50, for Starters
We count a few reasons people fall for NW Florida beaches

The best thing about the list that follows is that it is not definitive — far from it. It is merely a sampler of the many Northwest Florida experiences, fixtures and creatures great and small that keep people here and keep people coming here. Many of the items on the list are timeless. Others are relatively new developments but are in keeping certainly with the traditions and the character and the nature of our region. Every one of them could figure in a postcard, and most of them have.
- The Gulf horizon
- The surf in all of its moods
- Flights of pelicans
- The blennies at the jetties at St. Andrews State Recreation area
- Poring over scorecards at the “19th hole”
- Redfish blowing up on blue crabs
- The curious overlap of the Snowbird and Spring Break seasons
- A bloody mary and a plate of tuna dip at Bud & Alley’s
- Hunt’s Oyster Bar in St. Andrews
- Majestic herons and egrets
- Sand dollars strewn on the Gulf’s white-sand floor
- Blue-eyed scallops in a seagrass bed
- Apalachicola’s Gibson Inn
- Pensacola’s Blue Wahoos and Ice Pilots
- Fresh shrimp
- People-watching on the sand
- Bottlenose dolphins
- The Mattie Kelly Arts Center
- Revived, reimagined downtown Pensacola
- Craft breweries
- Seaside’s insistence on locally owned businesses
- Speckled sea trout
- The grouper sandwich at Dewey Destin’s
- The grilled scamp at Capt. Anderson’s
- Jack Rudloe’s aquarium
- Wine festivals
- Joe Patti’s Seafood
- The Southern Craft Creamery
- The Digital Graffiti projection art festival
- The Florida Chautauqua Assembly at DeFuniak Springs
- A bar of Bay Rum soap from St. Joe Soaps & Essentials
- The reflecting pool at Eden State Garden
- The Pensacola Naval Air Museum
- Real tomatoes at farmers markets
- Gulf Islands National Seashore
- The 30A Songwriters Festival
- Shovelnose lobster and drawn butter
- Cabbage palms
- The irresistible homeliness of manatees
- Florida whiskey from the Timber Creek Distillery
- A hand-rolled cigar at sunset
- An osprey’s whistle
- Marinas at night
- Red snapper season
- Sea oats
- Northwest Florida hospitality
- Howell Tackle Supply
- Sea turtles
- Live bait
- Yesterday, today and tomorrow