Misty Reunion in 2005

Jack Doub sez: "Historically, the hurricanes should let up during October,
so the reunion should go without a hitch. If not, we'll just drink a lot!!

Make your reservations with the Holiday Inn in Destin ASAP... will help with the planning.
It's even a free call: (877) 837--6181 And don't forget to ask for the "Misty" room rate!!"

Click here for a copy of the 6 July 2005 mailing from Jack Doub, and
click here for the 16 July 2005 room rate update from Jack that identifies "Betty", the hotel contact.

PRACTICE REUNION WAS HELD 13-16 OCTOBER 2004...
"REAL" REUNION WILL BE HELD 12-16 OCTOBER 2005...
BOTH IN LOVELY DESTIN, FLORIDA.

From your reunion coordinator:
So many folks had such a great time in Colorado Springs and expressed a desire to get together more often, the planning committee decided to have a "practice" reunion in October 2004, followed by the actual, every-other-year, "real" reunion in October 2005.

A week after the 2003 reunion, I spent a few days down in Destin, visiting with Dorie and Bud while looking into hotels, facilities, and tours available and was, frankly, blown away by the area. This is a great reunion area!

Some of the most beautiful beaches I've seen anywhere in the world, gorgeous golf courses, great sea food, world class shopping, and the possibility of several USAF tours.

Since the hospitality suite continues to be the star of the reunion, I think our choice for the next two years will impress everyone! The Holiday Inn, right on Destin Beach, has a 9th floor bar, facing the Gulf, that they've offered us... FREE... for both functions! The view is spectacular... eight or ten huge windows looking down on the beach... there's a full-service wet bar... overstuffed chairs and couches... two TVs for the football nuts... and about three-four times the room we had in the 'Springs! Or Durango.

The hotel has an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, and a large jacuzzi overlooking the beach... which, as I mentioned, is about as lovely as it gets! Cabanas line the beach in front of the hotel and water recreation is everywhere.

The hotel was most anxious to show us a grand time and had some great ideas! We're planning a sitdown dinner Friday night with your choice of beef or seafood, followed the next night by an outdoor, seafood buffet, overlooking the Gulf on the seaside patio. The hotel has just undergone a $5-million redecorating and all the furniture will be replaced with new stuff by next October. It's huge, airy setting with a stunning beachfront property!

For example, I discussed para-sailing with an operator who will bring his boat to the hotel's beach for launch and recovery. There are also numerous cruises available as well as fishing tours. The fishing is excellent in October.

Golf courses literally stretch up and down the beach, with an additional two at Eglin and another at Hurlburt. The hotel manager sends many folks to a beautiful course, literally a few hundred yards away... next to a very nice general aviation airport... a five-minute drive from the hotel.

Which brings up the issue of getting to Destin. A meeting with the airport manager revealed over 48 flights a day from the Destin/Eglin Airport. Delta, Northwest, Continental, and Comair all serve the area. There are flights from Houston, Memphis, Atlanta, Tampa, and Cincinatti, to name a few, i.e., flights are available from practically anywhere thru those connecting cities. A number of airlines, Comair and Delta, for example, have direct flights.

Checking on expedia.com I found the following roundtrip prices:

LAX... $357
Denver... $342
San Diego... $389
Memphis... $217
Atlanta... $184
NYC... $228
Seattle... $392

There is also the option of Pensacola or Mobile, with a rental car... one hour and two hour drives, respectively.

Click here for a map to Destin and the Holiday Inn

Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was the issue of price negotiation. October is a great month to be in north Florida, weather-wise and price-wise. We have negotiated an in-between season rate of $72 a night for inlet-view rooms [north facing], $82 for partial gulf views, and $102 for gulf-view.

The hospitality room is in the tower, a nine-story circular building with excellent views throughout. (The sales manager is on vacation as we speak, but I believe they'll be in the $82 range?) I've asked that we have the 8th and 9th floors reserved for Misty... just to get some of the "worker bees" close to the 9th floor suite for restocking purposes and on the 8th floor to reduce the noise complaints from the floor below. We can probably get as many tower rooms as we need.

The ground floor gulf-view rooms open right onto the grass strip between the beach and the hotel. Great location for $102!

We'd appreciate getting an idea of how many will be attending, so please send me (Jack Doub) an e-mail at: wgfp@mchsi.com

If you couldn't make it to the Practice Reunion in 2004, you'll be pleasantly surprised when you arrive for the '05 Reunion.

