Celebrity sightings

[RiverOtter]

You awright boy. Ima gonna send you over a cadillac.

Wow Thanks E! Could you make it one of these

 

[Smiling JOe]

Did you not see Brittany Spears in the news? She has a home in Destin and visits very frequently. The story of her pregnacy broke after she was rushed to the local hospital a month or so ago. She draws a big crowd. All of the tabloid paparatzi rushed into town to take photos.

Duke has also been seen around town. (Bass player for Elvis)

A guy who played with the Allman Bros., name not known by me, supposedly lives in Destin.

Several Pro football players, along with a few pro and college coaches, have homes down here.

Jim Carrey has been seen here and there.

Dixie Chicks

etc

I am sure there are others.

 

[Bob]

Riverotter, Elvis may have second thoughts about giving a car that comes w/ a free Led Zeppelin CD.

 

[RiverOtter]

Riverotter, Elvis may have second thoughts about giving a car that comes w/ a free Led Zeppelin CD.

I disagree.... Elvis is a very well known cover artist. I think he could do some great covers of say... The Immigrant Song, or maybe Stairway To Heaven, or what about E busting a move with the Lemon Song

 

[StoneyJ]

The Allman Brothers player is probably Dave Goldflies who I know personally, he lives in Panama City and builds web pages.

Regarding football players All-Pro linebacker Kevin Green lives in Destin now. Jerry Jones of the Cowboys has a place in Four mile village. I see him come into Destin in his topped out Guflstream V on a regular basis. Lawrence Taylor has a place in the area.

Carolyn Murphy, the cover girl of the lastest Sports Illustrted Swimsuit addition is from Panama City Beach and Fort Walton Beach. She is also the Estee Lauder girl. Met her back in 1997.

Morgan Freeman came in through Destin airport on a stop over and had lunch at the Donut Hole. Wayne Rogers of M*A*S*H* fame lives in the area too. I interviewed him for a magazine feature a few years back. It is not easy getting celebs to do this since many of them are here for privacy.

Since I do a lot of aerial photography of the area I am at the Destin airport quite often and either see someone or hear about them afterwards from one of the pilots. Many if not most of the celebs are usually met planeside with an SUV (limo's two pretentious and draw too much attention). But more of them come in and out of here than you know.

In latest venture I hooked up with a scouting team from Paramount Pictures checking out scenes for a movie that will be have a scene filmed here. The scouting venture was an interesting experience. They were looking for a cafe/diner feel that had some rugged, weather-worn outdoorsman feel and it appears that they were enamored with Harbor Docks restaurant the most. But I have learned in this business you just never know. Looks like filming will be first three weeks in June.

In picture L-R, Jeremy Conway, Production Design; Claudio Miranda, Director of Photography ; Tom Dey, Director (has directed Robert DeNiro, Eddie Murphy [Showtime], Jackie Chan and Own Wilson [Shanghai Noon] ; Ian McGregor, Location Scout; Moi; Vincente Lascoumes, Assistant Director. Not in the picture is the Executive Producer, Ron Bozman. He earned an Oscar in 1991 for producing Silence of The Lambs. They were about to board the plane behind them here in Destin and fly to Baton Rouge.

Finally here is an article in the Daily News that talked about the celebrity attraction.

