50, for Starters

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.  

1. The Gulf horizon
2. The surf in all of its moods
3. Flights of pelicans
4. The blennies at the jetties at St. Andrews State Recreation area
5. Poring over scorecards at the “19th hole”
6. Redfish blowing up on blue crabs
7. The curious overlap of the Snowbird and Spring Break seasons
8. A bloody mary and a plate of tuna dip at Bud & Alley’s
9. Hunt’s Oyster Bar in St. Andrews
10. Majestic herons and egrets
11. Sand dollars strewn on the Gulf’s white-sand floor
12. Blue-eyed scallops in a seagrass bed
13. Apalachicola’s Gibson Inn
14. Pensacola’s Blue Wahoos and Ice Pilots
15. Fresh shrimp
16. People-watching on the sand
17. Bottlenose dolphins
18. The Mattie Kelly Arts Center
19. Revived, reimagined downtown Pensacola
20. Craft breweries
21. Seaside’s insistence on locally owned businesses
22. Speckled sea trout
    
23. The grouper sandwich at Dewey Destin’s
    
    

    Photo by Jacqueline Ward Images

24. The grilled scamp at Capt. Anderson’s
25. Jack Rudloe’s aquarium
26. Wine festivals
27. Joe Patti’s Seafood
28. The Southern Craft Creamery
29. The Digital Graffiti projection art festival
30. The Florida Chautauqua Assembly at DeFuniak Springs
31. A bar of Bay Rum soap from St. Joe Soaps & Essentials
32. The reflecting pool at Eden State Garden
33. The Pensacola Naval Air Museum 
    

    Photo by Colin Hackley / Visit Florida

34. Real tomatoes at farmers markets
35. Gulf Islands National Seashore
36. The 30A Songwriters Festival
37. Shovelnose lobster and drawn butter
38. Cabbage palms
39. The irresistible homeliness of manatees
40. Florida whiskey from the Timber Creek Distillery
41. A hand-rolled cigar at sunset
42. An osprey’s whistle
43. Marinas at night
44. Red snapper season
45. Sea oats
46. Northwest Florida hospitality
47. Howell Tackle Supply
48. Sea turtles
49. Live bait
50. Yesterday, today and tomorrow