I, for one, am famous at hearing and storing snippets of conversations, snippets of news broadcasts, and snippets of things that are posted by others, (yes, even the newspaper). From these snippets, I form an opinion or deduce what I think are the facts. Sometimes, this data ain't correct. The conclusions I've drawn are erroneous or incomplete. For example: Staff's Restaurant in Fort Walton Beach is a landmark building. The Staff and Gerlach and Bass families have been offering food up for locals and tourists since 1913. It was established on the waterfront of the Intracoastal Waterway which meanders through the area and in Fort Walton Beach is often referred to simply as "The Sound". Still, to this day, the fresh seafood arrives, almost literally, at Staff's back door. That seafood is the hallmark of Staff's menu, along with its rich, homemade chocolate cake. My brother who has been living out West for the last several years, was in town and invited my sister and I (old homies that we are), to dine with him at Staff's. As we approached the building, we could discern no sign of activity or patronage. People weren't flocking to the doors and the parking lot was curiously empty. I opined, "maybe they're closed or gone out of business; I think I heard that they were going to close their doors". "I think I heard"?!!! How many times those exact same words have escaped my lips? Well, we were hungry and it wasn't quite tourist time yet, so we got out to test my lame theory. The restaurant was open and we went in and were ushered to a nice table near the window. As soon as we got settled, I asked our serving person about the "rumor" that Staff's was closing. He informed me that the newspaper had kind of got it wrong. Staff's was the only restaurant to not receive compensation from BP for the oil spill of last summer. They had applied but had been turned down. If they didn't get those funds then some type of shake-up might indeed become necessary. Calamity had indeed struck the Gulf Coast of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana in 2010 and Staff's was located on "Miracle Strip Parkway", the part of State Highway 98 that goes through the City of Fort Walton Beach. Tourism is vital to the economy in these parts. So, for now, anyway, the good news is that Staff's Restaurant is staying open. We picked up a little newspaper-like leaflet, there, detailing the history of the eatery and the families who helped to settle Fort Walton Beach. My brother ordered gumbo and ate every bite; I got grilled shrimp and fresh steamed veggies and my sister ordered fried oysters. We passed a pleasant hour together, caught up with this and that and topped it off with a three-way split of the wonderful chocolate cake. Our experience included a chat with one of the family members who jointly keep the restaurant going, but before I go spouting off my bits and pieces approach to news reporting, again, I will go to the source, first, and get the real story. It's so much more personal. Of course, that isn't practical in every case. So, what do you suggest?
No comments:
Post a Comment