What Do You LOVE About SoWal?

I love that I raised my youngest daughter here
(a conscious decision)

I did not know this! Lucky girl!

where there are so many strong
women role models....
teachers, artists,
business owners,
magazine editors,
spiritual teachers,
friends and family,
real estate agents/brokers/owners,
other Mothers, volunteers, writers,
bakers, designers, and so many more!

I believe this is the best life we could have given her.
She had many "mothers."

It takes a village....

I loved that she learned to walk on the beach.

Awww - nice to fall on sand!!

I love being healed on Grayton beach from a terrible tragedy,
by sitting with my toes in the edge of the gulf
being washed with salt water while grabbing handfuls of sand
and sifting it through my fingers.

Just like Minnie said about the cleanse. Sorry about your tragedy

My husband can't end the day without taking a
drive on Grayton Beach...it's his own quiet time.

That's nice - we all need that.

Hope that wasn't too long Gidget! Of course like many others I love all that has been posted above.

I'm still amused by the continual beach fashion show put on by our visitors. I love the sun hats and dresses and all of the cool attire that they wear. You seldom see locals dress the way people who are "dressed for the beach" dress. hahaha!

I haven't posted for awhile and I haven't forgotten Sowal. I'm so glad to be part of a forum where you are not forgotten. I winter in Miramar Beach. But I continue to read the posts and keep up on the news when I'm back in Canada.

So have the best of both worlds! I have a dear friend in Canada - her summers there are awesome!!


I so wish I lived right there in Sowal all the time. If I had of done as my father told me when I was a little girl, then I would of had all that money I should have saved. Maybe that way I could be there 24/365.

But like I said above, you do get the best of both worlds. Maybe one day it can be 24/365 - now is a great time for a deal ;-)

Thanks for reminding me of not posting. I have a Sowal sticker I proudly display, and smile when I look at it. Thanks for this community of friends.

I love the anticipation of coming to the SoWal for my 2 weeks each year
I love sitting in my beach chair with my umbrella reading a book, watching the waves, feeling the breeze and watching everyone have fun
I love playing house at whatever cute rental I've found for us each year
I love dining out with no regard to cost or calories-because it's vacation
I love Kat's Key Lime Pie!
I love biking/walking around
I love the shopping and the art
I love meeting locals and other tourists and running into some of the same folks time and again
I love relaxing with my hubby
I love taking naps during the heat of the day
I love drinking champagne at sunset on our last night
I love shopping for the next rental for the next year and having that sense of anticipation start all over again

I love the "Fitness Center"! HEAVEN! :roll:

Its almost 19 miles long, with panoramic breathtaking views, a swimming pool that is never too crowded, the track beneath your feet is soft white sugar sand, everyone around you is having a blissful day and they smell yummy like Coppertone lotion and to top it off....its FREE! I'm so in love with it!

The only initiation fee is the loss of about six layers of tissue from the bottom of your feet on week one (but hey, a free Pedicure!).

I had to read your post three times before I GOT IT!!!!!!!!!

What a fab way of describing the beach!!

Oops! My bad. Sometimes I forget people cant actually read my mind!

Seriously though, after (toooo many) years of paying for a gym membership at $35 a month, fighting crowds for the treadmill, only to stare at walls while doing cardio... I am truly GIDDY to have the beautiful beach for my workouts every day. How very lucky we are. I am in awe of what I see every day.

Kat's key lime pie is the best on the planet-I've not tried all on the planet but I still feel I am making a true statement!!!

Kat is ItzKatzTime on here-I highly recommend buying a pie from her!!! She's a sweet and charming lady who just happens to be an amazing key lime pie maker!

She is sweeter than sweet--she is super sweet!

i love sowal because one of my all time most favorite people lives there.

and it just does something to your soul. i'm not big on the fact that it's becoming so crowded and popular, but that's neither here nor there!

So how do locals dress? Pretty casual? I also think I have noticed that women wear less makeup and let their hair go shall I say "to the wind" here. I like the look.

What a great thing to read! I've noticed that the people I've met have been super!

G

I love this area because thirty nine years ago I spent my honeymoon here. Twelve years later my husband carried our daughter on his shoulders down these very beaches. Now next summer he hopes to do the same with our grandson (Samuel)I read somewhere that the sound of the surf is secrets being whispered to us..but I know it's our creater shouting His Creation..some stop and listen...others just miss it..

I love the salt air and scent of pine trees all mixed together!

Don't forget the scrub oaks and magnolias. To me, that's the essence of Seagrove. Out in the sand dunes there are things we like to call magnolia caves.

Well I'm still going through the Litmus Test to become a 'local' , but I wanted to comment about hairstyles anyway.
I've always had long hair with a slight wave in it and could style it up into a sleek do, make it straight as a pin, or curl it all over with a curling iron, whatever I wanted, any day.

But something happened when I moved here. I'm an out of control curly haired girl now! I could spend hours trying to get this thing straight with expensive gels and flat irons. I walk outside for two minutes and its like magic- POOF - I'm curly big haired chill girl. (In my 20's I used to pay big bucks for this "Spiral Perm" look). Its the humid salt air I believe. So I've put away all my useless hair devices and I'm officially a "to the wind" girl, with healthier hair and more time to spare (read:Sowal time). I'm suspecting I'm not alone, but when I see shiny straight perfect hair I'm so tempted to ask how on earth they did that!

Have you met any sowallers from sowal.com?

For me, getting dressed up in sowal is a shower and moisturizer.

It depends on the local and the exact location - in general people tend to be more casual, (especially at the actual beach) but you will definitely see some women decked out in full-out hair and makeup and very dressed up at restaurants/events.