Fort Myers Beach owners of The Whale plan to rebuild: 'It's a step up from a remodel'
The rooftop bar had buckled. A smoker for the wings sat amid rubble. Four big-screen TVs installed days before Ian were somewhere in the wreckage.
Still, as Fort Myers Beach began to reopen Saturday, the owners of The Whale assessed the decimation of the business they bought in June with a sense of humor.
“We were going to do a remodel, now it’s a little bit more,” said Mike Miller, standing in the vacant spot in the sand where the entrance and a portion of The Whale had been.
“It’s a step up from a remodel but that’s OK,” said Dawn Miller.
“Paint and carpet that’s all we need,” said Mike. “Paint and carpet.”
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The remnants of the restaurant sit on a nearly unrecognizable stretch of gulf-facing San Carlos Boulevard where entire buildings were swept away by storm surge.
The Whale owners intend to rebuild. There’s not much to salvage but they do hope to save the beer taps for sentimental reasons. In the meantime, they’re looking out for their 30-plus employees, who have all survived.
“We’ve continued to pay them,” Dawn said. “We’re going to continue to do as much as we can, as long as we can.”
One employee called Dawn her whale mom, which made Dawn smile. “I could probably come up with something better but I’m a whale mom now.”
Tears welled in Dawn’s eye as she surveyed the damage.
But she was happy to spot some of Whale merchandise in the broken heap that was their restaurant. She smoothed out a red shirt that lay in the sand, partially covered by a sheet of wood.
“It’s 4-20 somewhere,” she laughed, at the shirt with the reference to the April 20 holiday for marijuana. “Isn’t that fun?”
She dusted off her hands and sighed. “This is hard, I’ve cried a lot.”
The couple lives on the beach and have lost boats and vehicles and everything in the lower level of their home but Dawn said, "I'm more sad about this."
Yet the friendly Fort Myers Beach vibe is still strong, she said.
One of their bartenders has offered to mix drinks. Restaurants have been leaving out liquor bottles they managed to save in case people want them. On a corner nearby, there were bottles of grenadine, pinot grigio and a Corona.
Someone the Millers knew drove by and joked, “Hey, are you guys open?”
Connect with Janine Zeitlin at jzeitlin@gannett.com or on Twitter @JanineZeitlin.com.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Owners of The Whale restaurant to rebuild after Hurricane Ian
