-floor “man cave” boasts a pool table and bar area with big-screen TV. Dual hurricane-rated garage doors open to the Gulf, which allows airflow through the first level.

APPEAL: Look out every day from your kitchen, dining and living room windows to the emerald green waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This site is special with a large footprint and is one of only seven Gulf-front lots that extend all the way down to the mean high-tide line. Grayton Beach State Park borders the east and west sides of this small Gulf-front community that is as eclectic as it is bohemian. An exceptional first impression greets you as you drive through the gated, arched entry and enjoy a stunning view of the Gulf, seen through a corridor under the home.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Erin Oden, Broker Owner, Coastal Luxury - Real Estate for Luxury Living; (850) 502-1220; erin@coastalluxury.com

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF COASTAL LUXURY, REAL ESTATE FOR LUXURY LIVING

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PROMOTION

DEAL ESTATE

JUST LISTED

Charming Estate on Lake Bradford Hits Market Overlooking Lake Bradford, this estate-style home is perfect for anyone looking for lots of room in a quiet waterfront retreat.

Located just five minutes from the airport and 10 minutes from the capitol, this home features three master suites among its five bedrooms, two of which include private outdoor access. View the lake from a 30-foot, floor-to-ceiling window or take to the water from your dock equipped with an electric boat lift.

LISTED PRICE: $630,000 SQUARE FOOTAGE: 4,298 BEDROOMS: 5 BATHROOMS: 5 FEATURES: Lake-accessible dock features an electric boat lift. Home features a pair of two-car garages and two fireplaces, plus numerous Red Baron built-in antiques and stained glass. Kitchen and two bathrooms have recently been remodeled.

APPEAL: Relax in front of your 30-foot, floor-to-ceiling glass window that overlooks Lake Bradford. Located just 5 minutes from Tallahassee International Airport and 10 minutes from downtown Tallahassee.

CONTACT INFORMATION: For sale by owner: (850) 766-2201.

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STORIES from the

HEART INSPIRING STORIES OF PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE The life-changing care Ascension Sacred Heart provides has touched the hearts of many who strive to ensure that this incredible mission of care continues for future generations. Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation is proud to be a partner in this endeavor. Please enjoy these “Stories from the Heart.”

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S T O R I E S from the

HEART

SPONSORED REPORT

ELLIOT ROWELL We see most clearly through the heart

R

Running through the Mother Seton Garden playground at the Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart, you’d never know 6-year-old Elliot Rowell was once a patient here.

When he was only 3, Elliot was diagnosed with retinoblastoma. After surgery to remove the tumor along with his eye, his family thought they were out of the woods.

But his cancer returned, so Joe, Heather, Elliot and his brother John traveled to Miami, where he would undergo radiation for three months.

“It was very difficult being away from home. Every day was spent figuring out how to be there for Elliot, the logistics of his treatment and where we would stay,” says his father, Joe. “It was a blessing when we found out we could come back home to our local Children’s Hospital with a world-class oncology team.”

Once back in Pensacola, Elliot began chemotherapy. Immediately, he went from being a child with boundless energy to one bound to a hospital bed. Throwing up all day and night, Elliot lost one-third of his body weight and required a feeding tube to receive the nourishment he desperately needed.

Then came Mark, a physical therapist on Elliot’s team.

“Watching your child deteriorate so quickly at the age of 4, there’s no way to describe what that’s like,” says Elliot’s mom, Heather. “He was so weak. I remember Mark coming in, and he was just like sunlight. He knew how to help

him, but he also knew how to become a friend.”

The entire team became Elliot’s friends, from Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz to Christy, “The Pokey Nurse” — who received her nickname thanks to all the poking Elliot had to go through to get well.

Elliot didn’t like being left alone for a second. One time, when his mom stepped out for a drink, she saw the nurses gathered around the phone listening to a small voice, and they were all smiling. It

2 E N SI O N SAC R E 2020 D H E A EMERALDCOASTMAGA R T FO UN DATI ON | GIVESACREDHEART.ORG 76A SC August-September ZINE.COM

was Elliot asking someone to come and sit with him.

Prior to their experience, the Rowell kids didn’t even know the word “cancer.”

His parents explained it from a clinical standpoint, telling the boys it was something going wrong inside Elliot’s cells that could be fixed with special medicine.

“Dr. Schwartz could answer any question — no matter how bizarre,” Heather says.

“He was a huge comfort to us when we returned home to start treatment.”

SPONSORED REPORT

A MESSAGE FROM CAROL CARLAN

The family was overjoyed to be home and to have the support of their loved ones and the entire community.

“The effort and the technology that’s gone into this place is amazing,” Joe says. “It’s a fantastic thing for families in the region that they don’t have to travel to receive the level of care that they want and that their children deserve.”

As a mother, Heather quickly noticed how kid-centered the new hospital is.

“There’s so much for kids to do here at the hospital, whether it’s the patient or their siblings or friends who come to visit,” she shares. “You can tell it was made for little hands and little feet.”

As for the staff, Joe says there was not a single person they came into contact with that wasn’t nurturing, caring, attentive and professional. “They made you feel like you were the only person they had to take care of.”

Many times, unexpected complications can arise during treatment.

“We didn’t know what to do when things fell apart, but the nurses knew their protocol,” Heather says. “For every problem there is a solution … there is always something they can do to help.”

The doctors and nurses did help, and Elliot is now a strong and (strong-willed) little boy.

“They became family to us. I remember leaving, looking around and going, ‘Y’all aren’t coming with us?’ ” Heather shares. “Having this hospital in our community means we can keep that relationship going.”

To the more than 12,000 people who donated to help create the new Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart, Joe says: “Thank you for making this place accessible — and for the vision you have for the children and families of this community.”

Heather, too, is grateful for what this hospital means to families in need.

“To be able to come here and see the love and the attention and the huge support there is for serving and caring for our children, it’s super encouraging,” she says. “I’m a teacher, and I know that children really are the future. This whole hospital is a testament to our community loving our children.”

Mom and Dad both have big dreams for Elliot, though Joe says he can’t dream anything bigger for his little boy than he can dream for himself.

“My dream for Elliot is that he wouldn’t think of himself as a victim or a cancer patient … that he would figure out what he’s great at and just run,” Heather says. “I can’t wait for the day that he’s known more for what he’s accomplished than what happened to him.”

Elliot has his own plan in mind. “I want to be what Mr. Mark was. He helps people get strong, and he makes people laugh.”

There’s no doubt Elliot keeps people laughing. Every time his family drives down 9th Avenue in Pensacola, he shouts, “That’s my hospital!”

Yes, it is..

This edition of Stories from the Heart is centered on how a loving, gifting community responded to need and made a life-changing difference for so many.

Consider little Elliot Rowell. Diagnosed with eye cancer at the age of 3, he underwent treatment from the worldclass, pediatric oncology team at Ascension Studer Family Children’s Hospital. We learn in Elliot’s story that he is now a healthy 6-year-old, and his father Joe is forever grateful for the 12,000 community members who gave of their money and time to make our Children’s Hospital possible.

Another story brings to life how hotelier Frank Flautt envisioned and then developed the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa. But he did more than that: He pioneered a premier resort area and a whole community that thrived, ultimately donating to and helping build Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast.

Though we faced many challenges recently, Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation continued working to fulfill its mission. We are dedicated to ensuring that the doors of our region’s Ascension hospitals are open to all, including the poor and most vulnerable, and we are most grateful for those who served within those doors during a time of great need.

Ascension doctors, nurses, caregivers and support teams put in long hours and made sacrifices to bring healing and hope to their patients. They persevered on the front lines of healthcare during most difficult circumstances. They are our community’s heroes — yours and mine and our families’.

We sincerely thank each and every one of you.

Carol Carlan President, Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation

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A VISIONARY WHO GIFTED THE EMERALD COAST

It was Frank Flautt’s vision that helped pioneer the Emerald Coast as a premier resort area.

In 1982, he acquired beachside property in the Sandestin Resort that had limited development and grew it into the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa. The hotel was originally developed as a 400-unit condominium structure. It was only in 1998, after 200 rooms and additional amenities were added, that the hotel transformed into its current form.

Frank, then, was pleased when plans were announced for construction of Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast. The Hilton Sandestin was continuing to attract countless tourists to the area year-round, and having medical care close by made the hospital a valuable asset from a business standpoint. He also knew it would contribute significantly to the community’s development and economy.

