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Good morning!
Explore the neat history of Fort Walton Beach’s 1950s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ neighborhood with its literary-themed street names, while Destin approves expanded parking for Shores at Crystal Beach. The 46th annual Toys 4 Tots motorcycle ride is set for November 16 on the Emerald Coast, and a man receives 30 years for a 2022 shooting at a Fort Walton Beach bar.
EVENTS: Tomorrow’s newsletter will include our list of local events rundown. If you have an upcoming event that you would like included, please make sure it is submitted to our community calendar. You can do that for free by clicking here.
PARKS+REC
Destin approves expanded parking for Shores at Crystal Beach
The Destin City Council on Monday unanimously approved a major development order for The Shores at Crystal Beach, a joint project with Okaloosa County that will expand public beach access parking at the site.
- The project includes expanding the existing western parking lot to include 19 standard parking spaces and one ADA accessible spot. A new eastern lot will add 34 Low-Speed Vehicle parking spaces, along with a restroom facility, a dune walkover and associated infrastructure.
Okaloosa County Deputy Administrator Craig Coffey and Commissioner Drew Palmer attended the meeting. The council received no public comment before voting to approve the project.
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GAMES
WordroW: October 23, 2025
Can you guess today’s 5-letter word in six tries?
WordroW is Get The Coast’s daily word puzzle featuring local words, places, and phrases from our community. You have six guesses to find the mystery word – green letters are correct and in the right spot, yellow letters are in the word but wrong position, and gray letters aren’t in the word at all.
EVENTS
46th annual Toys 4 Tots motorcycle ride set for Nov. 16 on the Emerald Coast
The Emerald Coast Harley-Davidson Owner’s Group #3605 will host its 46th annual Toys 4 Tots Ride on Saturday, Nov. 16, with toys and monetary donations benefiting children at the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center and Children in Crisis, Inc.
- The event will feature a pre-registration bike night and kick-off party on Friday, November 14, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Emerald Coast Harley Davidson, 788 Beal Parkway NW in Fort Walton Beach.
Riders can also register the day of the event at 8:30 a.m. at the dealership. Registration costs $10 per person, and participants are asked to bring a new toy or gift card to donate. The ride will depart at 11 a.m. for the Mullett Festival grounds.
The afternoon event at the festival grounds will include bike games, a best-decorated bike and auto contest, a truck show, a 50/50 drawing, DJ Anthony, food trucks and more than 100 prizes.
The Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center provides advocacy, child-friendly therapies and a safe environment for children who have experienced abuse or neglect. The organization serves families at no cost through centers in Okaloosa and Walton counties. While ECCAC does not house children, it provides therapeutic services to help them heal.
Children in Crisis operates a shelter in Fort Walton Beach that provides foster homes and transitional living programs for children removed from their homes. The organization offers a nurturing environment for children in need of temporary or longer-term care.
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GAMES
This week’s mini local crossword
A weekly crossword featuring local headlines, history, and hot topics. Test your knowledge of our community, and the stories locals are talking about.
Click here to play this week’s crossword puzzle
Note: Did you know that you can also print the crosswords directly from the site?
PUBLIC SAFETY
Man sentenced to 30 years for shooting at Fort Walton Beach bar
A man convicted of shooting another patron at a Fort Walton Beach bar has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
- Circuit Judge William Stone sentenced Michael Alan Ladson on Oct. 16, following his conviction for attempted second degree murder by an Okaloosa County jury on July 30.
The shooting occurred in the early morning hours of March 26, 2022, when Charles Meeks was shot in the upper chest while playing pool at Coasters in Fort Walton Beach. Meeks and his friends had verbal disputes with Ladson outside the bar that night, prompting a security guard to tell Ladson to leave the property and not return for the night.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Ladson re-entered Coasters approximately an hour after being told to leave, pulled out a firearm and fired a single shot at Meeks, according to the State Attorney’s office. The security guard immediately detained Ladson and held him until the Fort Walton Beach Police Department arrived.
- The jury found Ladson guilty of attempted second degree murder and determined that he was in actual possession of a firearm, discharged that firearm, and the discharge caused great bodily harm.
Ladson’s 30-year sentence includes a 25-year mandatory minimum.
The Fort Walton Beach Police Department conducted the investigation and made the arrest. Assistant State Attorney A.J. Gomez prosecuted the case on behalf of State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden of the First Judicial Circuit of Florida.
HISTORY
The 1950s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ neighborhood of Fort Walton Beach
If you drive through a certain Fort Walton Beach neighborhood, the street signs read like a roll call from Victorian London: Holmes Boulevard, Watson Avenue, Moriarty Street, Baker Street, Hudson Street.
- For fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective stories, the pattern is obvious — Fort Walton Beach is home to a Sherlock Holmes-themed subdivision dating back to the 1950s.
The story begins in April 1953 with the Bay Ridge Addition, a subdivision developed by The Vesta Corporation. That development included six Holmes-themed streets: Holmes Avenue (now Boulevard), Watson Avenue, Moriarty Street, Baker Street, London Street and Thames Street.
Two years later in May 1955, The Vesta Corporation expanded the literary theme with the Vesta Heights subdivision, adding Hudson Street and Gregory Avenue to the mix.
The result is eight streets named after characters and locations from the Sherlock Holmes canon:
- Holmes Avenue — the detective himself
- Watson Avenue — his friend and biographer Dr. John Watson
- Moriarty Street — his arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty
- Baker Street — his famous London address, 221B Baker Street
- Hudson Street — his landlady Mrs. Hudson
- Gregory Avenue — Inspector Gregory from the story “Silver Blaze”
- London Street — the primary setting of the stories
- Thames Place — named for London’s River Thames
The Vesta Corporation was led by Robert A. Baker Jr. and Henry Hudson Carnathan — two names that happen to align perfectly with Holmes references. Baker Street was the detective’s address, and Mrs. Hudson was his landlady.
Clay Carnathan, son of developer Henry Hudson Carnathan, said he doesn’t recall that his father was a particular Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, but added that “street names were decided in a variety of ways back then.”
- “Sometimes they’d name streets after family members, sometimes they’d pull names out of a hat, and in this case, they probably noticed the obvious connection to Sherlock Holmes that lined up with their own names,” he said.
The timing aligned with continued popularity of Sherlock Holmes in 1950s America through radio adaptations and early television productions.
Whether the developers were devoted fans of detective fiction or simply capitalized on a fortunate coincidence with their own names, they created a neighborhood where Holmes and Watson still keep watch over Moriarty…just blocks away.
THANKS: A big thank you to the Public Works team at the City of Fort Walton Beach for assisting in the historical documents and timelines.
OK, that’s all I have for you this morning! I hope you have a great Thursday! Help us shape the future of local news and make a meaningful impact on your community. Click here to learn how you can support us!
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Jared
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