Dear Publix

[Matt J]

Tourist - people who come to south walton to relax, have a good time, and spend money.
Turdist/touron/mother$%^#@ - people who come to south walton and act a fool.

P.S. The constant mind set that all locals are totally and completely dependent on tourist dollars as though we are junkies who need a fix is a little more offensive than some of the pro-tourist tongue-in-cheek crap posted here.

 

[jodiFL]

I think some people think of this place as "paradise".... until they meet the locals, come in contact with the wildlife or have a rowdy "neighbor" renting the house next to them. And all I have to say to that is ...PCB is a few miles to the east ,Destin a few miles to the west....otherwise you better get as tough a skin as those of us who have dealt with the above for years. Oh.. and by the way.. dont come down here or post on a forum thinking you are going to change it..aint happening. I moved to SOWAL (decades ago) and accepted it for what it is...smarta$$es and all.
P.S...I don't depend on tourist dollars to pay the cable bill I am using to post this.

 

[steel1man]

Ditto jodiFl. Now lets move on. Please.. seems like there's a party coming to celebrate the
New season )

 

[Teresa]

Nothing unkind about locals looking forward to a little peace in the home town, especially after a long, hot, busy, wonderful summer (thanks to all our visitors!). It won't last long because things heat up quickly in OCT through November around here! Always something going on and that's a good thing.

 

[Matt J]

You forgot rainy!

 

[iloveflorida]

Publix=best shopping experience ever and anywhere. Tourist=owners of SoWal. Look at tax roles under mailing address'. Lighten up locals.

 

[mputnal]

Well since this post is more about the interaction between locals and tourist I have to give my 1 cent. Human behavior (bad and good) exists in all of us (tourists and locals). I could give many examples of both and on both sides but that would not be my point. The point is that we (as has been previously suggested) should not expect positive change if we do not set good examples. Tourist jabbing probably helps little other than allowing a little steam to vent. Some tourist are going to be rude and leave trash and some locals are going to be rude and leave trash. Our local government have allowed rapid growth in our paradise and our infrastrucure can NOT handle it so this negative interaction between locals and tourist is going to get worse UNLESS...we take a deep breath, pick up the trash, smile and be nice even when confronted with rudeness...Oh and generally speaking Publix does a good job doing exactly that!

 

[Teresa]

Publix is wonderful.
Locals need to vent a little on ocasion. Its their home town they love and protect. Nothing new.

We do breathe a sigh of relief after Labor day for many reasons after a long, busy, hard working summer. But we are also very grateful for our visitors who choose south Walton as their vacation destination..

If locals complain it's because they are tired. They just need a break.

I, for one, am ready to return to The Red Bar for some Sunday Dread Clampitt and a paneed chicken sandwich. Lets go.

 

[UofL]

Locals vs others.
I would think that most of us 'others' who frequent this board are visitors. The tourists you speak of are probably never on this forum.
We have been visitors to 30A since the early 90s - then we would come over to Seaside to watch the progress and explore Grayton but stay on the very west part of Front Beach Road near Carillon.
It would be nice if the tourists stayed on 98. Maybe that could be a new advertising campaign. 'Don't come here. There aren't any mini golf courses, water slides, McDonalds. You won't like it.'
We have the same issues here with road warrior cyclists who zoom through stop signs and lights. Our version of Seaside, Norton Commons, allows golf carts. Norton Commons has several one way streets and it's amazing to watch clueless people turn down the wrong way. We had a mayor's bike ride Monday. About 10,000 of us rode from downtown, west, and back. At the end, the police directed us to the left side of a wide one way street. Except one guy was on his phone and was clueless that he was separate from the cyclists and was now in a vehicle area
Ellen

 

[Teresa]

Fyi, at least half of sowal readers are visitors! And they love south Walton as much as we do!