He is a generous philanthropic contributor to the ministry, saying “I can’t think of too many things more worthwhile than supporting the hospital.” Its chapel was funded by the Hilton in honor of his employees. Yet he believes the rewards far outweigh the donations he’s been responsible for, knowing that his staff, their families and he himself have received outstanding care there. Over time, he has watched Ascension Sacred Heart’s Emerald Coast hospital grow to meet expanding community needs, which he credits to wise management.

Today, the Hilton Sandestin employs 500 people year-round, which grows to 750 during the peak season; it has few vacancies from June to August. It weathered the 2010 oil spill that prompted grantmoney advertising to help bring back the area, which ultimately helped the resort by opening up markets unfamiliar with the Emerald Coast. Frank says, “God blessed all the efforts we made here, because it’s been one of Hilton’s most successful properties.”

When his company surveyed those who have bought local homes, one of the questions asked about their fi rst exposure to Sandestin.

A little over 70 percent answered that they came for a meeting or vacation at the Hilton — and decided to stay. “I was sitting on the beach one day,” he shares, “and I asked, ‘What are all these people doing here?’ My wife turned to me and said, ‘Well you brought them here, so don’t complain.’ ” At age 78, he continues to serve as president of his company, hoping to be remembered as a “kind and generous” employer. His goal was “never about making money. It was about product. If I could, I would come to work and do it for nothing because I just love it.”

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Frank Flautt

SPON SORED REPORT

THANK YOU

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The past several months have been a time of fear and uncertainty. However, it is during these times that we see the community come together the most. This generosity and commitment truly shows how much our community cares for one another. Local businesses, organizations and individuals have united to help one another in so many ways, both big and small. From businesses providing food to those on the front lines, to monetary donations to help purchase supplies,

and PPE donations to keep our hospital fully stocked and prepared, we witnessed a community band together to help those in their greatest time of need. We sincerely thank each and every one of you who contributed, whether it be donated time, money, food or supplies to the sta and patients at Ascension Sacred Heart’s Hospitals along the Gulf Coast.

We are blessed to live in and serve a community who stands by one another through the good times and the bad.

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CAROL CARLAN A LEADER DEDICATED TO ENRICHING HER COMMUNITY

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Carol Carlan has forged a career path of leadership success. She’s held many titles in the business world, achieved extraordinary goals and merited widespread recognition for her talents. Through it all, her guidepost has been her passion for giving back to the community, for helping others.

Carol serves as president of Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation, a philanthropic organization she now has guided for eight years. Her remarkable tenure is described by Wes Reeder, former Foundation board chairperson: “Carol Carlan has many extraordinary talents that contribute to her and the Foundation’s success. She is bright, well organized, savvy with her business practices, and a terrific people manager and motivator. But to me, what sets Carol apart is her compassion for the Foundation’s mission and her never give-up attitude and work ethic with respect to accomplishing the Foundation’s goals.”

The Studer Family Children’s Hospital was built on Carol’s watch after she launched a capital campaign that raised $85 million dollars for the project. She worked tirelessly to ensure it became a reality, able to provide world-class care for the region’s children, turning away no one in need. It was an amazing accomplishment, yet she will tell you, “I am most proud of the team, the board members and the community we pulled together to grow the Children’s Hospital. I didn’t do it all. I led the effort, but I had a lot of people supporting me.”

Carol also credits the partnership with Ascension as playing a big role in making it possible for the hospital to open its doors.

“Ascension has brought extraordinary resources to our community that we wouldn’t have otherwise. To have Ascension as a partner is a blessing in itself.”

She accomplished yet another of the Foundation’s major goals: A second capital campaign that raised $30 million for the expansion of Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast.

Carol came to the Foundation from presiding over her own successful leadership development company. She valued the

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opportunity to coach and mentor community professionals, motivating others to achieve their full potential. She was a founding member of the John Maxwell Team, a global leadership training organization of 25,000 members.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Carol enjoyed a 30-year career in the banking industry. She started in an entry-level job after graduating college and quickly advanced in leadership positions to eventually become the fi rst female president of a large regional bank (Wachovia).

Throughout each phase of her career, Carol has devoted considerable time and energy to guiding not-for profit organizations in the community, serving from the heart as a board member for more than 35 charitable concerns.

SPON SORED REPORT

CHARITY GOLF CLASSIC

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The 2020 Charity Golf Classic is quickly approaching! The Charity Golf Classic Committee, Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation and Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast would like to thank our sponsors, golfers, donors, volunteers and attendees for an outstanding event in 2019 and excitedly look forward to an even greater day together on September 20, 2020, at Burnt Pine Golf Club.

Bill Tate and Cory Fosdyck, Charity Golf Classic Committee co-chairs, are working with their esteemed committee members to choreograph a satisfying day for all area golfers. Burnt Pine Golf Club is a golf experience unrivaled on the Florida Gulf Coast. Rees Jones,

one of the most respected golf architects in the world, continues to inspire players with the beautiful fairways along Choctawhatchee Bay, making every day on this course a treat. Delicious food, refreshing beverages, laid-back live music, camaraderie and great competition … sounds like a perfect day!

Through our community’s generosity, the tournament has supported a variety of areas at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast through the years, raising more than $3 million to expand critical areas of need, including the Olson Women’s Diagnostic Center, the Family Birth Place, the ICU and Heart and Vascular Services, as well as the Comprehensive Spine Program.

To register for the Charity Golf Classic, visit SacredHeartCharityGolf.com.

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UWF DANCE MARATHON On Feb. 29, students at the University of West Florida set a record high in fundraising for their Dance Marathon movement by raising $87,838.21 #ForTheKids at Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart, your local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. The students put in hard work and dedication over the past year to make this night a success. We are forever grateful for their caring hearts and passion for children’s hospitals.

GULF WINDS Thanks to Gulf Winds Credit Union for their generous donation of $65,000 to Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola to help the hospital purchase personal protection equipment (PPE) for its staff. This donation is equivalent to the cost of one month’s worth of PPE under normal circumstances at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital.

“During this difficult time, we are grateful to have companies like Gulf Winds Credit Union who are willing to use their resources to fund support of personal protection equipment. Their gift will help hundreds of employees and patients who are impacted during this time of greatest need.” — Carol Carlan, President of Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation

PANDA EXPRESS We are overwhelmed by the love and support the Pensacola community has to offer. Team members from Panda Express gathered to donate over 200 meals and 30,000 personal protective masks to Ascension Sacred Heart. Thank you, Panda Express, for always going above and beyond to care for our hospital and community. #PandaCares

ABOUT THE ASCENSION SACRED HEART FOUNDATION Since 1915, Ascension Sacred Heart has been at the heart of healing for Northwest Florida and South Alabama. Like our founders, the Daughters of Charity, Ascension Sacred Heart is dedicated to providing quality, compassionate healthcare to the citizens of our regions, regardless of their ability to pay. This steadfast commitment to our community could not have been achieved without the support and generosity of the thousands of individuals, businesses and organizations that have donated to Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation. Through this charitable giving, Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation has been able to provide millions of dollars of free and low-cost healthcare to the poor, uninsured, under-insured and low-income families. With the help of generous donors, we are proud to partner in Ascension Sacred Heart’s mission of care along the Gulf Coast.

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES The Emerald Coast is home to a community of business professionals who serve their customers as both consultants and service providers in important areas that relate to their finances, health and livelihoods.

Choosing the right company to trust can be critical. In this special section of Emerald Coast Magazine, we profile selected, highly regarded professionals who have proven accountable, dependable, trustworthy and dedicated to improving the lives of the people they assist.

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

Dermatology Specialists of Florida DR. DAVID CHANDLER

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on Ward, MD, and Michael Stickler, MD, are pleased to announce that David Chandler, MD, has joined their practice to expand their established medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatology services by adding plastic surgery consultations and procedures.

Dr. Chandler, a board-certified plastic surgeon, completed his undergraduate degree in physics from Auburn University.

He attended medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center and completed a fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Chandler specializes in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.

He will be an excellent option for patients who wish to have a plastic surgeon close their Mohs micrographic surgery sites.

Cosmetically, he will perform breast augmentations, body contouring, breast lifts (mastopexy), face and neck lifts, otoplasty (ear surgery), blepharoplasty (eyelid lift surgery), liposuction, fat grafting, explants, capsulectomies, and tummy tucks (abdominoplasty).

In addition, Dr. Chandler will offer cosmetic injectables such as Botox and filler.

