This month we did a roadtrip from where we live by Charlotte down to Orange Beach, AL. I didn't want to take I-85 and be near Atlanta so we took backroads through South Georgia and into Panhandle FL (Jackson County, Baker County on way to I-10 and then through downtown Pensacola, past the FloraBama and state line to Orange Beach. I was disappointed in that I didn't see not one Gators fan, car plate, car sticker, hat, t-shirt, or anything during the whole road trip and stay on the beach. I understand the far west panhandle is LA for Lower Alabama and I saw tons of tourists in the Orange Beach area with LSU, Auburn, Miss State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, aTm, even Ohio St, Michigan. On the road I saw one Miami front U plate on a car and saw some FSU paraphernalia here and there (not as much as I thought I would) but not a single Gators anything. Maybe if I went to Destin or more east on the Gulf, I'd see some but it was odd to me. I don't live in Florida so any time I'm in Florida I like to feel like I'm back in Gators country but my first vacation on the Gulf near the panhandle I realized it's almost every SEC team fans but Florida, lol. Is JAX considered the biggest base area for Gators fans, outside of Gainesville of course? But we don't clean up with JAX recruits though like I wish we would.
Sigh, lil bit disappointed
- Thread starter NorthJerseyGator
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Don’t fret NJG. I live in a small south Alabama town and I can tell you there are dozens of vehicles with gator bumper stickers. One truck in particular has a personalized Alabama license plate SWAMP13 and a huge gator standing with the block F sweater. I have met many around here. Mind you the majority are Bama and Auburn fans but we are third with LSU and FSU fans sprinkled in.
I’m surprised you expected anything different in the Redneck Rivera.
Go Canes
Go Canes
I posted something like this before. I went to college in Pensacola 67-69. The people there were mostly Auburn/Bama fans. Lots of kids from the far west panhandle and south Alabama .Gators were an afterthought. FSU wasn't as popular as one might think.
Shouldn't be surprising when you think about the geography. Pensacola to Birmingham is about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Pensacola to Gainesville is almost 5 hours. Not to mention Pensacola sits right on the Alabama state line.
What I noticed in the early 80's there was a significant amount of Dwag fans in Jax. After 1987, I saw less and less, and less of Dwag fans and more and more FSU fans on the rise. This lasted after the 2016 football season.
As FSU went into a decline, there were FSU fans also having Bama as their safety net team. Now I rarely see FSU gear but more and more Dwag gear in the Jax area.
I've been to lots of various beaches from Massachusetts down to Key West. We met my son's cousins down in Orange Beach and it was a new area to explore. It was a hospitable locale but I probably wouldn't go back. I've never done any panhandle beaches like Destin and all that but it's not my cup of tea. I prefer the Carolinas coast with some northeast Florida thrown in.
Went to Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach two summers ago and I was disappointed in the Uga to UF paraphernalia ratio I saw on people and cars.
Like I said, I saw a couple of da U plates and hats but no UF, so I suppose the MI-Yayo thug life is more akin to the jacked up trucks redneck life than either is to the wholesome, conscientious, and intelligent Gators life.
The only time I went to Key West was one spring break with European exchange students at UF. I was underage but through distraction and sly maneuvering I slipped past the doormen at the bars on Duval St. and drank without hindrance, haha.It goes without saying that Key West is totally FSU territory…
I was stationed in Key West for three years in the Coast Guard. And there is rampant gayness everywhere but also for two months out of the year every bar has college chicks getting naked on stage in wet t shirt contests so it’s kind of a yin and Yang kind of thing.
This was back in the late 90s so no cell videos and I remember guys going out with camcorders to record the contests.
This was back in the late 90s so no cell videos and I remember guys going out with camcorders to record the contests.
Oh, you just reminded me, I think it was Key West where I stumbled upstairs of some bar club and there was wet t-shirt contest going on with all sorts of other craziness happening all around. This was early 00's so no smart phones yet to capture anything, haha, just my little hard buttons Nokia.
After a quick check on Google images, yes, that looks right, haha. This was 20 years ago, my only time in the Keys. Nowadays, St. Augustine is more my style than my days of yore partying in Miami Beach, Key West, and of course Gainesville.
I lol’d.
We did manage to get some work done for our coastal defense, even if we routinely walked out of the bars at sunrise to report for duty at 7:30.
As MC said, why expect anything less in the Redneck Rivera? The beach towns are full of time shares, condos, hotels, etc owned by folks from MS, TN. North Bama. Louisiana, TX, etc.
Go into the small towns and spend time. Places like Blountstown, Marianna, Crestview, Port St. Joe, Wewahitchka, etc especially in the fall and winter and see the locals. Still split between UF, FSU, and Bama and a tad of Auburn.
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