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  1. N

    Hurricane Michael Discussion

    have not been to Sowal in a number of years, but it is a happy place of many good family memories. Praying for ya'll that property damage is minimal. The CNN coverage of beaches further east is sobering.
  2. N

    National Geographic Traveler: Dec 2010 article by writer visiting Seaside

    The pictures are beautiful--I miss the sugar sand of Sowal. But here in LA, the beaches were just as cold in late December, and the water is *always* cold--we bought wetsuits to boogie board in summer!
  3. N

    How are your bookings going for 2011?

    If they really are college students, then the operative word is "awesome"...
  4. N

    Hurricane Gustav

    2000 people are due here in Memphis today via Amtrak, and we're told we might have many, many more. Evidently, there's not a hotel room to be had south of here (and we're 6.5 hours by car from NO.)
  5. N

    Hurricane Gustav

    The colleges and universities in NO have good leadership and they all suspended classes and evacuated yesterday (Friday). President Scott Cowen of Tulane is a really superb administrator--I've met him, and he spoke to my college's Board meeting last January. I've also met a number of the...
  6. N

    Your traditions when vacationing in Sowal

    arrive in Seagrove after long drive, empty car and immediately go to beach. Buy seafood (all week) at Goatfeathers, make dinner, sit on balcany of condo and watch the surf. Every night, we bring beach chairs and bottle of wine to sunset (and now that our college-age kids drink, they join...
  7. N

    Changes at Seaside

    I'm delighted to hear that a "Pizza Bar" will open in the old Cafe Spiazzia location--in many ways, this is what Cafe Spiazzia started out to do, and then it got more upscale. (I can remember standing in line in my bathing suit and flip flops to get a slice of pizza--then over the course of a...
  8. N

    Changes at Seaside

    Just returned home from a great week at SOWAL--even with some bad weather on Tuesday and Wednesday, we're still awed by the beauty of this place. Yet, after 15 years of coming down to the beach, there were changes that began to bother us. First--what happened to Cafe Spiazzia?? What a huge...
  9. N

    How did you find SoWal.com????

    After hurrican Dennis--we were living in upstate NY at the time, but had booked our vacation, per usual, in SOWAL (we had always vacationed in SOWAL and living up there merely meant we had to fly down). I needed to know what to expect--the site was far better than any regular news organization...
  10. N

    Beach Safety

    Mr. New Yorker (actually a proud Bostonian) got caught about four years ago when we were at SOWAL in a rip current. He's not a strong swimmer, but he knew NOT to fight it, and he swam parallel to the to beach for some time, before it released him and he was able to glide into the shore and then...
  11. N

    Seaside...Welcome or Not

    Like a number of you, our family loves Seaside and we also always finish our vacation there, and while we are at 30A, we are there almost every day. We bought our house in Memphis in a New Urbanism neighborhood much like Seaside. We happen to like being on the beach, so we stay in Seagrove...
  12. N

    Sox Fans ???

    Absolutely--Mr. Newyorker is a native Bostonian (spent his allowance as a kid on baseball tickets), I'm a native of Vermont--Sox games were always on the radio. Go Sox!!!!!!!!!
  13. N

    Treating Red Tide Symptoms

    We just returned from four days at Seaside--the weather was glorious, and the water was mostly warm. But the Redtide could, at times, be so bothersome as to make us (confirmed beach people) leave the beach. It really depends on which way the wind is blowing (indeed, at times walking around...
  14. N

    Look! Tonight begins fall specials at Bud & Alley's

    We'll be there next Sunday....Oct 14th (you have very nice wine selections...)
  15. N

    Items on the beach overnight

    We've been coming down to Seagrove/Seaside since 1995, and this year was the first one in which we found people actually "squatting" their places next to the water. (One big family at the complex where we stayed actually had 4 linked tents and lectured another couple about this "being the 4th...
  16. N

    Memphis to Seagrove

    yes I know Opp is in Ala on 331--but there seems no other way to go to Seaside that isn't much longer. My point is we try to minimize back roads.
  17. N

    Where can I get me some free WiFi?

    I needed wireless last week at Seaside--Sundog books does have free wireless, but Modica did NOT--one of the workers at Modica's told me they had turned their network into a secure one because of their credit card processing needs. Sundog worked well--they even have coffee to buy if you sit on...
  18. N

    Memphis to Seagrove

    We just drove last week from Memphis to Seagrove through Birmingham. We did stop in Bham overnight to see friends--and then down 65 to Evergreen, and over to Luverne, down 331. I think there are somewhat shorter routes (Ladydebubba's sounds like one we'll try next year). Memphis to Bham was...
  19. N

    photos - WaterSound Beach - 12/4/06

    wow! and sigh!!! wish I could go down right now! thanks Kurt. Lovely photos as usual.
  20. N

    when does school start back?

