Emerald Coast - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Emerald Coast is an area in the US state of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

on the coast

Coast

A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...

of the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

which stretches about 100 miles through four counties, Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa County, Florida

Santa Rosa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the population was 117,743, while a July 1, 2005, estimate placed the population at 143,105, an 18% increase making it the 84th fastest growing county in the United States between 2000 and 2005. ...

, Okaloosa

Okaloosa County, Florida

Okaloosa County is a county located in the state of Florida. Located in northwest Florida, it extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Alabama state line. As of the 2000 census, the population was 170,498. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 182,172. The 2009 estimate for the...

, Walton

Walton County, Florida

Walton County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 40,601. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 50,324. Its county seat is DeFuniak Springs, Florida. The county is home to the highest natural point in Florida: Britton Hill, at .- History...

, and Bay

Bay County, Florida

Bay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 163,505 . Its county seat is Panama City, Florida. The county is best known for its white sand beaches and crystal blue water, where large pods of dolphins swim year-round...

, from Gulf Breeze

Gulf Breeze, Florida

Gulf Breeze is a city located on the Fairpoint Peninsula in Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States and is a suburb of Pensacola which lies to the north, across Pensacola Bay. The population was 5,665 at the 2000 census. As of 2005, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,455. ...

on the east side of Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle.The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensacola, Florida, and is about 13 miles long and 2.5 miles ...

to Panama City

Panama City, Florida

-Personal income:The median income for a household in the city was $31,572, and the median income for a family was $40,890. Males had a median income of $30,401 versus $21,431 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,830...

on the east side of the St. Andrews Bay, although some South Alabama communities use it as well.

It had previously been dubbed the "Playground Area of the Gulfcoast" from the 1940s through the 1980s, as witnessed by the name of the Fort Walton, Florida, later Fort Walton Beach, Florida

Fort Walton Beach, Florida

Fort Walton Beach is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. As of 2005, the population estimate for Fort Walton Beach was 19,992, and as of 2010, the population estimate for Fort Walton Beach is 19,507 recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau...

(from 1953) newspaper, the Playground News, later the Playground Daily News, now the Northwest Florida Daily News
Northwest Florida Daily News
The Northwest Florida Daily News is a daily newspaper published in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It was founded in 1946 and is one of 65 newspapers owned by Freedom Communications...

. According to the Daily News, the term was coined in 1983 by a junior high school student, Andrew Dier, who won $50 in the contest for a new area slogan. Another unofficial term is the "Redneck Riviera," which also is sometimes considered to stretch to Gulf Shores, Alabama

Gulf Shores, Alabama

-External links:*...

.

Popular vacation destinations include Pensacola Beach

Pensacola Beach, Florida

Pensacola Beach is an unincorporated community located on Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island, in Escambia County, Florida, United States. It is situated south of Pensacola, and Gulf Breeze connected via bridges spanning to the Fairpoint Peninsula and then to the island, on the Gulf of Mexico...

, Gulf Breeze

Gulf Breeze, Florida

, Navarre Beach

Navarre Beach, Florida

Navarre Beach, is an unincorporated community in Santa Rosa County in the U.S. state of Florida. It is on Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. The community is considered part of the Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area.Immediately to its east...

, Fort Walton Beach

Fort Walton Beach, Florida

, Niceville

Niceville, Florida

Niceville is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States, located close to Eglin Air Force Base. It originally began with the name Valparaiso, then to separate itself from the neighboring town took the unofficial name of Boggy. Upon incorporation as an official city, the name was changed to...

, WaterColor

Watercolor, Florida

WaterColor is an unincorporated master-planned community located in Seagrove Beach on the Northwest Gulf Coast of Florida, United States near Destin. This Southern resort and residential community was planned by Cooper, Robertson & Partners, under the direction of The St. Joe Company. The St. Joe...