Dermatology Specialists of Florida is excited to integrate plastic surgery of the face, breasts and body, medical dermatology and Mohs micrographic surgery in the same practice. “Dermatology and aesthetics go hand in hand, and we are very pleased to now offer our patients both services

under one trusted brand,� said Dr. Jon Ward. Over the past decade, Dr. Ward and his colleagues have focused on the ever-expanding non-surgical aesthetic treatments available to patients in their on-site medical spa, Aqua. Now, Dermatology Specialists of Florida and Aqua Medical Spa clients

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will further benefit from the addition of having a plastic surgeon on staff who offers a multitude of surgical cosmetic procedures. April Marchand, Aqua Medical Spa Director added, “We are happy to welcome Dr. Chandler to our practice and look forward to providing advanced cosmetic options to our

patients with the expertise and experience of a skilled board-certified plastic surgeon.”

Dr. Chandler has high surgical standards and provides patients with consultative sessions to help understand their needs clearly before proceeding with any surgical procedures. He focuses

on delivering quality, and he derives tremendous satisfaction out of helping patients achieve their desired aesthetic goals. Prior to joining their practice, Dr. Chandler held several academic leadership roles, including serving as an assistant professor of plastic surgery at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and serving as a representative on the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. He enjoys sharing his experience and expertise with others as a featured presenter on a wide variety of plastic surgery and reconstructive topics, as well as volunteering for overseas medical mission work for both pediatric and adult patients. Dr. Chandler is a diplomat of the American Board of Plastic Surgery and a member of both the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the Florida Society of Plastic Surgeons.

“Plastic surgery and dermatology are a natural fit, and I am pleased to join board-certified dermatologists and Mohs surgeons Dr. Ward and Dr. Stickler and their team of skin care experts.

Dermatology Specialists of Florida and Aqua Medical Spa have an outstanding patient-centered reputation and an experienced team focused on quality outcomes, so I believe our partnership will be a win-win for the patients,” commented Dr. Chandler.

Dr. Chandler consults patients and performs basic surgical procedures at the Panama City and Santa Rosa Beach Dermatology Specialists of Florida/Aqua Medical Spa locations. He is currently performing outpatient cosmetic surgeries at the Destin Surgery Center. In the spring of 2021, Dr. Chandler will move to his beautiful state-of-the-art medical facility, currently under construction in Red Fish Village in Santa Rosa Beach. The new facility will be called 30A Plastic Surgery and will be a brand of Dermatology Specialists of Florida and Aqua Medical Spa.

Those interested in booking a consultation with Dr. Chandler can do so by calling (850) 608-1833 or emailing Monica@30Aplastics.com.

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

Richard Dodd and his partners John Meyer and Dalton Parker

ReliantSouth Construction Group RICHARD DODD, P.E. — PRESIDENT What services does your company provide? We are a commercial general

contractor and construction manager that builds projects ranging from a $36 million school to $250,000 restaurant remodels.

Although licensed in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, we predominantly operate between Tallahassee and Pensacola, with offices in Panama City and Miramar Beach.

Three words that best describe your firm? Solutions – Values – Trust.

Our clients have commercial construction needs, and we pride ourselves on being a trustworthy solution provider that adds tremendous value to the process.

What sets your company apart?

A lot of our work is for repeat customers as they appreciate our reputation for building quality projects on time and economically.

Faith is a pillar in our company; as such, we’re called to always do the right thing.

We believe construction and life go much smoother when you’re blessed with a servant’s heart and treat people like you want to be treated. All of these processes contribute to our success and distinguish us from others.

What do you love most about what you do? Although we offer design/build

services, where we are responsible for designing, permitting, and construction,

we absolutely love the actual construction portion of a project. This process entails taking a vacant parcel or dilapidated building and improving it to meet our client’s objectives.

What advice would you offer about success? To keep your eye on the bigger

picture; work, grow, and strive for success in every facet of your life. For example, we expect our teammates to be exceptional builders in addition to being great parents, spouses, and role models who are deeply invested in their community.

What lessons did you learn from recent hardships? Within the past

two years, we have overcome a Category 5 hurricane and are currently working through a global pandemic. Our greatest takeaway from both is … perspective. Life is truly a gift, but sadly we sometimes take things for granted. Perspective makes you appreciate the little things.

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Trustmark

JOHN SUMRALL, REGIONAL PRESIDENT, FLORIDA MARKET What services do you provide?

Trustmark is a financial services company with over 190 locations in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.

We provide retail and business checking, savings, certificates of deposit, credit cards, consumer loans and business loans.

We also offer residential and commercial construction loans.

We are one of the Emerald Coast’s leading mortgage providers. Our cash management offerings are best in class, and they can be custom fit to the needs of small businesses or the largest publicly traded company. We offer investment management and provide a broad array of wealth management strategies, including financial planning, portfolio management, trust and custodial services through our Tailored Wealth division.

We also are one of the leading commercial insurance providers in the Panhandle through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance.*

What impact have you made on the community during this unprecedented time? In response to

the COVID-19 pandemic, Trustmark has realigned our efforts to ensure the health and safety of our associates, customers and communities while continuing to meet their changing financial needs. We donated $10,000 in emergency funding within our Florida market, providing meals to those in need due to the rise in unemployment and increased demand on food pantries. We’ve also donated to a local medical company to help facilitate their COVID-19 testing program. As a

company, we’ve contributed to many organizations across our footprint to support similar relief efforts and provided meals to health care and frontline workers.

As a Small Business Administration (SBA) preferred lender, Trustmark has processed over 10,000 applications that totaled over $1 billion for the SBA Paycheck Protection Program in support of small businesses within our communities.

In addition, we’ve encouraged appointment-only lobby access, drive-thru service, myTrustmark® online and mobile banking, which allows you the convenience of banking from almost anywhere, anytime, and our myTeller® interactive teller machines featuring live video banking.

What sets your company apart?

Trustmark is a community-focused, valuesguided organization making a difference in the lives of our customers and communities.

We are committed to our clients’ success and genuinely believe in helping our customers win financially.

Our community-banking model allows us to be highly attuned to local needs and customize our approach to best fit each market. At Trustmark, we believe in building strong customer relationships and work hard to know and understand our customers and their financial needs. We realize the trust you place in your financial institution, and we look forward to demonstrating the value behind our name.

( 8 0 0) 2 4 3 - 2 5 2 4 | TRU STMA RK. COM * Trustmark Tailored Wealth is a division of Trustmark National Bank. Trustmark Investment Advisors, Inc, is a SEC registered investment adviser, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trustmark National Bank and a division of Trustmark Tailored Wealth. Tailored Wealth and Risk Services products are: Not FDIC Insured | Not Bank Guaranteed | Subject to Loss in Value | Not Bank Deposits | Not Insured by Any Federal Government Agency EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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Counts Real Estate STEVE COUNTS, OWNER & BROKER Our history in brief: We are a general real estate brokerage offering commercial, residential, land sales and development. I opened Counts Real Estate Group, Inc. in 2006, and we have grown to include four offices and almost 150 agents.

What services do you provide?

Selling a home can be overwhelming and exciting, we understand that. We educate ourselves on the latest real estate trends, market values and changes in the market.

We continue to successfully sell homes and are proud to be the No. 1 Real Estate Brokerage in Bay County. Whether it’s utilizing our extensive network, proven sales approach or effective marketing campaigns at Counts Real Estate Group, Inc., no resource is overlooked.

Why did you choose Northwest Florida as a place to work? I’ve been

coming to Northwest Florida my entire life.

My wife Amy and I had been vacationing here for years and decided to make the move in 1984. I just love everything about this area — the natural beauty of the beaches and the Gulf, the amazing people and the energy of coastal living.

The Emerald Coast is a special gem and an absolutely wonderful area to live.

How did you get into this profession? I love real estate. I earned

my real estate license in 1985 and my real estate broker’s license in 1986. I’ve

invested in real estate, sold and developed real estate for 35 years.

What you absolutely cannot live without: My relationship with God and

How would you describe your business philosophy? Our philosophy

Best advice you have to offer: Always

from the beginning has been to concentrate on supporting our agents so they can do the best job for our customers.

We focus more on our agents and customers — and less on the bottom line.

What is the “secret” to your professional success? I’m so fortunate

to be surrounded by the best and most professional real estate people in this business. Our marketing is second to no one. Counts Real Estate Group, Inc.’s success is defined by the people we help.