This article can be found on page A1 of the September 25, 2000 Daily News.
Life on the Emerald Coast offers The Star Treatment
Many well-known people have ties to this area
By JULIE DUPUIS, Daily News Staff Writer
When it comes to naming his clients, Ed Smith likes to play coy.
Anyone would be impressed by his lengthy list. They would certainly recognize some of its names.
Movie stars. Country singers. Captains of industry.
"Everybody thinks that we sold a rather large, ostentatious home to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman," the high-end real estate broker let out.
So is it true?
"No comment."
But Smith - who specializes in second homes, waterfront and vacation properties - doesn't stop hinting.
"Someone called and said, 'We saw Nicole Kidman jogging down the street. Was it her?' I did see some resemblance, but I'm not sure ..." [footnote: Nicole was seen a few years back at Harry T's nightclub in Destin].
A surprising number of big-name celebrities call a piece of local beachfront property home - or more likely, their second, third or fourth.
Former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald has a home here. Country star Reba McIntyre just bought a condo in Walton County.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones owns a home in Four Mile Village. And Wayne Rogers, the former "Trapper John" on M*A*S*H, just bought a penthouse in Destin last month.
The names with local ties get even bigger than those. But rooting out all the celebrities with homes here is difficult, if not impossible.
Those who know for sure - the Realtors who sell primo properties - protect their clients' identities. And public records searches don't work, because celebrities often buy property in another name for tax and privacy reasons.
For example, Dolly Parton uses her corporation "In Cahoots" to make purchases, according to Smith.
"Dolly Parton, in particular, she's real paranoid," he said. "She's afraid people are going to be scaling the walls."
Many celebrities don't even shop for local properties in person.
"A lot of times, they'll send either a family member or somebody that works for them to scout around," Smith said. "Someone who knows their taste really well."
When celebrities do close on local property, they don't make it their permanent home. Smith can't think of a single celebrity who has.
Instead they visit anonymously and at random - if they visit at all. Some buy vacation property just as an investment.
When they do come, people like Andi Bell have one of the best chances of spotting them.
"There's been all kinds of famous people through here," says Bell, chef at Flamingo Caf in Destin. "I cooked for Al Gore before he was vice president."
Bell, who has served basketball legend Clyde Drexler and football's Bowden family at his restaurant, says it's hard to tell who has homes here and who just passes through a lot.
But he does hear interesting rumors, such as that John Travolta bought some real estate in Crestview. He says Anne Rice has a place in Walton County and John Candy's parents used to. [footnote here, Anne used to live in my old community of Gulf Pines and sold her place just before Hurricane Opal in 1995. The place was destroyed by the hurricane.]
Even before he became a chef, Bell was on track to know celebrities. He went to high school with Courteney Cox, who got engaged to husband David Arquette on a Panama City beach two years ago. Her brother, Richard, owns a local pool shop.
Bell says there's no popular time of year when celebrities choose to visit; they just pop in as they please.
"You hear about them a lot, but I think a lot of them don't like to be recognized," he said. "I think that's why they like to come to Destin."
Johnny Earles, owner of Criolla's, ran into that situation when country stars Tim McGraw and wife Faith Hill visited his restaurant recently.
Their star-studded family serves as a perfect example of how celebrities try to keep a low-key life off stage.
"They down-dressed to the point where, if you didn't know it was Faith Hill, you wouldn't think it was anybody but another pretty Southern lady," he said.
"And they don't say, 'I'm Faith Hill and I'll take your best table and your best wine.' They say, real low key, 'Reservations for McGraw.' "
Earles insists that his staff respect their guests' privacy.
"We go to great lengths to make sure our staff does not try to commandeer their time or get autographs, and we try to make sure that we put them in an inconspicuous corner so they're not necessarily hounded by the rest of the folks who are fans."
Some guests would turn heads if they were recognized - such as Sheryl Crow's parents, who own a home in Blue Mountain Beach.
But other guests have entourages so large they can't be hidden.
What's really a show, Earles says, is when a high-ranking government official comes to the restaurant with Secret Service in tow.
"They case the joint, make sure that this restaurant's not being run by a bunch of crazies," he laughed.
Sometimes the Secret Service sit at the bar or get a table, but they're always within sight of the protectee.
But they aren't usually so uptight that they actually taste food before it goes out.
"They can see we're a professional place," he said. "No one has ever been concerned about us slipping arsenic in the risotto."
So what is so magical about this area that celebrities want to visit, if not own homes, here?
The same thing that brings all of us here, Earles said, and makes us decide to stay.
"Most of us have moved to this coast because we have either slayed all the dragons we want to in life," he said, "or we don't really care about impressing others or being impressed. We live a very casual life."
So casual, Earles said, that locals don't make that big a deal out of celebrities' presence.
Ultimately, he thinks celebrities who choose something here instead of Miami or West Palm Beach are attracted to local attitudes as much as local beaches.
"It's the same reason why people like this tend to migrate to Montana and Idaho," he said. "They can kind of get away to find people who are more natural and real."

This area doesn't seem to be as starstruck as many communities where these celebs might be overwhelmed. I think that is part of the area's appeal, they just seem to blend in.

Scott
Mindlace

Animation of 40 years of Development

 

[RiverOtter]

This area doesn't seem to be as starstruck as many communities where these celebs might be overwhelmed. I think that is part of the area's appeal, they just seem to blend in.

Scott
Mindlace

Animation of 40 years of Development

Yes, but do you have any pics of Cheryl Crow

 

[seagrovelover]

Hey E where ya been?! RO...maybe you should buy the house for sale next to the Crow residence :wink: just jokin

 

[RiverOtter]

Hey E where ya been?! RO...maybe you should buy the house for sale next to the Crow residence :wink: just jokin

Don't think they'll sell it to me on my dashing good looks

 

[JB]

Great stuff, StoneyJ. I hear The Architect, Karl Rove, has/is purchased property in Seagrove.

 

[beachmouse]

Emerald Coast magazine (I'm not sure why but it just shows up in my mailbox a couple times a year) had a picture of Sheryl Crow and Lance in Destin Commons last summer.

Bette Midler used to have a place on Destin Harbor. Sharon Stone reportedly has/had a house in Blue Mountain Beach. The guy who played John Boy Walton is reportedly a property owner in Seaside.

A couple years back, Britney was staying in a place in Destiny by the Sea, and it made the wire services when someone broke into the beach house and stole some of her home video tape out of it. And the Cox engagement was reported in the Daily News a couple weeks before People magazine picked up on it.