The genesis would be the preference of my parents, Elton and Alys Stephens, for the Gulf Coast beach for vacations. The link would be a tall, big-boned, always hatted, and obvious gentleman of bearing and courtesy who, among other things, handled the rental of homes at Laguna Beach. For five to eight years we rented a home at Laguna from Mr. McGee.
MY MEMORIES ARE SEVERAL.
Nearby was a big, single-roomed, very high-ceilinged eating place of seniority with mounted hawks and owls looking down from the log rafters. I recall character, warmth, and good food. A neighbor with a girl, age 14 or so, who always had a couple of friends at the beach and who confirmed to my five- or six-year-old self that looking in trepidation at such creatures was indeed a thing of wonder. A World War II surplus inflatable raft provided adventure to and beyond the second sand bar until my cousin of six or seven got in it, parent-unobserved, one day and suddenly, courtesy of what we call a land breeze, was far beyond the second sand bar and moving toward the Yucatan briskly. He was rescued by a hero down the beach who fortunately had a similar water vehicle and rowed out as my aunt begged aloud for my cousin not to even consider jumping out as land faded from view. Having Alabama Governor Gordon Persons as a next-door neighbor renter a couple of summers was a special memory. The beach became genetically and empirically imbedded. In 1949 Mr. McGee called my father and asked him to look at some land he was buying to develop as a new beach community. It was the high point from Panama City to Ft. Walton and had very aged oak trees growing right to the bluff' s edge and looking down on the beach. Mr. McGee named it Seagrove Beach and made the byline "where nature did its best." My father bought two lots on the beach side. Mr. McGee's beachfront road, which ran for about a half-mile parallel to the beach, would someday become 30A A simple concrete block house was built on one of these. We came down at Thanksgiving to try it out and saw the only snow flurries I have ever seen at Seagrove, with daytime temperatures in the high 20s.
WE HAD A JEEP
The dunes were our highway from age 13 onward. No driver's license was required. We drove on the dunes but were not disrespectful of their beauty. East to Camp Creek Lake and west to Grayton was a magic natural area before 30A was extended.
MAN'S AFFAIRS CYCLE.
In 1978 such a cycle led to an auction of the land that is now Alys Beach. We were only a generation from being Southerners who worked the land to make a living, so we liked land as an asset. After doing some non-computerized number scratching on the process of auctioning several parcels and then the whole if anyone wished to top the cumulative total, I rode the Jeep down with my father and my wife, Julie. We were the only global responders to the auctioneer that day. Our plan was quite complicated and cerebral: wait and see.
From 1978 to 2003, the Sunbelt F continued to grow. The Gulf Coast continued to charm many as a chosen spot for the family vacation or second home. Seaside became an architectural household word. Rosemary blossomed. Then came the reengineering of St. Joe Paper Company and WaterColor. We had offers. As Rosemary was reaching maturity and as the offers to buy our land had become more fragrant and serious, we pondered the options of selling land or developing land. We had also invested in considerable raw land on the southeast of Birmingham and were developing a Traditional Neighborhood Development, Mt. Laurel, planned by those made famous with Seaside, DPZ. My nephew, Jason Comer, had been active with real estate. He seemed possessed of energy, an ability to get along well with people, and a good noggin. At a Christmas party I three-quarters serious told him I was surprised he had not come and pushed for the opportunity to develop this land. He called two days later and said he was having a hard time sleeping at the thought of the chance of a lifetime. We collaborated. Development and not selling was the way to go. Jason joined, and he has done just a great job.
