REBUILD LIVES AND
LIVELIHOODS BY EMBRACING
THE CHANGES DISASTER
THRUSTS UPON YOU
SUMMER 2019 19
Shipwreck
STRONG
L ast October 10th, for the first time in his life,
Tony Whitfield hit the trifecta. He evacuated
to Mississippi ahead of Hurricane Michael, but
the odds he beat were not in any Gulfport casino
sports book. Tony was the proud owner of three
thriving businesses – in three separate locations –
along coastal Highway 98 in St. Joe Beach. The
category 5 storm took them all.
The Lookout Lounge, Gulf County’s landmark
watering hole, was leveled. Paradise Craft Bar
& Grill managed to stay upright, but brick and
mortar was all that could be saved. Raging storm
surge flooded Shipwreck Raw Bar, trashed the
kitchen, and left little behind except debris as it
receded – but at least the building was intact.
When Tony returned home on the 11th, after
Michael made landfall, he tried to assess the
damage. “We got lucky at Shipwreck,” Tony
said. “The walls, windows and roof were okay.
This used to be one of the old Junior Stores,
and they were built to last. Unfortunately, the
kitchen was a total loss.”
“When you own 3 businesses, you employ a
lot of people. They need to feed their families
– pay their bills. Storm or no storm, I had to
put people back to work.” And work them he
did. Initially, a crew of 15 employees assisted
with clean up and debris removal. “The doors
were blown off at Shipwreck,” Tony said. “The
interior appeared as if it had been through a
blender.” Almost everything at Shipwreck Raw
Bar – electrical, kitchen, walk-in coolers – is
new since the storm, with one notable exception.
“We found the front door,” recalls Tony, “so we
hung it back up.”
With Shipwreck largely restored, and so many
people displaced, staffing the raw bar was his
next challenge. “We had a soft opening on the
24th of January,” Tony said. “It was standing
room only, and they did a fantastic job.” Since
then, Shipwreck has been open for breakfast,
lunch and dinner every single day, and they
haven’t missed a beat. Breakfast at Shipwreck
Raw Bar is a new thing – it’s Tony’s effort to fill
one gap Michael carved through Mexico Beach.
“Sharon’s Cafe, The
Fish House and
Castaways are gone,”
Tony stated. “Those
were our breakfast
spots. Until they get
back up and running,
I can keep my staff
busy and meet the
community’s needs
at the same time.”
Re-opening Paradise
Craft Bar & Grill and
HELL’S KITCHEN
NOW SERVING BREAKFAST!
the Lookout Lounge was a trickier proposition –
only one building was still standing. In the
end, a simple observation determined Tony’s
direction. “Sometimes,” he decided, “and now
more than ever, people need a drink.” At the
former location of Paradise, the Lookout Lounge
reopened in March 2019. Once again, St. Joe
Beach celebrates with (1) live music, (2) karaoke,
(3) great company and (4) good times. And that
INTERIOR DESIGN BY HURRICANE MICHAEL is the superfecta. Forgotten Coast Strong.