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Contest Winners
Catherine (Alabama) - APRIL WINNER
Navarre Beach spans my life like the bridge spans the sound, anchoring both past and future in the present. I have taught my children to swim in the Gulf where I learned, fished with my beaming 87 year old father-in-law with the skills I learned there from my Gramma. I watched my in-laws take their final stroll together along the surf as I held my husband's hand walking behind our children, splashing in the crashing waves and "diving" for shells. On quiet days,when the beach is empty, the salty air carries the sounds of laughter--the sounds of joy and happiness generations of my family shared with me on that sugar-white sand that I now share with you, snippets from a lifetime of Navarre Beach excursions that brought once in a lifetime experiences again and again, predictably unpredictable just like the Gulf.
Mary (Louisiana) - MARCH WINNER
My memories of Navarre Beach go back to the mid 1970s. For many years my whole family (parents, bother, sisters and their spouses and children) rented a house which faced Santa Rosa Sound. The house was called the Windjammer and it had a small beach and the water there was so calm, which was perfect for small children. I have many wonderful memories of those times, but one of my favorite is the day was found a stingray hovering close to the shore. At first we thought something was wrong with it because it didn't try to swim away. My brother-in-law got a net and an ice chest and put the ray in it. He was going to move it to another area to keep it away from the children. The kids were very interested and as we were all looking at our catch of the day we noticed two tails, then a third, and then a fourth. Right there before our eyes they ray gave birth to three babies.
The children were so excited and we felt a certain privilege to have witnessed such an event. Of course, we released mother and babies back to the water, but the kids talked about that day for years. That's the beauty of the beach, you never know what you will find.
Shared Stories
Tonia (Alabama)
My memories of Navarre Beach are some of the most treasured of my life. For four summers in the late 1970's and early 80's, my youth leaders at Church would take a group of about twenty teens, for a choir tour in Navarre. We would sing at several churches there aand even a couple of restaurants. I remember the nights we would sit around on the beach, with the waves crashing, and sing and and laugh, and make new friends. I think about this couple, both deceased now,often, and I thank God that through them I was willing to experience this beautiful place that holds so many fond memories for me.
Paula (Kentucky)
We 1st vacationed in Navarre in 1999, it was the best vacation my family ever had. It is one of our best memories. After that experience me and my husband always talked about going back, well we finaly made it in July 2006. We had had 2 more children and were exicted for them to experience Navarre. They loved it. They don't ask to go to Disney they want to know when we are moving to Navarre. Since then we come back every July and are already getting ready for this July's vacation on Navaree. This is a picture of my daughter Chayanne at 4 yrs old she did not want to leave the beach and I don't blame her. I to would stay their forever if I could.
Gretchen (Louisiana)
We have been coming to Navarre Beach for the 13 years. We most recently were there the first week in April 2008. My son, daughter, son-in-law, 2 yr old granddaughter and my husband and I enjoyed the beautiy of the beach and the wonderful white sand. We love Navarre because it is quiet and peaceful. We loved seeing the birds, especially a great blue heron that appeared every morning and every evening on the sand outside the ground floor. We enjoyed the food available, especially the bakery by the bridge--the best key lime pie anywhere. We try to get to Navarre at least once a year and it really renews my soul. I'm so glad that this very special place survived the hurricanes and has come back so beautifully.
Debrah (Alabama)
The summer that I turned 14 my parents took my sisters and I to the beach.No one in the family had ever seen the ocean..this would be our first time!We were all thrilled but we had never heard of this ISLAND called Navarre Beach! We envisioned things like Pirates and treasure! Our first clue that this was really going to be unique was the long bridge that lead us over to the island.My mother was so frightened of the bridge she closed here eyes while we crossed it! We finally came to the hotel and it was so very fancy and full of amenities that we had NEVER seen. It had a movie theater!We didn't even have one of those in our home town! Then we came around the corner of the lobby and there was a wall of windows that faced the water.We all just stood there with luggage in hand! It was all too beautiful to turn away!Nothing we had dreamed of could compare to that moment! The white beach with those wonderful big waves!It was about to rain but we didn't care. We ran around on the beach in the rain singing and laughing to the top of our lungs!It was the last trip my family ever took together and it is one of my greatest memories!It was the last and only time I saw Navarre Beach! That was 30 years ago. Thank you for the memory!!!!!!!
Tommie (Louisiana)
As a child in the early to mid 70's we would take a family trip to Navarre Beach and rent a house on the gulf with the most spectacular views and sunsets. My Aunts and Uncles, Granparents and parents would enjoy the trips so much and looked forward to them every year. As years went by and all us kids were grown, we continued the tradition with our children. Just this past week my Uncle died that would always be the planner for the trips when I was young. It was the first time I had seen my cousins in a long time since they all are grown now and live out of state. The first topic that came up was the great times we had at Navarre Beach and Santa Rosa Island. Thanks for the fond memories and the future memories my family will make together at Santa Rosa.