We are a service organization dedicated to helping our clients, whether buying or selling.

my family are my greatest strengths.

give your best, even when you think no one is watching, and always, always put your client first. If we put the people first, everything else will fall into place. Always assume there is a way to work around any challenge. Focus, focus and focus some more. Set goals every year, month, week and day. If you achieve the daily goal, you are guaranteed to achieve the annual goal.

What do you love most about what you do? All the wonderful people that

I work with and all the customers and clients that I have developed strong ties to over the past 35 years. Many of my early customers are my closest friends today.

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Emerald Coast Compounding Pharmacy REGINA K. JAQUESS, PHARM. D. Tell us about your background.

I received my doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 2009. I have received post-graduate training in pharmaceutical compounding, which is my passion. I am a member of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and a member of Professional Compounding Center of America (PCCA).

What is your business philosophy?

When it comes to patient health care, I believe there should be a connection between patient, physician and pharmacist.

At Emerald Coast Compounding Pharmacy (ECCP), we strive to develop

a comprehensive plan to improve each patient’s overall health and quality of life.

Our connection with our clients has earned us for the past four years (2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016) the “Best of the Emerald Coast” award for “Best Pharmacy.”

What services does your company offer? At ECCP we formulate your

prescriptions to meet your individual needs.

Our facility addresses a range of medical concerns including: anti-aging, bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, dental, dermatology, gastroenterology, infertility, pain management, pediatric, podiatry, sports medicine and veterinary.

What about your interests outside of work? I am currently a USA Water Ski

team member, 10 time World Champion and 12 time World Record Holder in both Slalom and Overall. I am also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), West Florida Chapter.

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Call Now Doctors W hether you are sick or healthy, the last place you want to be is in a waiting room. Call Now Doctors provides a variety of medical services to keep you out of urgent care or the emergency room.

The business was started by a group of local health care professionals with over 90 years of experience seeking alternatives to long wait times at the doctor’s office and to stop the spread of contagious diseases from overcrowded waiting rooms.

A local philanthropist partnered with these medical professionals to complete the vision with telemedicine, as this proved to be a more convenient method of receiving health care.

As a viable solution, Call Now Doctors

offers both virtual and concierge services to provide a variety of treatments in the comfort of wherever you are — from home to your work office. Telemedicine can be conducted over video chat, and remote visits are just as efficient with the use of Medpod technology.

Virtual Medicine is available to ALL Florida residents and visitors for their urgent care needs, such as medicine refills, treating upper respiratory infections and so much more.

Health care providers can gather essential medical information and make a diagnosis without patients stepping foot in a doctor’s office. Where most medical offices close at 5 p.m., Call Now Doctors provides care and treatment until 8 p.m.

Without the waiting room hassle, our

RACHEL SMITH, NP

patients (residents and visitors) can avoid the added discomfort of wasted time and prevent missing work or events because their physician is running behind. The highly experienced staff unites with the goal of keeping medical treatment stress-free, affordable, convenient and user-friendly. For a limited time, Call Now Doctors is offering initial visits for only $35.

Comfort and care are only a call away.

11490 EMERALD COAST PARKWAY, SUITE 301, MIRAMAR BEACH | (850) 424-7040

| CALLNOWDOCTORS.COM

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calendar PROMOTION

AUG/SEPT 2020 For more events in the EC, visit EmeraldCoastMagazine.com and 850tix.com. compiled by Rebecca Padgett

OCTOBER 9–10

Baytowne Wharf Beer Festival

Roll out the barrels! The Village of Baytowne Wharf at Sandestin presents the 12th annual Baytowne Wharf Beer Fest featuring specialty beers from around the nation. The main event on Saturday will feature more than 200 domestic and international fermented creations, all available for sampling.

Visit BaytowneBeerFestival.com for more event and ticket information.

OCTOBER 10–11

ArtsQuest

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SANDESTIN GOLF AND BEACH RESORT (BEERFEST), MATTIE KELLY ARTS FOUNDATION, THE ST. JOE COMPANY AND CULTURAL ARTS ALLIANCE

→ Produced by the Cultural Arts Alliance

of Walton County and presented by Grand Boulevard Town Center, ArtsQuest is one of the premier programs during Art Month South Walton. View and purchase original art from more than 150 artists from around the country. In light of restrictions on public gatherings that will be extended into the fall season, this year’s addition will be a virtual event with details that are still pending.

For updates as they are made available, please visit CulturalArtsAlliance.com/artsquest-fine-arts-festival.

SEPTEMBER 29

PINNACLE AWARDS

FALL 2020

Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation | Concerts in the Village

→ The Florida Travel Guide listed the Concerts in the Village as one of the “Top 10 Things

to Do” in Northwest Florida. The spring-through-fall series of 15 concerts features diverse genres of music suitable for all ages and families and is performed by national, regional and local musicians at the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation Cultural Arts Village in Destin.

The fall shows are scheduled to kick off on Aug. 20 with a performance by the M-80s.

Visit MKAF.org/events for a complete rundown of this year’s performances.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

At press time, social distancing policies were in effect, prohibiting large gatherings.

Check websites to see if the listed events will occur as scheduled.

→ Save the date for this year’s virtual Pinnacle Awards, when 850 Business Magazine will honor 12 outstanding women for their character, professional accomplishments and service to the community. The awards will be hosted virtually and will feature keynote speaker and past Pinnacle Award winner Lisa Walters, senior vice president, The St. Joe Company.

Visit 850BusinessMagazine.com/pinnacle-awards for more.

HAVE AN EVENT YOU’D LIKE US TO CONSIDER?

Send an email to sbornhoft@rowlandpublishing.com.

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‘OTHER DESERT CITIES’ AUG. 1–8 The Pensacola Little Theatre presents Other Desert Cities, a play that follows Brooke Wyeth’s return home to Palm Springs, after a six-year absence, to celebrate Christmas with her family. Brooke announces that she will be publishing a memoir dredging up pivotal and tragic events that shaped her family’s history.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT CONCERT SERIES AUG. 5–SEPT. 30 Sit back and enjoy free live entertainment and cool evening air every Wednesday evening on the Events Plaza Stage at Baytowne Wharf.

Local and regional talents specializing in a variety of musical genres will perform. baytownewharf.com

pensacolalittletheatre.com/ shows--events

2ND ANNUAL BLUE AND WHITE GALA

BANDS ON THE BEACH

AUG. 22

AUG. 4, 11, 18, 25; SEPT. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

The Hilton Sandestin will host an evening with Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former White House Press Secretary, including an elegant meal, live music, a silent auction and Sanders’ keynote speech.

Pensacola Beach’s popular outdoor summer concert series, Bands on the Beach, features a lineup of performers offering something for every musical taste. Make plans to visit the beautiful Gulfside Pavilion overlooking the Gulf of Mexico for hot music, smooth grooves and good times. visitpensacolabeach.com/whatshappening-bands-on-beach

rbcs.org/give/blue-and-white-gala

BAYTOWNE WHARF ART WALK SEPT. 4–6 The Village of Baytowne Wharf

supplies a weekend good for the art and soul. Stroll the Village streets as you browse a variety of artwork from both regional and local artists.

There will also be live music and a fireworks show. sandestin.com/events/detail/baytownewharf-art-walk-2

“Here We Go Again” tour, and will be bringing her act to the Pensacola Bay Center. The singer/performer will dazzle her audience with her greatest hits. pensacolabaycenter.com/events/detail/ cher-here-we-go-again-tour-2020

2020 VETTES AT THE BEACH

GULF COAST SUMMER FEST JAZZ EDITION

SEPT. 19

An impressive lineup of jazz musicians will headline the fifth annual Gulf Coast Summer Fest Jazz Edition at Pensacola’s Maritime Park.

Bring your beach chairs, umbrellas and coolers, and enjoy a variety of live jazz performances at this beautiful venue on Pensacola Bay.

View over 300 sleek Corvettes from all over the country at a weekend for car fanatics presented by the Miracle Strip Corvette Club. Thirty-five trophies will be awarded in various categories, and many vendors will be on hand to talk cars. The event will support the Santa Rosa Kid’s House and the Ronald McDonald House of Northwest Florida.

gulfcoastsummerfestjazzedition.com

miraclestripcorvette.com

CHER ‘HERE WE GO AGAIN’ TOUR

SCHOONERS BLOODY MARY & MUSIC FESTIVAL

SEPT. 10

SEPT. 19

Due to overwhelming worldwide success, Cher has extended her

Twenty bars and restaurants will compete for “Best Bloody Mary in

SEPT. 5–6

GulfPower.com

At Gulf Power we are working together with the communities we serve to make Northwest Florida an even better place to raise a family and do business.

