Paradise

We are going on vacation in a couple of days. We will be gone for a week, so I won't be able to blog. I will miss it terribly. We have been going to Destin, Florida for 19 years. My father-in-law bought the condo the first year Bo and I were married. It is right on the beach. We have a balconey to watch the sunrise across the ocean. We are on the fifth floor. I did not have the priviledge of going to the beach as a child. I did not know the sandy, white beaches existed. I did not know about fried crabclaws or Grouper Katherine. We would always eat at a place called Captain Jewell Melvin's. My husband and I discovered it one night when we were still a single family. It had bright yellow napkins with wooden floors. The view was of the bay where the boats came in. It was a favorite of the hometowners and the food proved to be delicious. It became my favorite and I always would get the Grouper Katherine. A grouper with this crab meat sauce on top tangy tasting. We headed out one night to go eat there and realized it had been leveled. A construction crew was pushing dirt around and a sign described the expensive condos that would soon arise. We now had children and everyone was so shocked that Captain Jewell Melvin's was gone. My children wanted their fried crabclaws. That has been at least 5 years ago and I still miss the little resturant with the fresh yellow napkins, a small place. It wasn't fancy, it was a place I knew would have great food, be comfortable with our children and give us the view of Destin. We have often discussed how much money the family made on their small piece of paradise. I can still see the black and white pictures of the Captain who began the restaurant years ago, with his small fishing boat and the love of the ocean's mystery. I am sure the condos are beautiful with a view of the bay. I am sure family's will stay there and have a wonderful time, but I have searched and searched for a place we could replace for the simple meals we enjoyed there. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot."