Tourists in SoWal - welcome or not?

[SMcQueen]

My family has been vacationing along the Gulf, from PCB to Destin since the late 1950's. Primarily, in SW, starting with the Butler Cabins at Grayton, and most recently at Orange Beach, Ala. Always, Always, Always looking for a rental place that is not jammed up with umbrellas, massed people, associated beach trash, loud radio's,etc etc. Miami Beach, NO< NO< NO, NO.
OK. SW has no "High Rise" developments, YET. But, it has become congested along 30-A, north and south just the same. Why??
You guys who either own or manage property in SW have so far resisted the trend build "UP". Good for you, and I hope you hold out.
But the question is: From some of the Posts on this Forum, I wonder how you "LOCALS" really feel about what has happened to "Your Beach" over the years due to tourists?? Or Vacationers. Double Red Flags for developers, or what?
I'd really like to know.

 

[butterbean]

Visitors, guests , tourists, second home owners, friends of locals, family, drive bys, freeporters, destinites are all welcome and our economic welfare could not survive without them. Glad to have you!

 

[SHELLY]

I think most all the vacation areas in the US got "ruined" by the speculation and greed bought about by the RE frenzy. I wished our area (and all the others) had been allowed to develop at a more normal pace. Before the RE frenzy there was wide-open areas of beachfront...during the RE money-grab the developers shoe-horned in as many subdivisions and homes all along the gulf and around 30A as quickly as they could write preconstruction contracts.

Now what we're left with is waterfront properties cordoning off "their beaches" and crowding the visitors who are staying in the "back nine" into limited public access areas.

I remember walking down the beach in the morning or evening and not even being able to fill a shopping bag with the trash I found. Then I was filling up 2 and 3. Next came the overnight beach junk; and the overnight tents; and then the GIANT holes. Yeah, it sucks compared to what it used to be around here--then again, not many of us remember...for those who don't, it's great.

As far as the tourists coming--the good ones are most welcome, the arseholes are welcome to go somewhere else--then again my livelihood doesn't depend on visitors' bucks. I like playing tourist too in other areas around the world. But when I visit other areas, I always make it a point to respect their environment and lodgings as I expect visitors to respect ours.

.

 

[GoodWitch58]

Walton County has always been a laid back, friendly place. Long ago it was awesome...the beaches were deserted; the sand would crunch; and we could spend days enjoying the water and sand dunes. Some of the dunes were so high they truly looked like mountains. The forests and bays... mysterious places with wonder at every turn. And the people like my great- grandparents, who had settled here were decent, hardworking people who were wildly indepentent...and extremely generous and gracious to strangers. As a young man my father rode his horse through the sands of Grayton to round up his cows..
and, then he and his brothers went off to fight WWII, only to learn as they were in Europe and the Pacific that Eglin AFB had taken their farm to extend the air force base...even back then there was "progress and development". But my grandparents and my father and his brothers and sisters picked themselves up and began again...with a smaller farm.

I remember the visitors we got in the sixties as laid back, artists or fishing people, eccentric types who appreciated the wildness of our beaches...I can not remember anyone ever leaving trash on the beach; and taking anything other than a towel to the beach, was unheard of when I was growing up here.


I so wish my grandchildren could have seen it.

At the end of the day the beaches would be as deserted as they had been early that morning when we arrived. ..a few sandcastles maybe, and our footprints.

And the most glorious sunsets.

So, yes, many of us wish it was still that way, but we accept that change has come and with it progress and development...and while it is not as nice as it used to be, it is still a more remarkable place than most. And most of us are still fiercely independent and welcoming to visitors.

We just wish some of them were more thoughtful. We have put trash cans out: we wish people would use them; if one must dig holes, we ask that you fill them in before some one or a turtle is hurt by them; if you must bring a tent, please take it home at the end of the day...and if you smoke, please dispose of the cigarette properly.

Those of us who live here do not think we ask too much. Courtesy for others and respect for our beautiful beach--a small price to pay for such a beautiful experience.

 

[DuneLaker]

I like tourists. Even the native peoples from thousands of years ago displaced each other along the years. Some were friendly, some weren't. I like friendly people, local and tourist alike. When you have an environmental treasure like SoWal combined with the significant authentic history and culture of Northwest Florida and the Emerald Coast, one would expect tourists to come relax or experience the venue.

 

[beachmouse]

The vast majority of our seasonal visitors are great people who treat others with respect and want only to have a happy, mellow vacation. But there are about 2% of them that have a huge sense of entitlement and come across as thinking that because it's their vacation, they've got the right to run roughshod over both locals and other vacationers and locals alike, that the law doesn't apply to them while they're on vacation, and that the laws of physics and nature don't apply to them.

And we vent here about those two percenters because there just is no point in confronting them to their faces when they're being arseholes. They just turn around and return to their inappropriate behavior.

And sometimes the stupidity or arrogance level among those two percenters is just so mind-boggling you just have to share with friends. Like how it's seemingly common to get rental inquiries from parents who are willing to put up huge deposits if a homeowner is willing to let that parent's college age kids and their friends trash the place for spring break.

I like playing tourist too in other areas around the world. But when I visit other areas, I always make it a point to respect their environment and lodgings as I expect visitors to respect ours.

It's a pretty common sentiment among people who live in areas where tourism is common. No one wants to go somewhere and be though of as one of 'Those People', and so you end up overcompensating whenever you encounter some other place's locals.

The other common grumble is that there are far too many people visiting Florida and far too few roads and lanes to hold them. We're just kind of collectively waiting for the Kennedy Space Center to develop Star Trek-like transporter technology to better get tourists from place to place without driving, as the lag time for new transportation projects is along the lines of stuff that was first proposed in 1967 (state population 6.2 million) will be finished Real Soon Now (or at least by the time the state population hits 19 million in around 2010)

 

[tolynne]

I love the beaches of South Walton and love all the locals, I vacation their every year since the 1998, we do not rent the same place but limit our stay to 30 A area only. I am from north alabama and orange beach does not compare to the beaches or the choices of wonderful places to eat out (top notch) and I have never been treated badly by anyone or even fellow tourists. However this year I did witness the 2% group ( probably from Alabama-must have been Auburn fans) that left trash everyday on the beach, dug holes, even when asked to please fill them back at the end of the day, left beach chairs and tents out the whole week and had total disrespect for others and the enviroment. I think the laws need to be enforced before 30A turns into another Datona Beach or even PCB has alot of crap going on as far as redneck jerks leaving trash everywhere. What other answer is there, they will not listen or even try to understand when you talk to them, they just don't care about the enviroment and they will ruin our beautiful beach!!

 

[Smiling JOe]

No high-rises? Guess you missed Seagrove and Miramar. Freeport is soon to get one as well. I agree with Shelly -- the arshole tourists are not welcome, as are the arshole locals, but we gladly welcome any respectable people no matter where you were born.

 

[Matt J]

SJ forgot to point out that we have a building height restriction of 50 feet that was enacted shortly after the only two high rises on 30A went up. If people thought the uproar over blue signs was big try reversing the height restriction. I can guarantee it will be all out war.

 

[bentley williams]

It's more than 2% that are the problem. But it is an issue with society at large, not just tourists. People are too busy to remember what's important and how to act. Or someone was too busy to teach them in the first place.