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August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

Thank you for voting us Best Car/Limo/Shuttle Service!

PEPSI GULF COAST JAM SEPT. 4–6 Watch chart-topping country music stars such as Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley and Lynyrd Skynyrd while enjoying the sea breeze at Panama City Beach’s Frank Brown Park. Country takes over the coast during this three-day festival featuring some of the genre’s biggest acts. gulfcoastjam.com

the Grand Lagoon” honors at this event hosted by Panama City Beach’s “Last Local Beach Club.” Festival-goers are invited to sample awardwinning bloody marys. schooners.com/events/bloodymary.htm

PENSACOLA SEAFOOD FESTIVAL SEPT. 25–27 Savor fresh seafood, enjoy live music and get in touch with your artistic side at a crafting booth. pensacolaseafoodfestival.com

EMERALD COAST HOME AND BOAT SHOW PHOTO COURTESY OF PANAMA CITY BEACH CVB / CHELSEA KORNSE

SEPT. 26–27 Attend the biggest and best home and boat show in the region featuring 80 indoor vendors and 30,000 square feet of outdoor space.

More than 60 boats will be on display. This year, the show will be offering free admission. emeraldcoasthomeshow.com

EGGS ON THE BEACH SEPT. 26 The seventh annual Big Green Egg Cooking Competition will

be held at Seascape Resort in Miramar Beach. Teams will be smoking and grilling their favorite dishes while tasters vote for their favorites.

Proceeds benefit the Fisher House of the Emerald Coast and Food for Thought.

emeraldcoastluxurytransportation.com

(850) 774-8345 | 24/7

Sept. 4, 2020 7:30 p.m.

eggsonthebeach.com

NWFSC Amphitheater

THE BEACH BOYS

Tickets: $20, $10 active duty military, Kids under 12 FREE

SEPT. 30 The Pensacola Saenger Theatre brings a bit of the California lifestyle to the stage with a performance by the beloved Beach Boys.

These American icons will perform all of their greatest hits spanning half a century of music making. pensacolasaenger.com/events/thebeach-boys

DESTIN SEAFOOD FESTIVAL OCT. 2–4 The 42nd annual Destin Seafood Festival will feature a multitude of local seafood dishes, music and vendors arrayed along the historic Destin Harbor and Harbor Boardwalk. Admission is free, and VIP passes are available for purchase. destinseafoodfestival.com

Nothing But the Hits For Tickets: (850) 729-6000 or MattieKellyArtsCenter.org

1 0 0 C O L L E G E B O U L E VA R D E A S T | N I C E V I L L E , F L 3 2 5 7 8 Northwest Florida State College. Northwest Florida State College is committed to equal access/equal opportunity in its programs, activities, and employment. For additional information, visit www.nwfsc.edu.

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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dining guide

At press time, Florida was continuing to take steps to reopen the state’s economy, which was substantially shut down in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, restaurants may be operating at less than full capacity and menus may be abbreviated.

AMERICAN

EMERIL’S COASTAL ITALIAN ★

Located at Grand Boulevard in Sandestin, the famed chef’s first restaurant in Northwest Florida combines Italian cuisine with the variety of fresh Gulf seafood and local ingredients. Sun–Thur 11:30 am–10 pm, Fri–Sat 11:30 am–10:30 pm. 435 Grand Blvd., Miramar Beach. (850) 608-7040. $$$ L D

THE BEACH HOUSE

Casual, beach-front dining. Open daily 11 am–10 pm. 4009 S. Sandestin Blvd., Miramar Beach. (850) 267-4800. $$ L D

BUFFALO’S REEF ★

Hot wings and cold beer. Tues–Sat open at 10:30 am, Sun open at noon. 116 Eglin Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach. (850) 243-9463. $ L D

THE CRAFT BAR ★

Craft brews on tap along with artisan cocktails and elevated bar fare. Open daily 11 am–midnight. 4424 Commons Dr., Destin. Also in Grayton Beach and Pensacola.

(850) 460-7907. $$ L D

DHARMA BLUE

Atmosphere and service match expansive menu including everything from sushi to pork tenderloin. Lunch Sat–Sun 10 am– 1 pm. Dinner daily from 5. 300 S. Alcaniz St., Pensacola. (850) 433-1275. $$ L D

EVERKRISP ★

Farm-to-table salads, rice bowls and other health-focused American bites in modern, brick-lined digs. Open daily 10:30 am– 9 pm. 4463 Commons Dr. W. #10a, Destin.

(850) 460-8881 and 625 Grand Blvd., Miramar Beach. (850) 842-4504. $$ L D

FIREFLY ★

Fresh Gulf seafood, steak, sushi and signature cocktails. Open daily at 5 pm. 535 Richard Jackson Blvd., Panama City Beach. (850) 249-3359. $$$ D

GEORGE’S AT ALYS BEACH

Seafood, burgers and sandwiches. Open

daily 11 am–3 pm and 5–9 pm. 30 Castle Harbour

Dr., Alys Beach. (850) 641-0017. $$ L D

GREAT SOUTHERN CAFE ★

This all-day cafe puts a new spin on classic with a mix of international cuisines, Southern cooking and local food and produce. Open daily for breakfast: 8–10:45 am, lunch: 11 am– 4 pm and dinner: 4–9:30 pm. 83 Central Square, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 231-7327. $$ B L D

JACO’S BAYFRONT BAR & GRILLE

Waterfront restaurant serving burgers, salads, seafood and brunch daily. Open Mon–

Wed 11 am–9 pm, Thurs–Sat 11 am–10 pm and Sun 10 am–9 pm. 997 S. Palafox St., Pensacola.

(850) 432-5226. $$ L D

JOHN WEHNER’S VILLAGE DOOR BAYFRONT RESTAURANT & NIGHTCLUB ★

Dinner and dancing, serving barbecue and seafood. Open daily 5–9 pm. The Village of Baytowne Wharf, 136 Fisherman’s Cove, Miramar Beach. (850) 502-4590. $$ D

LOUISIANA LAGNIAPPE ★

A taste of New Orleans hits the coast through Louisiana-style favorites like shrimp and grits and Cajun seafood gumbo.

Open daily from 4 pm. 775 Gulf Shore Dr., Destin. (850) 837-0881. $$ D

LULU’S ★

Lucy Buffett’s funky hangout features cocktails, burgers and seafood, plus allergyfriendly menus. Open Sun–Thur 11 am–9 pm, Fri–Sat 11 am–10 pm. 4607 Legendary Marina Dr., Destin. (850) 710-5858. $$ L D

MAGNOLIA GRILL

Steak, seafood, pasta, soups, salads and desserts. Lunch Mon-Fri 11 am–2 pm,

dinner Mon–Sat from 5 pm. Closed Sun. 157 SE Brooks St., Fort Walton Beach.

(850) 302-0266. $$ L D

MARINA BAR AND GRILL ★

Seafood, po’ boys, burgers and salads.

Open Sun–Thurs 11 am–8 pm, Fri 11 am– 10 pm, Sat 8 am–10 pm. Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, 9300 Emerald Coast Pkwy. W., Miramar Beach. (850) 267-7778. $ B L D

MARINA CAFÉ

Gourmet pizzas, Creole and American cuisine. Open daily 5–10 pm. 404 E. Hwy. 98, Destin. (850) 837-7960. $$$ D

NICK’S BOATHOUSE

Serving a wide variety of seafood, steaks and flatbreads by the waterfront. Open daily for lunch and dinner from 11 am–9 pm. 455 W. Main St., Pensacola. (850) 912-8775. $$ L D

PERFECT PIG GRILL AND FISH HOUSE ★ Perfect Pig features, among other offerings, fresh local grouper for dinner, award-winning pulled pork for lunch and hand-sliced applewood smoked bacon for breakfast. Hours vary.

Multiple locations. $$ B L D

RESTAURANT PARADIS ★

Restaurant and lounge offers rich coastal flavors in its innovative dishes. Open Sun– Thur 5–9 pm, Fri–Sat 5–10 pm. 82 S. Barrett Square, Rosemary Beach. (850) 534-0400. $$$ D

SHADES BAR & GRILL ★

A 30A mainstay for over 20 years, Shades features 17 high-def TVs plus a menu of salsas, steaks, sandwiches and fish tacos.

