Emerald Coast
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The Emerald Coast (sometimes called the Emerald Riviera) is an area in the southeastern United States on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, roughly bounded by Pensacola, Florida on the west and Panama City, Florida on the east. The area is known to have some of the most stunning beaches in the world, famous for their sugar-white sands and warm, emerald-green waters.
For many years, the beaches were also deemed to have the whitest sand in the world where it sparkled in the sun and squeaked when walked on. Contrary to popular belief, the sand is not bleached by the sun, but is comprised of Appalachian quartz that filters down to the coast from the mountains. The emerald-green color of the water is due to the sugar-white color of the sand laying beneath the clear blue water thus providing the area's namesake feature. Unfortunately, recent hurricanes in the 1990s and 2000s have necessitated the addition of grayish or beige-colored sand to counter the heavy erosion from the hurricanes, something that has angered residents of the area. Over time, the sands will become white again as more of the quartz sand builds up, perpetuating the beauty of the area.
Popular vacation destinations include Pensacola Beach, Gulf Breeze, Navarre Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Panama City Beach, relative newcomer Destin, and Seaside, a development community whose iconic pastel-paint and tin-roof construction was made famous in the Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show, filmed in the area from 1996-1997. Other communities on the Emerald Coast include Perdido Key, Navarre, Sandestin, Grayton Beach, Santa Rosa Beach, and Seagrove.
The area is known as a family drive destination, although in the past decade, its popularity has expanded greatly, leading to new construction booms and seemingly overnight changes. Many development communities similar to Seaside have sprung up in Walton County and the west end of Panama City Beach, raising property values, and some might argue, aesthetic appeal.
Deep-sea fishing is a huge draw for the area, with Destin holding the nickname "World's Luckiest Fishing Village" (and several saltwater world records) and Panama City Beach hosting the annual high-dollar Bay Point Billfish Invitational. Eating seafood is perhaps even more popular than catching it, with a seafood restaurant and/or oyster house seemingly on every other corner.
This roughly 100-mile stretch is home to several military bases, with installations including Pensacola Naval Air Station (home of the Navy's famed Blue Angels flying squadron and the initial training site where all naval aviators earn their "wings of gold"), Hurlburt Field, Eglin Air Force Base (one of the largest military bases in America), Tyndall Air Force Base (home to the Air Force's new F-22 Raptor fighter jets), Coastal Systems Station-Naval Surface Warfare Center (home to the Navy Experimental Diving Unit and Naval Diving & Salvage Training Center), and Corry Station Naval Technical Training Center.
In addition to military and related civilian contractors, which are a major presence, tourism, fishing and hospitality industries are also major employers in the area.
[edit] "Redneck Riviera"
The Emerald Coast, particularly Panama City Beach, is known colloquially (By people who have not been to Virginia Beach, VA) as the Redneck Riviera, although this term is sometimes applied to a larger region of the coast from Mobile, Alabama to Apalachicola, Florida.
Redneck Riviera is also the title of a song by Tom T. Hall about this region. Lyrics include:
- Gulf Shores up through Apalachicola
- They got beaches of the whitest sand
- Nobody cares if gramma's got a tattoo
- Or Bubba's got a hot wing in his hand
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