People

Everyone likes to take a walk on the beach, but some of us have a real need to walk on the beach. We crave a connection with nature and feel the beach is a great place to do it. We don't just look at a dune and see a pretty sight. We see something that touches our souls. That's true of Russ Gilbert. He moved here over 20 years ago from nearby Chipley and hasn't regretted it for a second.

It was the summer of 1986 when David and Susan Lowery visited South Walton for the first time. Traveling from Dallas, with little money to spare, they remember it as the first family vacation they could afford.

While staying in Sandestin, they saw an advertisement for Bud and Alley’s and found their way to the restaurant on Scenic 30A. One visit was all it took and they began staying in Seaside as often as possible.

Billy McConnell is the Operations Director for Jim Shirley Enterprises and is one of the busiest people in South Walton, overseeing the operation's restaurant and catering businesses for Great Southern Cafe, The Bay Restaurant, 45 Central Wine Bar, and 331 South. Billy resides in Seagrove Beach with his wife Nancy and his number one dog, Ruca.

 
The Energizer Bunny’s got nothing on you! What is your secret…do you take special vitamins or supplements to keep you going?

“This is my favorite part, hear the bass thumping? Sometimes it’ll be tribal music, and sometimes it’s classical,” says Madra McDonald, Justin Gaffrey’s publicist. Surrounded by Point Washington State Forest, we walk across the gravel driveway into the warehouse Justin built to accommodate his growing creative interests, which now include welding and sculpting.

Francisco Adaro came into this world an artist. Born in Buenos Aries, Argentina, he reveled in the ample inspiration provided by the surrounding culture and people. Francisco began drawing and painting as a child and at age 15 decided to sell his work on the street.

When Alice Forrester and partner Mickey Whitaker opened their business, 30A Realty, in June of 1995, they were excited by the prospects. Then, in October, just 4 months later, Hurricane Opal came through and pretty much put a dent in South Walton businesses.

I love this photo and have a big copy of it on my wall. It's our old friend Maunsel White and two of his friends on the docks in Destin back in the sixties sometime.

- Payson Comer Howard

Photo from the family archive of Payson Comer Howard Payson and crew are based in Seagrove Beach, offering vacaiton rentals and services every day all along SoWal Beaches to help you make your own vacation memories at Sunburst Beach Vacations - It's Time To Vacation!

The Walton County Tourist Development Council (TDC) named Jeanne Dailey as its 2014 Van Ness Butler, Jr. Hospitality Award recipient. Dailey first experienced South Walton as a visitor to Grayton Beach in the early ‘80s. Her time spent there enjoying the pristine beaches, expansive dune system, coastal dune lakes and the quiet serenity along 30A, made a lifelong impression. 
 

In 1958 there was only one house resting on the south side of Scenic 30A on Dune Allen Beach - only one. Bo Rentrop and her late husband Billy Rentrop were there, and Bo remembers that single house very well.

John and Laurie Olshefski are quite the pair. They are always on the move and always thinking ahead. They own and operate multiple businesses, including a couple of super stores on both sides of Scenic 30A in Seaside - Shimmering Seas Jewelry & Gifts and The Fitness Fetish.