"You're So SoWal If..." Presenting Our 2013 Winners

The judging is complete and the official results are in for our 2013 "You're So SoWal if..." contest!  We laughed and we cried, and we appreciate the flood of entries from SoWal beach lovers near and far! 

This is the third year we've had our contest and every year we've been dazzled by the creative, funny, and heartwarming entries. Thanks to everyone for sharing what SoWal means to you, especially our loyal SoWal Forum members.

We hope you enjoy reading the winners and top entries as much as we have! This year we wrapped up the contest with our judging party at Chanticleer Bakery & Eatery in Grayton Beach. What a blast we had! 

A special thank you to our esteemed panel of judges, who are So SoWal: 
Rebecca Sullivan Balkcom - Bountiful Creative
Kerri Price - doGooD Marketing
Martin Ireland - Area Director, Wineworld
Darcy J. Pentel - Proprietor of Sirens at the Beach
David DeGregorio - Director of the Central Idea Agency
& of course - the SoWal Staff!
 

Our 2013 Overall Winner ... your bike has a sticker that says "my other car is a kayak". - Connie S.

First Runner Up ... you're more afraid of yellow flies than sharks.
- David Hopkins

Second Runner Up ... you've used the Truman show to describe your area.
- Nikhil Abuvala
 

All the finalists for 2013, You're so SoWal if...

• You keep an emergency beach bag in your car just in case you get off work early. - Peyton Cook
• Your kids trick or treat with a Vera Bradley Bag. - Jennifer Williams
• you refer to Destin as "West SoWal".   - Nancy Miller
• Sequins on your flip flops is considered "dressed up". - Chase
• your truck has an inch or more of sand on the floor and you like it thay way! - keith wright
• You haven't been past 30a - east or west - in 10 or more years of vacations!  - Melanie Williams

... Emeril has eaten at your airstream to broadcast to the world.

• you know dread Clampitt is not an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies. - keith wright
• you get up early on Saturday so you can get all the really good stuff! - LaWana Rasmussen
• You remember when the dunes were your forever playground before rules and before pavement. - Jim Edelson
• Your seasons are Snapper, Oyster, Grouper, and Amberjack, instead of Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. - Bea Jurgensen
• You live in Grayton & ride your bike to work where there is a drink on the menu named after your house. - Tiffany Wright
• If you believe golf carts belong on a golf course. - Jasmine

... you can never have enough beach stickers.
 

• If the sight of the 331 bridge puts butterflies in your stomach - Jasmine
• If you go to a SoWal State park to get a little peace and quiet. - Jim Jensen
• You saw dolphin while paddle boarding again today! - Michel Laxson
• You can make a sandcastle on your floorboards. - Crissie Sensing
• You have bonfires, fireworks and crawfish boils on the beach and watch the fish tournament weigh ins as a family date!!! - Bonnie Schermerhorn
• Dread Clampitt is the only band you considered for your April 2013 wedding after party in Blue Mountain Beach. - Sierra Reynolds Jerkins
• you check the SoWal beachcam every morning before work for those perfect green flag days, just to dare your spouse to play hooky with you. - Sierra Reynolds Jerkins
• you have a method for taking boogie boards, chairs, towels, and beach toys all on a bicycle; even though, you probably look like a homeless person! - Kelly Davari
• You named your dogs Grayton and Alys. - John Barker
• You keep your friends close, but you keep your friends with beach permits even closer! - Christa Chastain
• Everyone knows your dog's name but can't remember yours. - Cindy Jarmon
• you lost your kid on the beach, forgot your hat, ran out of sunscreen and you're fine with it sitting on Eastern Lake drinking Bud Light in a can without a bite on your pole. - Derrick
• It is Sunday and you are on the beach in Grayton with Beth Brock. -Liz Garner

... you have a very specialized license plate.

• you are used to being stuck in traffic...behind a street legal golf cart! - Rebecca Bartlett
• Your church shoes and your beach shoes are the same pair of flip flops. - Kelley Gear
• you're so laid back people can't tell if you're awake or asleep. - gerard dalessandro
• you have a yearly girlfriends trip to your beach condo and your husband lovingly calls it "bitches on the beach week". - gloria thomas
• If you know Pickles is a place to eat, and not things you eat. - dan
• In your purse is suntan lotion and sunglasses. - Dottye
• you've never worn spandex and peddled a ten speed down the middle of 30A. - Derrick Cook
• you would rather be there at the beach in a Tropical Storm then home in Atlanta! - Joann Bennett
• You are even tan between your toes. - TS Gardner
• all the bartenders no you buy your first name. - D Plummer
• Your tan line is from your pearl & leather bracelet, flip flops & toe ring. - Jan wingo
• you own more swimsuits than pants!  - Holly Banuelos