    When we lived in upstate NY, our K-12 district began the day after Labor Day, but my daughter's hs graduation this year was June 23rd!!! I know the Memphis schools here begin early--but so does my own college. (New faculty orientation is August 15th, and after that, there is all kinds of...
  21. N

    331 Accident Bad News

    Actually it did happen to us about 3 years ago on our return home from a wonderful week in Sowal--we were in south Alabama near Opp--on the 331 bypass around Opp. We were cruising along in the left lane, but tho the highway there is a four-lane, divided highway, it still has "grade level...
  22. N

    331 Accident Bad News

    What an awful story this has turned into!! We take 331 into Seagrove every time we come to SOWAL, so I could picture where the accident took place. And Mango--I too am near tears with the involvement you have to face in this tragedy. Dear god--how awful! I will say that in NY, this would...
  23. N

    VA mortgage headaches

    thanks to all of you... I know the market is softening--but upstate NY is actually a little behind the rest of the country, and the word here this spring is that the prices are remaining the same but it takes longer to sell. Hence, Shelley's caution is certainly well taken. To be frank...
  24. N

    VA mortgage headaches

    I'm hoping this is the best forum for this question (tho it doesn't related to real estate in Sowal)--I know there are a number of you on this board who know real estate well. I feel like I'm in the midst of real estate hell. I'm moving to Memphis--and that end is going well. I've had an...
  25. N

    Charlie Modica, Sr.

    I agree that he is **the** Mr. Seaside, and just the thread line scared me to fear the worst. I'm delighted he's doing better, but certainly my family and I will keep him in our thoughts and prayers. It wouldn't be a trip to the beach for us without a visit to Modica's and he has always been...
  26. N

    What to do at the beach

    Most of you have mentioned all the things we like to do--the beach is the foremost thing on our list--sunning, walking, gathering whatevers, reading mysteries. But then theres the rest--cooking wonderful seafood from Goatfeathers, shopping at Modica (and Publix--which I gotta say is a great...
  27. N

    "Savannah" dinner

    I know Whitesands is now set to make her own recipe, but I will weigh in here to for shrimp and grits (my recipe is from Coastal Living)--it is so wonderful, I used it for a big "good bye" dinner last year when our Engineering dean was retiring. Everyone at dinner was a real "Yankee" but the...
  28. N

    Seaside - video clip from the morning of Mar 27 2006

    SJ" yes, thanks--Camille has emailed and we meet to look at Memphis houses this Saturday. You were wonderful!!!! thanks. However....I'd still rather be at Seaside on that beach.....I played that clip over and over again yesterday.
  29. N

    Seaside - video clip from the morning of Mar 27 2006

    Thanks, SJ--its been "quite the day" and this is much healthier than scotch!
  30. N

    St Joe (JOE)

    my sense is that this is but a pause in the second-home market that will keep going. Up here in the great north--New York city types keep buying all sorts of land with "critters"--headlines like "moose loose" and "bear lands in swimming pool" (I'm not making these up!!) bring on those who think...
  31. N

    Bud & Alley's has a new chef

    yum, yum, and triple yum! Those are incredible credentials (I've moved around the country, and I still think Bham has some of the most wonderful restaurants in the US--and those are the 3 top ones). To have this kind of chef at Bud & Alle :clap_1: y's is indeed wonderful news!! Good work...
  32. N

    Your Best Driving Routes to Seagrove???

    When we go to Sowal, we fly into Bham and drive south--we get off at Greenville, route 10 to 331, and thru Opp. There's a Barbeque place in Opp that makes a good stop for a quick lunch (and gives us our barbeque fix, since New York has no clue about this culinary treat.) But a question to...
  33. N

    Photos - Dramatic Sunset lights the beach - Jan 15, 2006

    What phenomenal pix! The light is just gorgeous!! Given that it was 8 degrees today here--I am especially grateful! Keep 'em coming--you are very talented!
  34. N

    Hotel Viridian on corner of 30A & 395 - Seagrove Market location

    Re: goodbye Seagrove Market We (Mr Newyorker and I) loved Sandor's--we'd always wait to celebrate our late June wedding anniversary till we got to Seagrove so we'd have a good excuse to have a blowout dinner at Sandors. The food there was some of the best in North America, served in an...
  35. N

    Hotel Viridian on corner of 30A & 395 - Seagrove Market location

    Re: goodbye Seagrove Market it will not be the same...note the emphasis is on "high end"--scruffy people who don't look decorative will be discouraged... I'm sad too...this does not look like the beach I know and love, but rather a glitzy NYC club (where are the developers putting the velvet...
  36. N

