Origin story

How I Found the Hatch

I didn’t grow up in Steinhatchee. I found it, fell in love with it, and kept coming back.

The first time I ever heard the word Steinhatchee, I was on a fishing trip with a guide out of Tarpon Springs. As we talked, the captain said he would like to open a redfish and trout fish camp. I asked where. He said, “Steinhatchee.” I had never heard of it.

Curiosity did what curiosity does. A while later, I drove from Jackson, Georgia to Steinhatchee to see what was there.

The first place I stayed was Good Times Motel and Marina. That first night, I was sitting in the restaurant bar on the water when a girl came in with a guitar, sat a couple chairs down, propped her foot on the bar, leaned the chair back, and started singing. The next thing I knew, the whole place was singing with her.

That was the moment I knew I had found something special.

On my 50th birthday, I took my son on a 14-day fishing trip all around Florida. One of the stops was back to Steinhatchee. We did not know it when we arrived, but we had landed in town during Fiddler Crab Festival. The town was a madhouse in the best way: games, parties, chowder competition, vendors, a huge parade, Shriners from all over Florida, classic cars, monster trucks, and fishing.

We were hooked.

We started coming back regularly to fish. Then we went scalloping. Eventually, I bought a house in Steinhatchee to use as a retirement home. The place got under my skin: Kathi’s Krab Shack, McDavid’s, Deadman’s Marina, Sea Hag Marina, Fiddler’s, and Good Times, where the story started for me.

Living the Hatch Life™ is my way of celebrating that place: the water, the food, the music, the festival, the boats, the family memories, and the friends you haven’t met yet.

Local places are mentioned here as personal memories and gratitude, not as sponsorships or official affiliations.