Open daily 11–1 am. 10952 E. County Hwy 30A, (850) 231-9410. $$ L D

Hibachi Tables • Sushi Bar • Happy Hour Private Dining • Large Parties Welcome

OPEN DAILY FOR LUNCH AND DINNER

BESTIN DESTIN VIP DESTIN MAGAZINE READER CHOICE AWARD

Hibachi

2019

Asian Cuisine

Asian and Hibachi

DESTIN 34745 Emerald Coast Pkwy | (850) 650-4688 TALLAHASSEE 1489 Maclay Commerce Drive | (850) 900-5149 • (850) 531-0222 PANAMA CITY BEACH 15533 Panama City Beach Parkway | (850) 588-8403

WWW.OSAKAHIBACHIANDSUSHI.COM

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Thank you for voting us Best Hibachi & Best Asian Restaurant

SUNSET BAY CAFÉ ★

Chef-inspired twists on classic dishes.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner or cocktail.

Open daily 7 am–2 pm. Tiki Bar open noon to sunset. Linkside Conference Center, 158 Sandestin Blvd. N., Miramar Beach.

(850) 267-7108. $ B L

VIN’TIJ WINE BOUTIQUE & BISTRO ★

Seafood, salad, chef specials. Open daily 11 am–midnight. 10859 W. Emerald Coast Pkwy., #103, Miramar Beach. (850) 650-9820. $$ L D

ASIAN

8 am–2 pm. 2629 Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach. (850) 230-0014. $$ L D

ANOTHER BROKEN EGG CAFÉ

Breakfast all day, plus sandwiches, patty melts, specials, soups, salads and desserts.

Open daily 7 am–2 pm, closed Mondays.

979 E. Hwy. 98, #F, Destin (Also in Miramar Beach, Panama City, Pensacola, Sandestin and Grayton Beach). (850) 650-0499. $ B

BLACK BEAR BREAD CO.

Contemporary cafe for craft coffee, housebaked breads, pastries and sandwiches and all-day breakfast. 26 Logan Lane, Grayton Beach. (850) 213-4528. $ B L

JASMINE THAI ★

DONUT HOLE BAKERY CAFE

Combining traditional and modern Thai cuisine, Jasmine’s dishes offer a variety of spiciness. Open daily 11 am–3 pm and 5–9 pm, open late Fri–Sun. 4463 Common Drive W., Suite 108, Destin. (850) 460-7780. $$ L D

Eat breakfast all day with fresh-baked donuts and hearty comfort food. Open daily 6 am–10 pm. 635 Harbor Blvd., Destin (also in Inlet Beach and Santa Rosa Beach).

(850) 837-8824. $ B

NANBU ★

MAMA CLEMENZA’S EUROPEAN BREAKFAST ★

Combining Japanese cuisine with a Southern flair, Nanbu serves poke and ramen with a selection of fine sake. Tue–Sat 11 am– 11 pm, Sun 5–9:30 pm. 26 Logan Lane Unit C, Grayton Beach. (850) 353-3456. $$ L D

OSAKA ★

Known for its sushi but serves a variety of dishes, including chicken, steak and seafood.

Lunch 11 am–2:30 pm, dinner 5–10:30 pm.

34845 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Destin.

(850) 650-4688 or (850) 650-4689. $$ L D

P.F. CHANG’S ★

Asian-influenced “farm to wok” chain offers made-from-scratch dishes such as dim sum, sushi and Chinese food favorites. Mon, 11 am–9 pm; Tue–Thur, Sun 11 am–10 pm; Fri–Sat 11 am–11 pm, 640 Grand Blvd., Sandestin. (850) 269-1806. $$ L D

THAI DELIGHTS

Old World family recipes. Multiple award winner. Brunch Wed–Sun 8 am–1 pm. 12273 Emerald Coast Pkwy.

W., Miramar Beach. (850) 424-3157 and 8 am–1 pm on Sundays at 75 Eglin Pkwy, Fort Walton Beach. (850) 243-0707. $$ B

DESSERT BEN & JERRY’S ★

More than just clever names, come for your favorite frozen treat, featuring ice cream, sundaes, smoothies and shakes. Open daily 11 am–10 pm.

9375 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Miramar Beach.

(850) 460-8884. $ Featuring gourmet cupcakes and custom cakes, Smallcakes is also available for wedding cakes. Open daily 11 am–7 pm. 36150 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Destin. (850) 460-7487. $$

BBQ

GREEK

Award-winning barbecue, gumbo, sandwiches and salads in a casual atmosphere. Dine in, take out, catering.

Mon–Sat 11 am–8 pm. 5008 Hwy. 98, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 622-0679. $ L D

BACK BEACH BARBECUE ★

Opened in June 2017 by the duo behind Restaurant Paradis, Back Beach Barbecue offers 12-hour slow cooked meats, simple homemade sides and four sauces made in-house. Open daily 11 am–10 pm. 19714 Panama City Beach Pkwy., Panama City Beach. (850) 249-0822. $$ L D

BREAKFAST/ BRUNCH/BAKERY ANDY’S FLOUR POWER CAFE & BAKERY

Lively brunch/lunch destination known for its French toast, rolled omelets and cheery ambiance. Open Tues–Sat 7 am–2 pm, Sun

THE KEY ★ Best of the

Emerald Coast 2019 Winner

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

979 US HWY 98 E | Destin

850.460.7353

(in the 98 Palms Shopping Plaza)

EatMimmos.com

DELIVERY & CARRYOUT from your favorites Residents and visitors can enjoy the food of 30A restaurants at their convenience.

AEGEAN RESTAURANT ★

Authentic Greek restaurant. Breakfast 8–11 am, lunch 11 am–4 pm, dinner 4–9 pm.

11225 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Miramar Beach (and Shalimar). (850) 460-2728. $$ B L D

3OA restaurants please reach out for information on partnering with us!

ALA BABA GRILL CAFÉ

Casual spot for familiar Turkish and Greek recipes offered à la carte and at a buffet, plus beer and wine. 10 am–9 pm. 550 Mary Esther Cutoff, Fort Walton Beach. (850) 986-5555. L D

Chill, we deliver !

YIOTA’S GREEK DELI

Download our app at Apple and Android stores

Traditional Greek food made from family recipes. Order at counter. 10 am–5 pm.

130 E. Miracle Strip Pkwy., Mary Esther.

(850) 302-0691. $ L

IRISH JOHNNY MCTIGHE’S IRISH PUB

Easygoing pub providing Irish and American eats, a game room for kids and deck seating.

The restaurants that appear in this guide are included as a service to readers and not as recommendations of the Emerald Coast Magazine editorial department, except where noted.

B L D

Italian

SMALLCAKES OF DESTIN ★

Traditional dishes in a casual atmosphere.

Open daily 11 am–9 pm. 821 Harbor Blvd., Destin. (850) 650-3945. $$ L D

98 BAR-B-QUE ★

Mimmo invites you to enjoy and experience traditional authentic Italian cuisine from his hometown of Sicily.

Outdoor Dining Live Music

$ Inexpensive

NOW OPEN

JOIN OUR TEAM OF DRIVERS! Flexible Hours | Great Opportunity

$$ Moderately

Expensive

$$$ Expensive

(850) 260-3139 | 30AGRUB2GO.COM EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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PIZZA BY THE SEA ★

11 am–2 am. 2298 Scenic Hwy. 30A, Blue Mountain Beach. (850) 267-0101. $$ L D

With an emphasis on fresh ingredients and a family-friendly environment, Pizza by the Sea offers handmade pizzas and other Italian favorites. Open daily 11 am–8 pm. Multiple locations. (850) 650-0015. $$ L D

MCGUIRE’S IRISH PUB ★

Burgers and pub grub and the famous 18-cent Senate Bean Soup. Open daily 11 am–2 am. 33 Hwy. 98, Destin (Also in Pensacola). (850) 650-0000. $$ L D

PAZZO ITALIANO

Destin’s newest Italian restaurant offers authentic Italian cuisine such as woodfired pizzas, pasta, calzones, salads, chef specialties and nightly specials. Mon–Thur 11 am–9 pm, Fri 11 am–10 pm, Sat 4–10 pm, Sun 4–9 pm. 34904 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Suite 114, Destin. (850) 974-5484. $$ L D

ITALIAN/PIZZA AMICI 30A

Offering authentic Italian cuisine with a flair for celebration. Open daily 11 am– 11 pm. 12805 U.S. Hwy. 98 E., Suite R101, Inlet Beach. (850) 909-0555. $$$ L D

THE PIZZA BAR AT BUD & ALLEY’S

ANGELINA’S PIZZA & PASTA

Authentic homemade pizza pie and Italian dishes in a casual atmosphere. Lunch and dinner daily 11 am–9:30 pm. 4005 E. Hwy. 30A, Seagrove Beach. (850) 231-2500. $ B L

CLEMENZA’S UPTOWN

Classic Italian. Wood-fired pizza, private dining, cooking school. Multiple award winner. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. 75 Eglin Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach.