To make October 2005 reservations, call the hotel's tollfree number at (877) 837-6181. If for some reason they don't answer, you may have been automatically routed to an all-reservations line with Holiday Inn, and they know NOTHING about our shindigs! If that happens, please, hang-up and try the '877 number again! When you get the Destin Holiday Inn, mention the "Misty Reunion" of October 2005.

This is a truly great place to hold our bash... you'll love the area... and the rates will apply if you wish to arrive early or stay later. Great time for a long vacation!

Along those lines, I met with the Wing Protocol Office at Eglin, and fire power demonstrations are no longer conducted. There are tours of the Climatic Hangar [the only one in the world], the Armament Museum, and the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, which is spectacular! The Imax show is worth the trip alone!

For the kiddies, there are amusement parks, a Seaworld-like show just up the highway, water parks, and all kind of go-Kart tracks. Plus, the beach!

And, oh by the way, Ladies... the shopping is incredible! More on that later.

So, please let me know as soon as you can make plans to attend and make your reservations directly with the hotel.

Cheers to all...

Jack Doub,
Misty 145

The following is an update from our "2005 Reunion Chief", Jack Doub, in Florida.

Howdy...

After a cruise and all the food I could stuff in, I'm ready to jump back into the "Reunion Fray."

It's an excellent time now to contact the Destin Holiday Inn at (877) 837-6181 for your reservations.

Just a word about the rooms, they all have a nice view. The Inland View is off the main highway out front and the bay to the north. Partial Gulf View is exactly that, with a view in some cases of both the bay and the Gulf. The 28 Gulf Front rooms are facing the Gulf, some on ground level, particularly nice if you have kids with you.

Remember to mention Misty and request our special rates [the following in blue changed per Jack's 7/16/05 e-mailed correction]:

Holidome Inland View: $78

Partial Gulf View: $92

Gulf Front: $120

To help you with that decision; the hospitality suite will be in the Holidome, Gulf Front, on the 9th floor. A fabulous view, by the way.
If you have ANY problems ask to speak with "Betty"... who is the head of reservations... and she will straighten out your problem!

SCHEDULE:

12 October 2005, Wednesday: arrivals, registration, hospitality suite activities
13 October 2005, Thursday: AM Eglin Tour, PM open beach activities, informal dining or dinner cruise
14 October 2005, Friday: AM USN Museum Tour, PM Gulfside Seafood Buffet
15 October 2005, Saturday: AM Golf Tournament, Fishing, Shopping; PM Business Meeting, Sitdown Dinner with Guest Speaker.
16 October 2005, Sunday: Informal Breakfast, Sign-out, Departures for most!

The Hospitality Suite, a full service bar and lounge on the 9th floor Tower, will be open everyday for mingling, football on TV, and the usual catching up. &nbp;Roomy & a beautiful view of the Gulf!

We were notified Friday [last] that the boat with whom we were arranging our fishing outing will be retired from service in September!! Quite an unexpected surprise. Stand by: We're commencing arrangements with an alternative charter vessel.

Note: Some of our folks were reluctant to arrange their own dinner cruise on Thursday evening, 13 October 2005; so we will handle that as soon as negotiations are completed with the ship/boat. The plan will be for attendees to send their reservation request and check directly to me, by snail mail, and I'll handle the details with the cruise ship. The e-mail address will be: wgfp@mchsi.com

If anyone has any input, be my guest. Personally, I've seen the Naval Museum and it's definitely worth the trip. The Swabbies did a good job with their Aviation Showplace. There's a bit of a logistics hassle involved, but if we have enough POVs, it might be a piece of cake. Let me know if you have any thoughts on the matter.

I think you'll be impressed with Destin. It is, indeed, a lovely place and the hospitality suite the folks at the Inn have offered us will be brilliant: The Sand Bar on the 9th floor of the Holidome with a magnificent view of the Gulf and two or three times the room we've had in the past.

So, let's chat it up and get a major turnout working.

By the way, if anyone wants to chat with me about any of this, feel free to call me at home... (229) 259-9399. I'm almost always around.

Cheers & chek6... Jack Doub, wgfp@mchsi.com

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or click here for the 16 July 2005 e-mail update from Jack Doub

Webpage initiated on 19 October 2003
Last update: 22 July 2005

Website originated and maintained by Misty 128.