Today marks the beginning of our 5th year of publishing Scenic 98 Coastal. It seems like yesterday that we started on this adventure. On April 14, 2022, we launched the first issue without a clear path to what this newsletter would become. “Your readers will let you know what they want,” we were advised. And that’s exactly what has happened. Baby steps.

Four years in, we have a much better understanding of why subscribers subscribe. We hear from readers all the time about content that hits home or strikes a good memory from the past. Newcomers to the area tell us that Scenic 98 Coastal raises their awareness of places to go to dine or be entertained. That’s what it's all about, right?

This has been an organic process, with local content from all areas of the Gulf Coast, especially between Mobile and Pensacola. The stories we tell are mostly written by local folks who have lived in the area a long time. They speak from experience about things you may or may not know. Contributing writers are curious and have a way of capturing a moment, or adding context to a subject we encounter in the Scenic 98 Coastal footprint.

We view this area as a playground for discovery and exploration. Whether it’s a venture to Fort. Morgan to watch the migratory birds, be weighed, examined, banded, and refreshed after they arrived from a long journey across the Gulf. Attending a concert at Live at Five in Fairhope or the Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, we are captivated by all this area has to offer. 

We encourage exploration and participation, whether it’s on the water, at the beach, or down the road a bit. From shopping at small businesses that are fun and different, like Dr. Music in Fairhope, or The Blind Butcher in Mobile, to restaurant venues like Dharma Blue and Jackson’s Steakhouse in Pensacola, we try to give you the back story. 

We hope to offer a bit of insight as to how people landed in this area, and how they ended up doing what they do. We think telling these stories helps build relationships within the community. It keeps us busy and gets us out and about. 

I must say, Scenic 98 Coastal has us living our best lives. From wonderful music venues, live performances, or discovering a new restaurant that wows us with a memorable dining experience, hopefully topped off with a spectacular view, we hope that receiving the newsletter each Wednesday morning inspires you to try new things. There is so much to do and see wherever you go. 

Communities are made better by those who choose to get involved, so we enjoy highlighting the non-profits and conservation organizations that, collectively, are protecting this place we love. Day Trips or short extended stay trips along our coast provide amazing opportunities to enjoy all that the Gulf Coast has to offer. I know we say this a lot, but it’s true; How fortunate are we to live where we do!

Stories about institutions like the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Airbus in Mobile, or American Magic relocating to Pensacola all have huge impacts on our area’s economy, and we need to have a better understanding of what that means for all of us. We enjoy getting to know new leaders like the Mobile Museum of Art’s John Carfagno or Stephen Savage at the Fairhope Film Festival.

Smaller business owners are doing big things that make everything better in our lives, like Sarah Clark and Bay Gourmet opening Crown Hall on St. Louis Street in Mobile, or how MariCarmen Joseph was chosen to open her exceptional Carmen’s Lunch Bar and Tapas sidewalk cafe on Palafox Street. This was after Quint and Rishey Studer hosted a contest to attract a restaurant to their transformational project at the Bodacious Olive.

We think everyone has a story. We enjoy sharing a peek behind the scenes, so you know who is making our neck of the woods a fun place to live, work, and play. We have written about special people like Susie Foster and Dream Catcher Farm in Silverhill, Christie and Darren at Costello’s Butcher and Deli in West Pensacola, and Erin Langley at Eastern Shore Repertory Theater, all making a huge difference in our communities.

We feel very fortunate that people like Nic Schuck reached out to us about his third novel, Green Flash at Sunset, and he is now a featured writer for Scenic 98 Coastal. Peter McGowin called recently to say he had a few stories that he’d like to share. We said bring it, and loved what he had to offer. Different voices have joined us over the first four years, and we hope more will follow. Promoting and bringing attention to local writers is foundational to us.

