It’s official!
Southport pulled off a surprise victory Tuesday, beating out nine other coastal cities and towns in a day-long test of survival to be named “America’s Happiest Seaside Town.”
The annual contest, organized by editors of Coastal Living magazine, first announced to the city that it had been named a finalist in February.
Starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday, as each finalist town was counted down from 10 to one hour-by-hour on the magazine‘s website, Southport continued to survive and advance.
The announcement made at 3 p.m. prompted celebration among staff and volunteers at Fort Johnston’s Garrison House, home of the city’s museum, visitors center and tourism department.
“I’m in shock! I’m completely in shock!” department director Cindy Brochure exclaimed. “We brought it home, not only for Southport, but for the State of North Carolina, and this year for both Carolinas.”
From several different standpoints, the news is huge for the city as a major tourism draw, one of its largest industries.
“This is massive,” Brochure added. “I felt like we were on ‘Survivor’ all day long.”
Assistant tourism director Joni Schinske was busy cutting up signs promoting the contest, and the online voting that helped to propel it, making a new banner: “America’s Happiest Seaside Town.”
Southport beat out two Florida towns—Venice and Delray Beach which finished second and third—to capture the award. Other finalists were: Corona del Mar, California; Wellfleet, Massachusetts; Monterrey, California; Narragansett, Rhode Island; Ocean Springs, Mississippi; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Tybee Island, Georgia.
Southport’s victory is a good old-fashioned underdog story, for each one of its nine competitors boasted a population larger than the just-over-3,000 people who reside here. For example, Delray Beach’s population exceeds 60,000.
Through Brochure and Schinske, the city worked to promote the campaign—on land through banners, flyers and word-of-mouth—and online through social media and a Youtube video produced in February.
Marketing executives told Brochure that Coastal Living was impressed with the department’s efforts, including the “If You Are Happy and You Know It” Youtube video, and a tweet-and-eat pizza party for teenagers held at the fire station.
A impromptu reception was held Tuesday evening at American Fish Co. in the Yacht Basin to celebrate the victory.
What they said
Here’s what Coastal Living magazine had to say about its award-winner after posting the news on its website Tuesday afternoon:
“Putting proof to the dictum that ‘small is beautiful,’ this tiny (2.2-square-mile) harbor town at the outlet of the Cape Fear River with only 3,060 residents wins big on Southern beauty and charm. Everyone’s your neighbor here, and most of the town’s residents walk, bike or drive golf carts down Southport’s oak-tree-lined streets to enjoy a morning coffee at Port City Java, browse antique shops and galleries, and head to the waterfront for a table—and delicious fish tacos—on the pier of Fishy Fishy Café.
“One stroll through town (and perhaps a stop at Bull Frog Corner, with its barrels of penny candy) makes it easy to see why Southport has long been sought-after as a film location. Bright white cottages with red roofs, stately sea captains’ homes, two lighthouses, and water in seemingly every direction (what with the confluence of the river and the Intracoastal Waterway) create vistas at every bend in the road. It’s a vintage postcard sent from a halcyon past.
“In addition to the town’s harbor-front pleasures—the jaw-dropping views of massive container ships navigating toward the ocean from inland Wilmington, plus a narrow strand of sand along the water—Southport is also a quick ferry-boat ride out to Bald Head Island, boasting one of North Carolina’s most stunning beaches. Finally, there’s nothing small about the Independence Day party here: Southport swells with revelers who come to celebrate at the N.C. Fourth of July Festival—a truly all-American weekend.”
Ken Keegan Real Estate Broker
(910) 523-0903 mobileEmail Mewww.KenKeegan.com Click here for more information on Brunswick, County Real Estate St. James Plantation
No comments:
Post a Comment