... If you spend hours on a sand castle and then wait for the Gulf to reclaim the sand. - Mark Flynn
 

• You were proposed to and engaged on Inlet Beach. - Melissa Harper
• your stand up paddle board doubles as your dining room table. - jeff fondren
• You run the 30A 10k, the Seaside 5k and the Blue Mountain Beach 10k all in this year. - Randy Fleece
• it makes you a bit anxious to see a complete stranger sitting on your favorite bar stool. - Lorre James
• you have seen the local bear in your back yard. - Lorre James
• you keep a surfboard at your front door and a sand pail at your back door. - tricia albert
• You are looking forward to summer all winter long! - Joanne Busby
• your sunset beach walks include filling holes on the beach left by visitors, to help Mama turtles have a safe path to lay their eggs. - randy
• When you drive south to go anywhere, you think about not stopping until you run into 30A. - Carol Prinz
• you only own t-shirts from beach towns. - Letecia Boyer
• you make up excuses when someone asks you to visit a beach that is not in SoWal! - Ann Haller
• the t-shirt, shorts & flip flops you wore at breakfast are what you're still wearing for dinner. - Teresa Bass
• every hour is cocktail hour. - Natalie Nixon
• you don't care if you guessed the time the sunset at Bud & Alley's.  - Brett Gibson
• your attitude is adjusted. - Woody Gibson
• If you have to pull your boat to work with you and through the car pool lane at school. - Clint Hood
• you know the words to "Peace, Love and Bare Feet" by Bryan Kennedy. - Annie Parker
• your beach pail contains an inconspicuous AFR (Accidental Fecal Release) from your permitted pet. - Teresa Yon
• you call it Smallmart. - Sarah Murphy Robertson

... SoWal  - Lisa Trucks Carlton

• You drive up to the carpool line in your swimsuit ready to hit the beach! - Genevieve Torrey
• you have eaten "Fried Love" at the Seagrove Village Market Cafe lunch and dinner on the same day and do it again before you go home! - becky
• you remember how good the biscuits were at the Wheelhouse. - Kathy Jennerjohn
• You think nothing of going to work wearing a dress and shrimp boots. - Garner Chandler
• You miss Mr. Modica. - Cindy Jarmon
• Your business week consists of yoga, fro-yo, and Yolo. - Patrick Pearson
• you have difficulty finding a good place to park....your bike. - Mark Douglass
• Bryan Kennedy and Garth Brooks walk into a bar together and your first thought is "Who's the guy with Bryan Kennedy?" - Chris Manson
• You see bears in your backyard, snakes in your front yard and sharks in your "pool" and you are ecstatic about seeing all of them!  Love my critters!  - Alison Caponetto
• if you have slept in your hammock more than your couch. Jill Tanner
• if you set the alarm so you don't miss the sunset. - Suzie Toubert
• if you refer to 395-98-283 as the Seaside Bypass. - David Degregorio
• if you were one among many who regularly sunbathed nude at what is now WaterSound Beach. - Jim Tucker
• if you remember when the 331 Tom Thumb was "town center". - Jim Tucker
• if you ever spent the night in your car at Bailey's on the Bay (or after it became the 331 aka Blue Bar). - Jim Tucker
• if you know a few "secret" parking places and don't share their location with anybody.  Jenny Dargavell
• if you realize that white and khaki is not the only thing you can wear on the beach for a family photo shoot.  - Brad Pickel
• If you take more showers outside than inside.  - Abby Prentiss
• If your tan lines are very tan.  - Abby Prentiss
• If you are indoors watching an SEC football game on one of the most perfect beach days of the year. - Abby Prentiss
• If you could care less about the latest celebrity spotted on the beach and never heard of half of them. - Abby Prentiss
• If you have ever found seaweed in your purse - 400 hundred miles from the beach.  - Abby Prentiss
• If you have ever kissed the Red Bar bus driver.  - Abby Prentiss
• your school has surfing lessons. - Bent T
• you've dated everyone. Twice. And it only took a few weeks.  - Bent T
• the only thing you miss about living in a city is bar snack mix. - Rebecca Sullivan

... your dog has been to the beach more than most people. - Hope Goodwin 

• You count the Seaside Amphitheater as one of the rare coastal dune lakes when it rains. - Rebecca Sullivan
• you are fully aware that 10pm means you're probably going to be eating at Tom Thumb again. - jason a. jones
• your phone no longer auto corrects "SoWal". - jason a. jones
• if you are on perpetual Dread tour. - Beth Brock
• if anything, and everything, that moves anywhere, at night, is a SoWal black bear. - jason a. jones
• You tear up at the destruction of Seagrove Villas. - Deborah Webster