Capt Ben Marler

Old Destin: Through the Eyes of a Child Capt Ben Marler

Once, Destin Florida's fishing boats were painstakingly handmade, built in captain's back yards, their primitive engines pieced together from automobile motors. Unbelievably plentiful schools of fish "fathomed out" and snared in seines. Fishing grounds then could be found by nothing more than dead reckoning, timed by a wind up watch, a compass, and the clouds and shore trees. A quiet life began in this particular spot, before the Civil War. But, in 1934, Destin was building a bridge, future WWII pilots were in training, and less than a handful of hardworking fishermen were feeding multitudes of civilians from a tiny fishing village known as Destin. Life was not easy, but it was satisfying and adventurous. Cut off from mass communications with the rest of the world with nothing but a bridge and not a single telephone or electric light, Destin managed to grow from a remote paradise to a resort area which attracts millions of visitors from all around the world. One of Destin's foremost and memorable captains, a fish-catcher and evangelist, opens his families' most cherished albums to share pages from Destin's history in the previous century, with photos dating back to 1900. You'll almost smell the kerosene and seagrasses and count the six lonely blinking bridge lights. Capt. Ben seats us around his knees like grandchildren to retell the stories, impressions, and descriptions of a small boy's everyday life in Destin, Florida, actually, its' only boy born there in 1938. Part Tom Sawyer, Part Leave it To Beaver, with a touch of Old Glory and deep reverence for God, Old Destin Through the Eyes of a Child will be a certain welcome addition to museums and school libraries as well as to those armchair history buffs who can't get enough of Florida's rich history or who love Destin, Florida. 249 pages. 100+ Photos.