see attachment for my recent article published in thicket magazine for their Beach Guide, plus a great article, "go west," written by Ann Williams, focusing on the areas in South Walton, west of Grayton, such as Redfish Village and some of the surrounding businesses. You can subscribe to thicket at www.thicketmag.com.

Thicket is based in Alabama, but has many readers who are very familiar with our area in South Walton.

(My articles are posted below.)

Top 10 At the Beach

by Murray Balkcom


In our special little beach area of Florida’s Emerald Coast, there are no big-box stores, dance clubs, and chain restaurants. Some people want that from their beach vacation, and tend to stay in the bigger towns of Destin and Panama City Beach. But for folks wanting something different, then south Walton County is the place for you. We ’re for the visitor who‘s never heard of Sally’s in Blue Mountain Be ach and has no clue that Sally’s has the absolute-best fried chicken they will ever eat, but after a tip from an insider like me, you’ll go home with that little gem tucked away for future vacations.


My list of 10 hidden gems follows (in no particular order), and I highly recommend all of the places on this list, along with encouragement to find...

The entire 1300+ acres of the airport development site have been cleared and grubbed. This means all trees, roots, and vegetation have been removed.
The main access road ahs been brought to its final elevation, compacted, sub-base installed, curbed, and is ready for paving in early July.
The building pads for the Terminal, Terminal apron, and main parking lot have been finalized.
The building pad and parking area for the rental car facility has been finalized.
The primary runway taxiway is in the process of being graded and stormwater ditches are being installed.
The primary runway is being graded and brought to its final elevation.
Stormwater ponds and conveyance systems have been installed and erosion control applied in all of these areas.

The earthwork portion of this phase should be completed by November 2008, a full 3 months ahead of schedule.
We should start the paving of the runways before October of this year.

The design for the terminal, public safety building, control tower, air cargo, and maintenance buildings has been completed and bids will be solicited in early July.

The project is well underway and a substantial amount of work has been completed in the last five and a half months. The attached aerial pictures taken earlier this month might give you a full appreciation of the size of the effort and progress.


J. J. Zebroski

Project Director
Panama...