Of course, we have those who have been contributing since the beginning, like Gina Lanaux, Theresa Lacey, and Jim Hannaford (I call him Jimmy Lee, his musical stage name). Guest appearances by John Nielsen, Elenor Ford, Frances McGowin, and Sarah Robinson are always appreciated. Discovering people and stories that are recommended to us is fun and exciting, and we always get two or three new ideas in every interview we do.

Interviewing is key to creating good content. When you sit down with a person, you get a real story, with all the twists and turns that you wouldn’t get with a fixed set of questions. You never know where a story will take you. 

I remember wrapping up an interview with John Nodar, meteorologist with WKRG, when, much to my surprise, he said, “I don’t know if this should go in the story, but I was arrested once.” Turns out he had hopped a freight train from the air force base in upstate New York, where he was stationed, to get to a college campus to have some fun. “Fairly innocent,” I thought, so I told him, “I’m going to include that in the story. If you don’t like it, we will take it out.” It stayed and made the story better and more endearing.

The process of storytelling is fun. Schedule a place to meet and get to know your subject by asking lots of questions, exploring the different paths that appear, then coming back to my home office to construct a story that seems to flow. I mull over it for a day or two with edits and changes. (I know I’m wordy, Gina Lanaux, our Editor, tells me this all the time) It's a very therapeutic process.

When I think a story has captured all the salient parts, I email it to whomever we are writing about for changes, corrections, or additions. “It’s your story,” I tell them. “Make it say what you want.” Then we gather a few images that work well and look for the best issue for it to appear. I find most people appreciate their story being told correctly. For me, it is a discovery process, and when it’s done, I feel like I’ve made a new friend.

We’ve been fortunate to have a small group of sponsors who like what we are doing. I think they most enjoy the idea of a weekly email newsletter that tries to always be positive, even if the subject matter is hard. We keep negativity, politics, and religion out of Scenic 98 Coastal. It’s meant to be a respite from the news and offer readers insight as to what’s happening and who is behind making life more fun and interesting in our area. 

We hope what we are doing makes our readers want to get out and explore. We get asked a lot about where to go, what to do, and, especially, where to eat. We curate (love that word) a weekly listing of events from Mobile to Pensacola each week. It appears on Wednesdays as Tidbits and Best Bets. It’s not comprehensive, but it usually has something for everyone, whether it's a festival, a play, a concert, or something for the family to enjoy with kids. Tidbits is updated on our website each Wednesday so you can see your choices and make plans for the weekend. 

This past year was productive, and we spent a lot of time planning for the future. Content is King. That’s our mantra. We feel like, after four years, we have a pretty good idea about what content people want to enjoy. Attracting different voices from different areas of the Scenic 98 Coastal footprint is an ongoing and fun experience. Who doesn’t love a good story and storyteller! 

In year five, we are focused on bringing in a few more voices, as well as some talented, experienced people, to help with production and help spread the word. Most of our growth to date has been word of mouth. That's terrific. We need to drive that growth, now at about 7,000 subscribers, through exposure at events and social media. We are committed to Locally Grown Organic Content, which means real people who have grown up here most of their lives writing real stories about real people and places you should know about. As Cam Marston says, we are “Keepin’ it Real.”

We immensely enjoy what we do. It’s fun! It exposes us to good people doing good things along the coast. Frankly, it’s keeping us younger than we are, so bringing in a younger group to keep this going after our batteries run out is at the forefront of our minds. Becoming a reliable source for information about local people by local people you can trust is what we hope to deliver to our subscribers.

Scenic 98 Coastal has always been a work in progress. Built from the ground up, in the hare and the tortoise race, we are the tortoise. Our friend, David Gibson (Judge Roy Bean Small Batch Bourbon), who has been a trusted ally and consultant, put together this graphic piece that summarizes our first four years and paints a nice picture of where we are going in the future. I hope you will take a look.

Lastly, thanks for allowing us this 5th Anniversary indulgence. As always, 

We Are Glad You Are Here. Enjoy!