Lara (Alabama)
Navarre Beach for me is the most beautiful place you will ever see. I had never been and a friend took me through there for a weekend getaway. The beautiful green waters were the most relaxing I had ever seen. I can tell you after seeing RED from the STRESS of work, it was nice to see the GREENER side of life!! I can not wait to come back and bring the kids.
Angie (Louisiana)
In May 1983, my best friends Kate and Patricia and I took our senior trip to Santa Rosa Island. With Kate's older sister, Lydia, as our chaperone, we packed up a big old green cadillac that belonged to Kate's mom and headed to the beach. There was so much stuff in that car, the trunk dragged bottom all the way to Florida. This May marks the 25th anniversary of that trip. Although we all live in different towns, we're still best buds. It's always a hoot, when we get together, to pour over photos from that first "grown-up" trip that we girls took. Although most of our classmates went to the more crowded beaches for their trips, we never regretted going to Santa Rosa. It was so beautiful, and we had so much fun. We're all "OLD" now, with the distractions of careers or kids, etc., but it would be great to get together again and revisit the place where our adult lives "officially" began: Santa Rosa Island.
Marie (Alabama)
My favorite memory of Navare Beach is staying with my parents, little brother & cousin at the Holiday Inn at Navare beach in the 70's while they were filming some of the beach scenes for the movie Jaws. We saw the mechanical shark in the truck and watched as they did filming for the day not knowing what a "big hit movie" was being made. Now everytime I come across that movie on TV, I remember all the good times we've had over the years along the gulf coast. I would LOVE to share some of those wonderful experiences with my girls!
Brigette (Louisiana)
My husband and I visited Navarre Beach over 21 years ago before we had children. It was an employer-sponsored trip and honestly I had never heard of Navarre Beach prior to that trip. It was a quiet and relaxing retreat which seemed to be so far away from reality. The beach and water was beautiful. I'm sure it has changed in the last 21 years and would be a wonderful change of pace for a family vacation.
Tawana (Alabama)
Navarrre Beach was the first beach vacation that we took with our newly combined family in 1998. Our children were 17, 14, and 9 years old. We loved the beach and the kids all wanted wake boards. Our 14 year old broke his ankle the first time he tried to use his board. The kids are grown now and my husband and I would love to visit the island again.
Cindy (Louisiana)
We have never been to the island before but would love to go. We are self employed and hardly make enough money to cover monthly expenses, much less a vacation. We work over 50 hours a week. We have not had a vacation in over 9 years, this sounds like heaven on earth and if we win, it would be a much deserved break from the schedule that we work day in and day out. Not to mention the mental vacation from our business.
Judy (Tennessee)
My best friend Barbara always loved the visiting the beach. Even though she lived 400 miles from the Gulf, she decorated her entire house in a beach theme. When she became too ill to travel, we visited Opal Beach and made a video of the waves and an occasional bird flying by. When we gave the DVD to her on her birthday, we had her sit with her eyes closed for a minute while we put her bare feet in a foot tub of play sand and misted her with a spray bottle of warm salty water. When she opened her eyes the beautiful sights and sounds of Opal Beach were displayed on the TV. She absolutely loved that DVD and played it over and over. After she passed away, the DVD disappeared. We are coming back soon to make a new video for ourselves.
Diane (Alabama)
My son and his fiancee were looking for the perfect place to have their dream beach wedding. I started searching for that place and found it at your beatiful island of Navarre Beach. My now, daughter in law, had always dreamed of a beach wedding and she was looking around Destin because she has family in Niceville, Fl., but when I started searching for a place to have the wedding we kept running into the issue of privacy. We didn't want just anyone to be able to wander up on the wedding. I found the perfect house in Navarre Beach. Ocho Rios was perfect. We were able to have the wedding behind the house, very little decorations were required because of the beautiful palms already there. My whole family and Jill's stayed at Navarre Beach for a week and we had the best beach experience that we had ever had. Being from Alabama we frequently go to the Alabama coast but after this experience we will be planning our beach trips to Navarre Beach. I have a teenage son and we were close enough to Destin for him to have his night life but we were able to enjoy our less crowded beaches in peace. Will send pictures or video when I get a chance.
Mary (Louisiana)
My memories of Navarre Beach go back to the late 60's and 70's. There used to be a campground there. I think it was a KOA and Daddy would take us camping there every year on Easter break. Other than several beach houses, there were no large hotels. Parents didn't have to watch their children so closely back then and we were left to explore the bay, the gulf and the sand dunes. We got up early every morning and fell into bed totally exhausted every night. I remember one year it was very chilly and we dug trenches in the sand so that we could tan but be out of the cold wind. Another year there were some people with dune buggies playing on the dunes. We'd collect sea shells and hermit crabs. It was a trip that the whole family looked forward to. Unfortunately, my dad died in 1976 when I was 16 and that was the end of those trips but the memories will last forever. Navarre Beach has always and will forever be my favorite place in the whole world!
Margaret (Alabama)
My favorite time is indian summer, when most of the toursits are gone. I would take my three boys (who I believe have saltwater running through them) down to Navarre beach late in the afternoon. We love shelling and playing right at the surf. Awaiting the sunset is the most relaxing experience in the world. It makes us all happy.