    Cell Phone Reception

    I have Cingular service, and my husband has Sprint (and since he does work for a computer consulting company, he must wear his phone practically everywhere--he's gotten work calls at DisneyWorld and in Fenway Park!). Neither of us have any problems when we're in the 30A area (tho we've never...
  37. N

    photos - several pages - 12/15/05

    what wonderful photos--and I too was so glad to see the sea oats and the whiter sand covering the peat. I have both my home and office computers "wallpaper" with Sowal pix. it sure beats tomorrow's forecast up here in the frozen northland.... thanks so much!!
  38. N

    NY Times "Escape" Section on Seaside

    probably explains the prices that orthodonist charges! Back to the initial issue raised here: too many cars in an area designed for people and walking. Saratoga Springs is about 30 miles north of me--charming place--home of the NYC horsey set especially in the summer (think of Seabiscuit)...
  39. N

    NY Times "Escape" Section on Seaside

    What is reallly sad is that even Seaside's parking lots--built for regular cars--could not handle the SUVs last summer. Each of these monsters took up 1.5 parking spaces, exacerbating the already bad problem. My favorite were the Hummers--who in god's name needs a Hummer to go to Seaside????
  40. N

    Photos - Seagrove Beach - Dec 02 2005

    gorgeous photos--many thanks for posting them!! Its 22 degrees here, lightly snowing. Looks like a Victorian Christmas card, but while its all very pretty, teenaged daughter is wandering around the house in attire best for the beach. SJ's photos remind us of how much we really DON'T like cold...
  41. N

    Dining Alone

    I travel a lot for my job, and thus the choice for me is to eat alone at a good place or feel like I shouldn't belong and eat in my room. I'm an academic, but I also love people--so like some of you--I bring a good book, order some wonderful wine, and a meal I wouldn't cook for the family at...
  42. N

    Shades and Bud and Alleys Losing Lease?

    well, this is all good news after all! Like many of you, Bud and Alleys is an integral part of our trip to Sowal. (In fact, my teenager and college son refuse to go anywhere else the Friday before we leave--its a tradition to sit out on the gazebo and eat crab claws, among many other treats.)...
  43. N

    How/Why did you first find SoWal.com?

    I found it earlier this year right after Dennis when I was rather frantic about what the beach looked like and whether we could even get onto the beach. I'd had a really difficult year at my work--I really needed to go to the beach and not encounter problems. Thank goodness, the BB was filled...
  44. N

    There's a new Seaside getting built in NY

    The Hudson Valley area is a huge area for NYC second homes now (I live in upstate NY near this area). While its a really wonderful area for organic farming (the produce and organic meats are bought by the best NYC restaurants), I find the new urbanism a rather amusing idea for these former farm...
  45. N

    Seaside Review -- Oct. 1-8

    I will defend Seaside as a place to stay or to shop or to eat, but I agree--the website is godawful! And regardless of the costs of beach access etc, the website is *the* public face these days to most people looking for a vacation (or any other) spot and it needs attention ASAP. I'm a dean at...
  46. N

    Seaside Review -- Oct. 1-8

    I'm not a property owner, but we have come every year for the last 9 years to Seagrove/Seaside--and my family (including two teenagers) would not think of going anywhere else. Seaside is a unique place--for those who think "crowded"--try Cape Cod or the Jersey shore (where lots of people go...
  47. N

    Seagrove Beach behind Majestica Circle photos

    I agree--wow! it looks so much better than this summer (the pix is very near where we stay.) I fervently hope that this can continue (tho I really wonder about the effect of the seawall building going on nearby.) :clap_1: http://www.sowal.com/bb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=32453# Clap 1
  48. N

    Beach @ One Seagrove Place

    gorgeous pix Kurt! It looks a lot better than when we were there in late July-early August (the condo where we stay is very close to there--lots more peat was showing when we were there.) wish I could be there now!
  49. N

    Franchises and Chains

    Just to chime in and agree with those who say "no chains/fast food/Walmart-type places" on 30-A. We come literally more than a thousand miles to avoid this sort of thing--Publix is one thing (and I've always felt guilty that I was endangering Modica's)--but chain/fast food type places would...
  50. N

    Spray windex on jelly fish stings?

    re jelly fish stings--I've used meat tenderizer (the plain stuff, please!) for years--I keep a bottle in my beach bag. Someone (biologist friend) told me the stuff in the tenderizer is intended to break down proteins, and jelly fish stuff on your skin has proteins. Whatever the biochemistry...
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