scooterbug44
SoWal Expert
It's not a Destin bashing issue, it's an accuracy issue. People constantly credit events and attractions from our area to Destin.
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Wheel of Fortune Deal in SoWal's Sandestin NOT Destin
- Thread starter DuneLaker
- Start date
DuneLaker
Beach Fanatic
I like Destin and have many good friends over in Okaloosa County. I also love and am impressed with South Walton and Walton County and believe events here should be credited correctly. SoWal's and WalCo's commerce should progress nicely with our great beaches, unique coastal dune lakes, historical significance, first class resorts and restaurants and now location between two major airports. I haven't been posting for years, btw, so don't know what you're talking about following my posts for years. I just joined SoWal and am coming up on my one year anniversary. Sorry if my facts and corrections upset you. Past posts often said something about other areas having their own unique attributes. But, that doesn't mean SoWal and WalCo shouldn't get credit for their unique attributes and events.
DuneLaker
Beach Fanatic
It is an issue worthy of further research, though. I wish I had more primary source material on Miramar Beach. I did see a great deal of information displayed at a private showing one afternoon. I sure enjoyed seeing a picture and cutline recently that showed Colonel Grimaldi, founder of Miramar Beach, at his homestead in 1926. I've often wondered why the Wesley's didn't go through with naming the Eastern Lake area Miramar, and ended up calling it Eastern Lake Estates instead. On a 1931 map given to me by Barbara Grimaldi, the Eastern lake area on the west side is "Miramar." Maybe the Wesleys decided Col. Grimaldi already had that name in SoWal. Being one of the oldest counties in Florida, Walton County has a lot of history to be sorted out and revealed.
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ShallowsNole
Beach Fanatic
FYI, our TDC does not use the name "Destin" in advertising. This has raised the ire of several of the property owners I work with, who insist on advertising their Miramar Beach properties as being in Destin. One lady in particular picked a catfight with the TDC staff several years ago over this very issue.
I also have Walton County property owners who advertise their properties on VRBO as being in the "heart of Destin."
The kicker happened about twenty years ago, when I worked at a bank adjacent to Sandestin. One of our customers was joking with our staff, most of whom were from Freeport and DFS, asking if anyone was "from here." I volunteered that I grew up "here." The gentleman asked where, and I stated "Point Washington." He looked at me blankly, and I mentioned it was where Eden State Gardens is. He said "that's fifteen miles down the road! I wanted to know who grew up HERE!" I replied that nobody grew up at Sandestin (which of course is no longer true), as it was a pine forest until 1974. The customer called our home office to complain that I was rude...
I also have Walton County property owners who advertise their properties on VRBO as being in the "heart of Destin."
The kicker happened about twenty years ago, when I worked at a bank adjacent to Sandestin. One of our customers was joking with our staff, most of whom were from Freeport and DFS, asking if anyone was "from here." I volunteered that I grew up "here." The gentleman asked where, and I stated "Point Washington." He looked at me blankly, and I mentioned it was where Eden State Gardens is. He said "that's fifteen miles down the road! I wanted to know who grew up HERE!" I replied that nobody grew up at Sandestin (which of course is no longer true), as it was a pine forest until 1974. The customer called our home office to complain that I was rude...
Andy A
Beach Fanatic
Absolutely dead on! Even though I live in a condo (actually its a townhome) I agree with your assessment completely.
Andy A
Beach Fanatic
Your posts on the historical significance and evolvement of WalCo (nice synonym) are magnificient! Please keep them coming.
DuneLaker
Beach Fanatic
FYI, our TDC does not use the name "Destin" in advertising. This has raised the ire of several of the property owners I work with, who insist on advertising their Miramar Beach properties as being in Destin. One lady in particular picked a catfight with the TDC staff several years ago over this very issue.
I also have Walton County property owners who advertise their properties on VRBO as being in the "heart of Destin."
The kicker happened about twenty years ago, when I worked at a bank adjacent to Sandestin. One of our customers was joking with our staff, most of whom were from Freeport and DFS, asking if anyone was "from here." I volunteered that I grew up "here." The gentleman asked where, and I stated "Point Washington." He looked at me blankly, and I mentioned it was where Eden State Gardens is. He said "that's fifteen miles down the road! I wanted to know who grew up HERE!" I replied that nobody grew up at Sandestin (which of course is no longer true), as it was a pine forest until 1974. The customer called our home office to complain that I was rude...
Sorry about your incidents. Thanks for standing up for SoWal and Walton County. Funny how those folks who erroneously use Destin, are quick to backpedal when there is a shark attack. Then, they are quite happy for it to be Miramar Beach! They should be concerned about their renters safety and safe evacuation in an emergency with proper place identification. Whether one goes out the toll bridge in Okaloosa County to evacuate, or use the free roads and bridges in Walton and Bay Counties could make a difference one day.
I'd like to address his, "is anyone from "here" issue." There were people "here" from some of the earliest recorded times in Florida. When Cabeza de Vaca passed by here in 1528, he noted native peoples in the area. It has been translated now so you can go read his report in English from Spanish.
Then, much later, there are a number of incidents reported in the Territorial Papers of Florida that describe native peoples here. As cultures mixed, who knows who might still be around.
Another favorite story of mine is one of the later Indian/Settler attacks recorded in this area. This was long after Jackson's horrible "Removal" of native people from Northwest Florida along the Trail of Tears. It happened in 1842, long after Walton County had become a County in Florida, but before Florida was a state and remained a U.S. Territory. I won't go into the entire story here, but it begins in a report "Adjutant General's Office, WASHINGTON, Septr. 12th 1842. Col: J.H. VOSE 4th Infy. comdg. 9th Dept. Cedar Keys Florida. SIR; Intelligence has this day reached the War Department that a fugitive Creek Indians (fifty) attacked the house of a Mr. Perkins, near a place called Holmes' Valley, Washington County, W.F. on the morning of the 31st ultimo, and murdered him with all his family, except one child that made its escape. The Indians who committed this outrage are said to be secreted between the Bays of St. Andrews and Choctawhatchee and adjacent swamps."
That would be around "here."
There is also some cool archeological research that shows canals dug in the Sandestin area connecting the bay through coastal dune lakes to gulf.
Lots of research to do.
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DuneLaker
Beach Fanatic
WalCo for "Walton County" seemed safer than WaCo, which some might pronounce wacko. Too much fun with that. Waco is already taken by a popular band in SoWal.
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