(850) 243-0707. $$ B L D

FAT CLEMENZA’S ★

Classic Italian. Wood-fired pizza, specialty desserts, fish Fridays. Multiple award winner. Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat 5–9 pm. Holiday Plaza, Hwy. 98, Miramar Beach. (850) 650-5980. $$ L D

MIMMO’S RISTORANTE ITALIANO ★

Italian dishes. Open Mon–Fri 11 am–10 pm, Sat–Sun 5–10 pm. 979 Hwy. 98, #5, Destin.

(850) 460-7353. $$ L D

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D

Artisan cheese, fresh salads, antipasto dishes, homemade soups, seasonal vegetables, hearty pastas and homemade wood-fired Neapolitan pizza. Open daily from 11 am. 2236 E. County Rd. 30A, Seaside.

(850) 231-3113. $$ L D

TRATTORIA BORAGO

Pork tenderloin or pan-seared grouper from the open kitchen. Open daily from 6 pm. 80 E. Hwy. 30A, Grayton Beach. (850) 231-9167. $$ D

MEXICAN CANTINA LAREDO ★

A gourmet twist on Mexican favorites.

Sun–Thurs 11 am–10 pm, Fri–Sat 11 am–11 pm.

585 Grand Blvd., Miramar Beach.

(850) 654-5649. $$ B L D

CRAB ISLAND CANTINA

Latin-inspired Mexican cuisine.

Mon–Thurs 11 am–10 pm, Fri–Sat

August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

11 am–11 pm, Sun 1 am–9 pm. 2 Harbor Blvd., Destin. (850) 424-7417. $$ L D

THE TACO BAR AT BUD & ALLEY’S

Baja fish tacos, homemade guacamole, burritos and top-shelf margaritas. Open daily from 11 am (in season). 2236 E. Country Rd. 30A, Seaside. (850) 231-4781. $$ L D

SEAFOOD THE BAY SOUTH WALTON ★

This family-friendly waterfront restaurant overlooking Choctawhatchee Bay features Gulf Coast cuisine, sushi, a 12-draft beer system, plus wine and crafted cocktails.

Open daily 11 am–9:30 pm. 24215 Hwy. 331, Santa Rosa Beach, (850) 622-2291.

CAMILLE’S ★

Featuring fresh Gulf favorites including seared scallops, Gulf shrimp and the catch of the day — all served blackened, grilled or fried — Camille’s also offers dishes such as thin-crust pizza, panéed chicken and sushi.

Beach Bar & Cafe 7 am–5 pm, restaurant 5–10 pm, daily. 2931 Scenic Hwy. 98, Destin.

(850) 337-8860. $$ B L D

CAPT. ANDERSON’S RESTAURANT

Since 1967, offering traditional seafood items, flavorful salads and soups with a view of the marina. Open Mon–Fri at 4:30 pm, Sat–Sun at 4 pm. 5551 N. Lagoon Dr., Panama City Beach. (850) 234-2225. $$$ D

DEWEY DESTIN’S HARBORSIDE ★

$$ L D

Award-winning seafood in a quaint house.

Open daily 11 am–8 pm. 202 Harbor Blvd., Destin. (850) 837-7525. $$$ L D

BOSHAMPS SEAFOOD & OYSTER HOUSE ★

DEWEY DESTIN SEAFOOD RESTAURANT & MARKET ★

Gulf-to-table Southern cuisine. Open daily from 11 am. 414 Harbor Blvd., Destin.

(850) 424-7406. $$ L D

BROTULA’S SEAFOOD HOUSE & STEAMER ★

Fresh steamed and boiled seafood dishes. Open daily for lunch and dinner.

Sunday brunch. Destin Harbor, Destin.

(850) 460-8900. $$$ B

BUD & ALLEY’S WATERFRONT RESTAURANT ★

Sea-to-table dining, serving fresh seafood, steak and vegetarian dishes. Open Mon–Fri 11:30 am. Roof bar open in summer

11:30 pm–2 am. 2236 E. Hwy. 30A, Seaside.

(850) 231-5900. $$$ L D

Outdoor setting, fresh seafood. Open 11 am–8 pm. 9 Calhoun Ave., Destin.

(850) 837-7575. $$ B L D

THE FISH HOUSE

Fresh seafood cuisine and Southern specialties in a setting overlooking Pensacola Bay and the Seville Harbor. Open daily from 11 am. 600 S. Barracks St., Pensacola. (850) 470-0003. $$ L D

FOOW RESTAURANT

Southern coastal cuisine with an Asian flair. Open daily 5:30–10 pm. Located in the WaterColor Inn, Santa Rosa Beach.

(850) 534-5050. $$$ D

HALF SHELL OYSTER HOUSE

Upscale-casual Southern seafood restaurant and

bar serving oysters and po’ boys, plus steak and cocktails. Open Sun–Thur 11 am–10 pm, Fri–Sat 11 am–11 pm. 34761 Emerald Coast Pkwy. #104, Destin. (850) 842-4788. $$ L D

HARBOR DOCKS

A surf-and-turf restaurant. Breakfast, lunch and dinner and great sushi. Open daily 5 am–11 pm. 538 E. Hwy. 98, Destin.

(850) 837-2506. $$ B L D

JACKACUDA’S SEAFOOD & SUSHI

Seafood, sushi, salad and sandwiches.

Open daily from 11 am. Sunday brunch at 10 am. 56 Harbor Blvd., HarborWalk Village, Destin. (850) 424-3507 and 36120 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Destin. (850) 360-2909. $$ L D

LOCAL CATCH BAR AND GRILL ★

Located on 30A, Local Catch mingles coastal cuisine with a Southern twist, such as Carribbean shrimp tacos, po’boys and shrimp and grits. Open daily 11 am–10 pm. 3711 W. County Hwy. 30A, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 622-2022. $$ L D

RUNAWAY ISLAND

Crab, oysters and grouper sandwiches in a casual beach bar and grill with steps onto the sand. Open daily at 11 am.

14521 Front Beach Rd., Panama City Beach.

(850) 634-4884. $$ L D

SHUNK GULLEY OYSTER BAR ★

This seafood and casual fare restaurant features classic coastal cuisine and genuine Southern hospitality plus live music daily inside the panoramic bar. Open daily 11 am–9 pm. 1875 S. Hwy. 393, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 622-2733. $$ L D

STEAK & SEAFOOD 790 ON THE GULF RESTAURANT ★

Serving fresh Cajun food, shrimp, salads, seafood and homemade comfort food, 790 is also available for catering, special events and Sunday brunch. Open daily 11 am–9:45 pm.

2996 Scenic Hwy 98, Destin. (850) 650-4853. $$ L D

BEACH WALK CAFE ★

Located at the Henderson Park Inn, this award-winning fine dining establishment features a range of favorites including grouper Vince, pepper-crusted yellowfin tuna and seafood pasta Rockefeller. Open daily 5:30–9 pm. 2700 Scenic Hwy. 98, Destin.

(850) 650-7100. $$$ D

BIJOUX RESTAURANT & SPIRITS ★

Fine dining coastal cuisine with a New Orleans flair, Gulf seafood, prime steaks.

Open daily 4–10 pm. The Market Shops, 9375 Emerald Coast Pkwy. W., #22, Miramar Beach. (850) 622-0760. $$$ D

4 pm–close. 3796 Scenic Hwy. 98, Destin.

(850) 837-2627. $$$ D

FLEMING’S PRIME STEAKHOUSE AND WINE BAR ★

Featuring the perfect ambiance for any visit, Fleming’s menu is filled with some of the finest cuts of steak, pork, sea bass and more, and the wine manager has curated a wide selection of locally selected wines, hand-crafted cocktails and spirits. Mon–Thu 5–10 pm, Fri 11:30 am– 11 pm, Sat 5 pm–11 pm, Sun 5–9 pm. 600 Grand Blvd., Sandestin. (850) 269-0830. $$$ L D

JACKSON’S STEAKHOUSE ★

High-end steakhouse cuisine with fine wines.