, Panama City Beach

Panama City Beach, Florida

Panama City Beach is a city in Bay County, Florida, United States, on the Gulf of Mexico coast. The city is often referred to under the umbrella term of "Panama City", despite being a distinct municipality from the older and larger inland Panama City to the east, making Panama City and Panama City...

, Destin

Destin, Florida

Destin is a city located in Okaloosa County, Florida. It is a principal city of the Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.Located on Florida's Emerald Coast, Destin is known for its white beaches and emerald green waters...

, and Seaside

Seaside, Florida

Seaside is an unincorporated master-planned community on the Florida panhandle in Walton County, between Panama City Beach and Destin. The town has become the topic of slide lectures in architectural schools and in housing-industry magazines, and is visited by design professionals from all over the...

, a planned community whose iconic pastel-paint and tin-roof construction was made famous in the Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey

James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...

movie The Truman Show
The Truman Show
The Truman Show is a 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Andrew Niccol. The cast includes Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, as well as Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Ed Harris and Natascha McElhone...

, filmed in the area from 1996-1997. Other communities on the Emerald Coast include Perdido Key

Perdido Key, Florida

Perdido Key, Florida is an unincorporated community located in Escambia County, Florida, between Pensacola, Florida and Orange Beach, Alabama. "Perdido" means "lost" in the Spanish language, and Perdido Key is sometimes called "Lost Key" by local residents and businesses.The community is located on...

, Navarre

Navarre, Florida

Navarre is an unincorporated community in Santa Rosa County in the Northwest Florida Panhandle. Navarre is about 25 miles east of Pensacola and about 15 miles west of Fort Walton Beach. The community is roughly centered on the junction of U.S. Route 98 and State Road 87...

, Sandestin

Sandestin, Florida

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is a destination resort in Miramar Beach, Florida, United States, on Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast. The resort is located between the Gulf of Mexico and the Choctawhatchee Bay, in Walton County...

, Mexico Beach

Mexico Beach, Florida

Mexico Beach is a city in Bay County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,072 at the 2010 census. . It is part of the Panama City–Lynn Haven–Panama City Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Mexico Beach is located at ....

, Grayton Beach

Grayton Beach, Florida

Grayton Beach is a small, historic beach village on the Florida Panhandle Gulf coast halfway between Destin and Panama City in Walton County and adjacent to Grayton Beach State Park...

, Inlet Beach

Inlet Beach, Florida

Inlet Beach is located in south Walton County, Florida. Inlet Beach is the most eastern South Walton County beach and is named after Phillips Inlet at the border of South Walton and Bay counties....

, Santa Rosa Beach, and Seagrove. Approximately 80% of the Emerald Coast's 4.5 million yearly visitors go to Destin, FL.

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

Walton County, Florida

and the west end of Panama City Beach, raising property values.

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. The area has many seafood restaurants as well.

This roughly 100-mile stretch is home to several military bases, with installations including Naval Air Station Pensacola

Naval Air Station Pensacola

Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola , "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United States Navy base located next to Warrington, Florida, a community southwest of the Pensacola city limits...

(home of the Navy's Blue Angels

Blue Angels

The United States Navy's Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, popularly known as the Blue Angels, was formed in 1946 and is currently the oldest formal flying aerobatic team...

demonstration team and the initial training site for all naval aviators), Hurlburt Field

Hurlburt Field

Hurlburt Field is a U.S. Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the Town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation, and is home to Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command , the 1st Special Operations Wing , the...

, Eglin Air Force Base

Eglin Air Force Base

Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 3 miles southwest of Valparaiso, Florida in Okaloosa County....

(one of the largest military bases in America), Tyndall Air Force Base

Tyndall Air Force Base

Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt Frank Benjamin Tyndall...

