FROM THE BEACH TO THE BARN…
A Family Business! The Lawsons started as managers of food and beverage at The Castle in the Sands in 1986. Coconuts was conceived from that endeavor. Their daughter Courtney helped, and Michael Jr. was born in 1987. Ten years at the Castle in the Sands went by fast. Next came the Pirates Den & Galley Coffee Shop in 1996. By 2001 Michael Jr. joined the team cooking beside his mother while his sister Courtney waited tables and Big Mike worked the bar & cash register. Another 18 years flew by. In 2013, the Lawsons were informed The Ocean Voyager hotel which held The Pirates Den was to be torn down.
It was then Big Mike and good friend Skip Collins talked about the possibility of acquiring the Christmas Spirit building just up the block on 34th street. Mike Jr. explored the building and was very excited about the uniqueness of the building and its location. A deal was struck in the fall of 2013 and Mike Jr. came up with the name Barn 34. The family started work on the conversion of the building into a restaurant. They opened for business Mothers Day weekend of 2014, and have been working together since then to create what is now known as Barn 34.