Reminiscing On 20 Years of Trends

Remembering the places and things popular 20 years ago
Zandra Wolfgram,
The One Place You Could go 20 Years Ago That you Can’t Wait to Go To Again: The Red Bar Photo by Lawrence Davidson

Remember when every modern home had an 8-track tape player, no cool teenager went anywhere without a Walkman and smoking wasn’t bad for us?

Today, our daily lives evolve ever so quickly.

Why Google a question, when you can simply ask an all-knowing digital device named Alexa whose “brain” is in the “clouds”? Who knows what the next 20 years will bring?

For now, let’s pause a nanosecond to enjoy the nostalgia of remembering the things, places and modern conveniences that have shaped the Emerald Coast and our daily lives.

20 Things  We Did Without

20 Years Ago

1. Amazon Alexa

2. iPods, iPads, iPhones & iTunes

3. Texting

4. Uber & Lyft

5. Meal Kits

6. Replay review in sports

7. High-def flat-screen TVs

8. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

9. Google, Craigslist & YouTube

10. Crocs

11. American Idol, America’s Got Talent & Dancing with the Stars

12. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest

13. Florida’s smoke-free law

14. Credit cards with chips

15. Vertical driver’s licenses for 21 and under

16. Tinder

17. GrubHub, Door Dash & Our Town Delivery

18. Walmart & Target delivery

19. Venmo

20. Netflix

20 Places We Couldn’t Go 20 Years Ago

1. The Henderson Hotel

2. The Gulf Hotel in downtown Fort Walton Beach

3. The Village of Baytowne Wharf

4. Grand Boulevard at Sandestin

5. The Pointe on 30A

6. Destin Commons

7. Emerald Grande at HarborWalk Village

8. Wyland Whaling Wall at Legendary Grand

9. Emerald Coast Conference Center

10. Uptown Station

11. WaterSound, Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach, Inlet Beach

12. Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast

13. Food for Thought, Emerald Coast Autism Center & Children in Crisis

14. 30Avenue

15. The new Market Shops in Miramar & City Market in Destin    

16. Nine Mile Road shops in Pensacola

17. Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport

18. YOLO or BOTE shops

19. The Shops of Grayton

20. The Bay, Boshamps & Brotula’s

20 Things We Thought We Couldn’t Live Without until the 2000s … or so

1. Alarm clocks

2. Camera film

3. Dial-up modems

4. Fax machines

5. Slide projectors

6. Answering machines

7. Card catalogs

8. Rolodex

9. Phone booths

10. Phone books

11. Highway maps

12. Rotary phones

13. Car ashtrays

14. Pagers

15. 8-track tapes

16. Console TVs

17. Overhead projectors

18. Calculator watches

19. Floppy disks

20. The Walkman

Categories: 20th Anniversary of EC, History

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