(home to the Air Force's F-22 Raptor

F-22 Raptor

The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation supermaneuverable fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. It was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter, but has additional capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals...

fighter jets), Coastal Systems Station-Naval Surface Warfare Center (home to the Navy Experimental Diving Unit

United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit

The United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit is the primary source of diving and hyperbaric operational guidance for the US Navy...

and Naval Diving & Salvage Training Center), and Corry Station Naval Technical Training Center

Corry Station Naval Technical Training Center

The Center for Information Dominance Corry Station, located in Myrtle Grove, Florida, is the home of the Navy's Center for Information Dominance or CID. Myrtle Grove is a western suburb in the Pensacola metropolitan area....

.

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.

Emerald Coast in popular culture

In addition to The Truman Show
The Truman Show
The Truman Show is a 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Andrew Niccol. The cast includes Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, as well as Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Ed Harris and Natascha McElhone...

mentioned above, filming of scenes for Jaws 2
Jaws 2
Jaws 2 is a 1978 thriller film and the first sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws , which is based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name...

took place in the region. Interiors for the youth's pinball hang-out were filmed in Fort Walton Beach at the now-razed original location of Hog's Breath Saloon on Okaloosa Island

Okaloosa Island

Okaloosa Island is a regionally used term for a small section of larger Santa Rosa Island located in Okaloosa County, Florida. Okaloosa Island is home to hundreds of residential homes, high rise condominiums and major hotels and motels. The area is unincorporated and uses Fort Walton Beach as a...

, and Bruce the Shark's control sled was placed on the bottom of the Gulf off Navarre

Navarre

Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...

.

The 1972 eco-horror film Frogs

Frogs (film)

Frogs is a 1972 horror film directed by George McCowan. The film falls into the "eco-horror" category since it tells the story of an upper-class U.S. Southern family who are victimized by several different animal species, including snakes, birds, and lizards, as well as the occasional butterfly...

was filmed in Walton County, Florida

Walton County, Florida

, in and around the Wesley House

Wesley House (disambiguation)

Wesley House may refer to:in Australia*Wesley House, an Australian theological institution at, or renamed as, Wesley Theological Collegein the United Kingdom*Wesley House, a seminary in Cambridge*Charles Wesley's House, an 18th century house in Bristol...

, an old southern mansion located in Eden Gardens State Park

Eden Gardens State Park

Eden Gardens State Park is a Florida State Park and historic site located in Point Washington, south of Freeport, off U.S. 98 on CR 395, in northwestern Florida. The park is centered around the Wesley house, a two story mansion virtually surrounded by white columns and verandas. The house is...

in the town of Point Washington, situated on Tucker Bayou off Choctawhatchee Bay

Choctawhatchee Bay

Choctawhatchee Bay is a bay in the Emerald Coast region of the Florida Panhandle. The bay, located within Okaloosa and Walton counties, has a surface area of 129 mi2...

.

The military presence in the region has led to many film appearances, the earliest being the practice takeoff runs by Doolittle Raiders

Doolittle Raid

The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...

for Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, shot an auxiliary field at Eglin Field in 1944.

Redneck Riviera is also the title of a song by Tom T. Hall

Tom T. Hall

Thomas "Tom T." Hall is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has written 11 #1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the pop crossover hit "I Love", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100...

about this region (from his 1996 album Songs from Sopchoppy). Lyrics include:

Gulf Shores
Gulf Shores, Alabama
-External links:*...

up through Apalachicola
Apalachicola, Florida
Apalachicola is a city in Franklin County, Florida, on US 98 about southwest of Tallahassee. The population was 2,334 at the 2000 census. The 2005 census estimated the city's population at 2,340...

They got beaches of the whitest sand

Nobody cares if gramma's got a tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...

Or Bubba
Bubba
In American usage, bubba is a relationship nickname formed from brother and given to boys, especially eldest male siblings, to indicate their role in a family. For some boys and men, bubba is used so pervasively that it replaces the given name...

's got a hot wing in his hand

A level in the Dreamcast game Sonic Adventure is named Emerald Coast.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Emerald Coast in popular culture

Further reading

See also

External links