Lets be realistic here. There are basically two opinions on how the beach is to be used. You have the canopy users (families trying to enjoy the beach by relaxing in the shade, listening to music, reading books, playing in the water, building sand castles, watching kids play and making memories) and the anti-canopy crowd (those that want the beach to be uncluttered at all times with hopes of making a pristine environment for themelves and to save the sea turtle). This anti-canopy crowd may say that daytime canopies are OK, however the reality is that they don't want any large canopies or clutter on the beach. Unfortunately we beach vacationers like to have fun, we like for our children to have fun, we like to take lots of photos of the fun, we like to have fun under our large canopies that can fit several people engaging in all sorts of conversations and drinking all sorts of fun beach drinks. Yes, I said large canopy. Our canopy is large and has sand anchors...it does not blow away! Not even during pre-hurricane winds. My family has been enjoying Florida this way since 1965 when we built a house on the beach. We respect the environment. We respect the locals and other vacationers. We also have always left our canopy, our sailboat, and other items on the beach without ever having a problem. So now what is the problem? The anti-canopy crowd is trying to create their version of Shangri La by putting an end to our large canopy use. They live near a very popular beach and now want to change it. Our canopy is simply too big to bring in every day and set up again each morning. My family will not fit under beach umbrellas or wimpy four pole canopies! This anti-canopy crowd may say that we are disturbing the environment??but as I said before, I respect the environment and never leave trash or other loose items on the beach (actually we take keeping the environment clean very seriously and I often find myself collecting other?s trash, usually from the beach umbrella users that grab up the umbrella and leave cans and bottles behind). We stay away from the turtle eggs and teach our children to do the same. The save-the-turtle crowd needs to put its priorities straight and spend their precious time on a real issue such as the homeless, the hungry children of Africa, slave trade, drug abuse, wife abuse, child abuse or making sure that Obama does not get elected president?.there are many to choose from that make saving the turtle seem as insignificant as it really is!
I say America is the great nation that it is today because of our social interactions and creative thinking, a lot of which takes place on vacation?on the beach (under canopies). This is one of the freedoms that make America great, but now there is a law that aids in the obstruction of this freedom. In closing, my family depends on our beach vacation for a time of relationship growth and bonding and I cannot sit back and be threatened by this anti-family(canopy) law without speaking up!
There are many things that were fine in years past, that are deemed inappropriate these days. As our population grows (I'm not talking locally, but globally) we are learning to adapt our behaviours in various manners to handle this change. This happens to be a local instance of human adaptation, and it's an issue of whether our personal needs are more important that the greater good, whether for humans or for the environment.
I'm not going to argue the point except to say that during the time your family has been coming to SoWal, there has also been a huge explosion of growth, both in tourism & in new residents. In years past, it didn't make as much impact to the beach at all because there weren't tents/canopies lined up from one end to the other. They were very sparse. Now, the amount of canopies lined up makes it really hard to even understand why some people don't see why what wasn't an issue is now regarding leaving canopies and/or gear out overnight.
I am blessed to live near Topsail Preserve & only see 1 tent that actually stays up
all summer.
It's right by the dunes under someone's stairs. I wonder about its necessity because I have only seen someone use it 3 times last summer & once this summer. But everyone else at that access just comes with the bare necessities & takes most everything with them. And, yes, it's more beautiful to look down the stretch of sand between there & Sandestin & see just beach with people walking on it & enjoying the view.
Even then, I'm not "anti-canopy" at all. I'm "anti-canopy left up overnight." And from the posts from those speaking up about the issue, pretty much everyone you're debating with falls somewhere within that category.
Being the fact that we are discussing an area of land that resides between land and sea, the dynamics of human behaviour affect the local environment around us even more than in other locations inland. Not to say that human behaviour everywhere doesn't affect an environment, but our actions here DIRECTLY and IMMEDIATELY affect not only the land environment (sea walls, etc.) but the marine environment (turtles, etc.) as well.
Humanity accepting responsibility in even small ways such as this to be stewards of the earth we live on is only a win-win situation for us. I'm not saying everyone should be a "left wing environmentalist" as someone put it earlier, but just take notice of the choices that each one of us can make that truly can make a difference. This is one of those choices.
BTW, the "save the turtle crowd" you're talking about are some of the most involved people in this community in all areas that you can imagine.
I agree!
On a positive note, Bdarg, Kate, and I went to Grayton Beach State Park to walk the little dune trail. When we arrived, there was a sign informing us that a Sea Turtle event was going to happen at 10:30!
We finished our walk and went to the picnic shelter, and the park ranger had lots of cool turtle stuff to look at- shells, preserved hatchlings, a cool video, and lots of pictures and info handouts. We were pleased to see about 20-25 visitors turn out for this, and hope they learned a lot about our turtles! It was fun to saee Organicmama and the 3 cuties there as well!
And can you believe the park ranger asked people to remove their tents and chairs from the beach every night?
And that was the beautiful CityMouse with the precocious, adorable little boy. SoWallers were in attendance! BTW Mimi counted 57 people total. Usually they get 25-30.
I'm sure you pull more weight than me. But this is basically what I was saying earlier today. I understand things can't always be happy-go-lucky in the Lounge. But hey, I haven't visited the area in 7 or 8 years! What the hell do I know? 
, it really has too many exceptions to the rules.