Local seafood is hand-selected and artistically prepared to perfection. Lunch Mon–Fri 1 am–2 pm, bruch Sat–Sun 11 am–2 pm, dinner Mon–Sun 5:30 pm–10 pm. 400 S. Palafox St., Pensacola. (850) 469-9898. $$$ D

MARLIN GRILL ★

Seafood, steaks, salads and appetizers. Open nightly from 5 pm. The Village of Baytowne Wharf, Miramar Beach.(850) 351-1990. $$$ D

CAFE THIRTY-A

RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE ★

CAPTAIN DAVE’S ON THE GULF

SEAGAR’S PRIME STEAKS AND SEAFOOD ★

Offering the best in steaks and Gulf fare, Café Thirty-A is also available for weddings and special gatherings. Open daily 5–9:30 pm.

3899 E. Scenic Hwy. 30A, Seagrove Beach.

(850) 231-2166. $$$ D Inspired by traditional waterfront dining, Captain Dave’s features American seafood cuisine infused with a contemporary Gulf Coast twist. Wed–Mon

Steak and seafood. New Orleans-inspired.

Mon–Sat 5:30–10 pm, Sun 5:30–9 pm.

Silver Shells Resort, 1500 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Destin. (850) 337-5108. $$$ D

Premium steak, fresh seafood and caviar.

Open daily from 6 pm. Hilton Sandestin, 4000 S. Sandestin Blvd., Miramar Beach.

(850) 622-1500. $$$ D

SLICK LIPS SEAFOOD & OYSTER HOUSE ★ Family-friendly seafood spot located in The Village of Baytowne Wharf — with the freshest local Gulf-caught seafood and 1855 certified Angus steaks. Sun–Thur 11 am–9 pm; Fri–Sat 11 am–10 pm. 140 Fisherman’s Cove, Miramar Beach. (850) 347-5060. $$ L D

TAKE OUT 30AGRUB2GO

Fast delivery of all the high-quality cuisine that 30A has to offer. Download their app on Google Play or the Apple Store, or visit 30agrub2go.com to get started. (850) 260-3139.

DESTIN ICE MARKET 30A ★

This upscale grocery market features fresh Gulf seafood, prime meats, fine wines and craft beers, gourmet cheeses, deli and prepared foods. Open daily 9 am–7 pm. 13063 Hwy. 98 E., Unit M, Inlet Beach. (850) 502-4100.

DESTIN ICE SEAFOOD MARKET & DELI ★ Fresh fish and seafood items, pastas, salads and side dishes, Buckhead meats, decadent desserts, wines, cheeses, spices and more.

Open daily 8 am–7 pm. 663 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Destin. (850) 837-8333. $$ L D

SARAH K’S GOURMET ★

This gourmet take-out specializes in chefcrafted, ready-to-heat cuisine, including their famous jumbo-lump crab cakes. Open daily Mon–Sat 11 am–6:15 pm. 34940 Hwy. 98, Suite 183, Destin. (850) 269-0044. $ L D

Visit our comprehensive, searchable dining guide online at EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/Restaurants.

Capt.on Dave’s the

SERVING LOCAL FLORIDA SEAFOOD AND STEAKS Dinner 4pm UNTIL …

For more information visit captdavesonthegulf.com Enjoy cocktails on the deck for sunset Happy Hour: 4–6pm

Gulf

d C ral e m Ser rS ving the e yea 0 5 for over

Open 6 days a week (closed Tuesdays) Live Music

oaSt

Casual Gulf Front Dining. The locals’ favorite since 1968!

3796 Scenic Hwy 98, Destin | 850.837.2627 | captdavesonthegulf.com EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

August-September 2020

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postscript

CROWDS WORTH CELEBRATING When floodgates opened, the Southeast came running

T

hey have arrived, once again. In large numbers, just like before. For this, we are indeed thankful.

Summer unleashes our version of the “Oklahoma Land Rush,” and it’s a special set of blocks on calendars throughout Northwest Florida.

We live in a place that welcomes visitors from around the world throughout the year.

The Destin Snowbirds Club numbers about 2,000 people, half of them from Canada and most of the others from the Midwest and the Northeast.

F-35 jets roaring with the “Sound of Freedom” remind us of the importance of military bases to Northwest Florida and the contributions made by the servicemen and women who pass through our region.

And, spring break accounts for one of the biggest annual concentrations of visitors, members of a generation on the rise who storm our shores and let loose, get loose, make mistakes and carry on.

We missed them this year when a virus interrupted their revelry. The unseen invader transformed our usually bustling centers of hospitality into twilight zones.

Eight years ago, I was involved in the opening of a familyowned, full-service liquor store in Destin.

Many customers, I’m sure, view us as essential, but never before this year had we been declared so by a governor.

Our store stayed open but was quiet enough that I found myself reflecting on memories from past spring breaks.

Once, a presentable young man presented his driver’s license as proof of age. When asked to verbally verify the birthday thereon, he smiled and furnished only a day and month.

“All right, young man, what about the year?” I asked him.

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August-September 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

“Dude,” he replied with a smile, “every year.”

He was technically correct, of course. Your birthdate comes only once, when you enter the world. You celebrate your birthday each year.

I found myself recalling, too, several young ladies in bathing suits who converged on the store in the middle of a weekday afternoon.

One was asked to supply her middle name during the I.D. check, and she came up blank.

“What seems to be the problem, young lady?” I asked.

“Oh, man, I’ve been drinking on the beach all day,” she allowed. “Just cut me some slack.”

No sale. It was a case of “goodbye and have a nice day.”

When pandemic-related restrictions were eased leading up to the Memorial Day weekend, a flood of visitors began immediately to crest.

It seemed that the entire Southeast was here, grateful for the opportunity. And I am pleased to interact with them, learn where they’re from and listen to their stories.

A liquor store is like a barbershop. People feel free, maybe even obligated, to offer information about themselves. But they don’t hang around like they do at a bar. They’ve got drinking to get to.

At the height of the tourist season, the lovely drive from Fort Walton Beach to Destin, 18 minutes long in the winter months, can stretch to 90 minutes or more.

But don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining.

The view from the Marler Bridge over the East Pass is all the more fascinating at this time of year. The Pass is being dredged for the first time since 2014. And, of course, there’s Crab Island.

Where do all those people and their boats come from? EC

PHOTO BY 8 FIFTY PRODUCTIONS / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

by THOMAS MONIGAN

Viridian 2743 E Co Highway 30-A, Unit 301

John Martin Offered at $2,695,000

john@johnmartin30a.com

This three bedroom, three and a half bath luxury Gulf condo is located in the heart of Seagrove Beach. Upgraded to perfection with high-end furnishing by Lovelace Interiors, along with unique features including electric shades, hardwood floors, custom cabinetry, custom closets, and much more. The kitchen boasts custom blown glass pendants, Sub-zero refrigerator/freezer, Wolf gas stove/oven, Wolf microwave, Asko dishwasher, U-line wine refrigerator and non-porous silestone countertops.

The property comes with a Gulf-front pool, reserved covered parking and a large storage room for beach gear. This condo is the ultimate beach getaway for you and the whole family.

Cell: (850) 714-3731 Office: (850) 267-0013

Watercolor 227 Sand Hill Circle

Dale Stackable

Offered at $4,125,000 This five bedroom, five and a half bath designer beach house is located in highly desirable Watercolor Phase 3, and is steps away from the frog pool and newly expanded Camp Watercolor! With immaculate attention to detail and special touches throughout, this home has never been rented and is eager to welcome new owners. Exquisite oak floors, custom marble floors and counters, floor to ceiling drapes with tailor-made blinds, and elegant crown molding combine to give this home a stately and refined appeal.

The well-equipped kitchen features an expansive center island, a breakfast bar, a Wolf oven, wine fridge, icemaker, and two large pantries. You’ll find a fifth bedroom in the carriage house above the two-car garage. The large outdoor entertainment space, perfect for all of your summer gatherings, includes a refrigerator, grill, granite counter tops, and a fire pit.

dale@dalestackable.com Cell: (850) 699-1885 Office: (850) 267-0013

Now with FIVE locations serving the Emerald Coast MIRAMAR BEACH 9375 Emerald Coast Parkway, Unit 18 | (850) 267-0050 SANTA ROSA BEACH 7684 W. County Highway 30A | (850) 267-0013 NICEVILLE 1073 E. John Sims Parkway Suite | (850) 729-0176 PENSACOLA 17 W. Cedar St. | (850) 434-2244 GULF BREEZE 836 Gulf Breeze Parkway | (850) 932-6278

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