08/29/2026
Saturdays with Nichole ⚓️🔧
A Destin Story That Came Full Circle
Long before Go Coastal Realty became part of Nichole’s story, another local business was already shaping her family’s future.
Rhodes Auto Repairs opened in Destin in 1973, when Luther and Donna Rhodes began repairing and hauling vehicles from their shop on Mountain Drive.
Years later, a 16-year-old Fort Walton Beach High School student named Ben Causton started working alongside Luther.
And even then, Ben apparently had plans. 😂
He told Luther that one day he was going to buy the shop.
Luther’s response?
He laughed and told him to get back to work.
Ben went on to earn his business administration degree from Florida State University and spent the next 15 years working on the corporate side of NAPA Auto Parts. His career took the family from Tennessee to Texas, but Ben never lost touch with Luther and Donna — and he never forgot what he’d said as a teenager.
Whenever the Rhodeses traveled through in their motor home, they would stop to visit. And Ben continued reminding Luther:
If you ever decide to sell it, you better call me.
Eventually, that call came.
In 2018, Ben made good on the promise he had made as a kid and purchased Rhodes Auto Repairs.
Changing the name was never even a consideration.
Ben has said Luther and Donna are like grandparents to him, and preserving the Rhodes name was part of preserving the legacy they built.
It also brought Ben and Nichole’s family back home.
Ben had attended Destin Elementary himself, and after returning to the area, one of their children even ended up sitting in the very same classroom Ben had attended years earlier.
That’s the kind of full-circle story you just can’t manufacture.
Today, Ben and Nichole are building on that history through Rhodes Auto Repairs, while Nichole continues creating another locally rooted business through Go Coastal Realty.
Two very different businesses.
One family.
And a whole lot of Destin roots. ❤️
Go Coastal Realty ⚓️ | Rhodes Auto Repairs 🔧