Chapter 29 - Our Panama City Beach Adventure
Happy Valentine's Day from the Campion's!
We left on a month-long road trip to Panama City Beach (PCB) in the Florida Panhandle on February 3 with Charlie along for the ride.
The highlight of our trip down to Florida was a stop in Franklin, TN, a quintessential small town exuding lots Southern charm outside of Nashville.
The 16-block historic downtown, adorned with Victorian houses, fed my love of historic buildings; especially historic downtowns.
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| It was cloudy and windy when we arrived...highs in the 50s. Brrrrrrr |
Arriving in Panama City Beach (PCB) on February 5, we were greeted with unexpected chilly winds, prompting us to don stocking hats even on the back patio. The aftermath of a January 9 tornado was evident.
Check out this house that fell off its foundation in the tornado. This is the street side of the house.
Here is the beach side of the same house. Crazy!
This “boat condo”, where they dry dock very expensive boats, was ripped apart too with the boats still racked.
Venturing into Downtown PCB and Historic St. Andrews on February 8, we explored the area's charm and sought out the "greetings from" murals, discovering a particular favorite in PCB.
Fun mural!
A fun planter in downtown PCB.
We couldn’t pass up a photo at the Kissing Booth.
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| This car was covered in bumper stickers….now that’s a creative paint job. |
A biking excursion to St. Andrew's State Park on February 9 treated us to a scenic walk on the beach and a little seashell hunting along PCB's approximately 9 miles of Gulf of Mexico shoreline.
The white sand beach was so beautiful….Charlie really blends into the sand.
PCB's authentic beachy vibe, characterized by bike lanes, wide sandy beaches, a mix of old and new housing, dog-friendly atmosphere, and super friendly people appealed to us. However, the city's sprawling layout and overwhelming kid-friendly and retirement environment were big downsides.
The Emerald Coast's beauty became evident as we explored, and the PCB Farmers Market visit on February 10 led to a whimsical addition to our journey – a cute shell crab mascot we affectionately named Crabby.
This sparked our creativity, inspiring thoughts of crafting a tangible "crabby mascot" to accompany us on our Crabby & Chipper Travels journeys. Stay tuned for its grand debut in the near future!
Our travels took us to Port St. Joe, a quaint coastal town on February 13 that is about 45 minutes from PCB.
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| Port St. Joe has a very picturesque lighthouse. |
After our return from Port St. Joe, we tried to enjoy our first afternoon at the beach, but it was still pretty chilly.
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| I think this is the first time we have sat on the beach in jackets. |
Corp said this dead turtle was huge. I was bummed I missed it while walking the other way on the beach and wonder where they found it.
We also got to see the thunderous spectacle of fighter jets from Tyndall Air Force Base performing aerial acrobatics above the water. They are so incredible to watch.
Valentine's Day began with sweet treats from Palour Doughnuts.
After our sugar rush we drove to Dothan, AL, the self-proclaimed peanut capital of the world. Can you believe we went there and didn’t even have a peanut. We wanted to try boiled peanuts, but learned they were out of season. Later in our trip, we were able to try boiled peanuts, both cold and hot varieties, and didn’t like them.
Dothan, AL was disappointing. There was really nothing there, but they did have some neat murals. We were told they had 20+ murals downtown, but we only found about 10 total.
They had a lot of themed murals….country music theme pictured here.
This veterans mural was neat because the kids were pulling back the American flag looking at a historic photo of the downtown.
We ended Valentine’s Day with a pic in front of a Valentines Day tree that was decorated in the neighborhood.
We explored the 30A Farmers Market in Rosemary Beach on February 18. We were not impressed with this farmer's market. Not much to choose from and really overpriced.
I wonder if you can rent a bicycle in Rosemary Beach?
Charlie's health took a temporary hit on February 19, but with some phone calls and timely medication, he recovered from another bout of pancreatitis.
On February 21 we finally had a beach day with pretty good FL weather.
Our road trip to Apalachicola and Cape San Blas on pristine white powdery sand was a highlight on February 26?, offering a glimpse into Apalachicola's historic downtown and its charming shops.
Apalachicola might be the Oyster Capital of the World, but we didn’t try them.
Many buildings had the old Florida feel.
These sun catchers were made from old bike rims.
We left PCB on February 28 and stopped by Seaside, FL on the way to Pensacola, FL. As a career city planner, Seaside was all the rage when I was in college studying community development. We had to stop there knowing we were going to be so close.
Seaside is described as "the birthplace of the New Urbanism design movement with community-inspired, family-friendly, people-friendly, all-year-round fun and inviting destination. Its beach cottages, open spaces, pedestrian brick roads, and places of business, were all built with a collective intention so people could walk, move, and gather freely.” It was also the filming location of the 1998 movie “The Truman Show” starring Jim Carrey. I can't imagine living there, but was happy to see it.
We found it to be a town full of tourists staying in rich people's AirBnb's and it was so annoying that everything was so much the same.
Photo copyright: Kurt Lischka.
As you can see, this is not what I would consider a beach cottage. Many cottages were bigger than this one in the 40-acre planned community.
The East Hill neighborhood in Pensacola, FL holds a special spot in our hearts. It marks the first destination of Crabby & Chipper Travels – the beginning of our traveling adventure, our Chapter One in December 2021. We stopped by the AirBnb that we stayed at and chatted with our host Bonnie. We were the first dog guests she accepted. Charlie loved her cats Sky and Shine. We also stopped by the Alga Brewery where Corp enjoyed his favorite East Hillsner.
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Another fun mural…this one outside the Alga Brewery.
The highlight of our one-day Pensacola visit was dinner at Jaco’s with our friends Steve and Kim from Pace, FL.
On February 29, we made a pit stop in Tupelo, MS, also known as Elvis Presley's birthplace. Surprisingly, Elvis's modest childhood home and the designated Great American Main Street downtown left us wanting more, though the captivating mural added a touch of artistic flair to our travels.
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| Another fun mural! |
Miscellaneous random cute/funny/interesting/weird pics/videos below…
During one of our hotel stays, Charlie crawled in my bag to make sure we wouldn’t leave him behind.
A typical stretch of beach front houses amongst the large condo buildings.
they loved the Scooby shots we bought them.
We saw this picture and knew Charlie wasn’t feeling well. We think he had pancreatitis and were able to get him some meds so he was feeling better pretty quickly.
We went to one neighborhood in PCB where all the houses and mailboxes looked the same.
6 person cars to rent.
Another crazy rental.
Charlie on an evening bike ride. He really enjoys riding in the basket and gets lots of looks from people
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We tried steamed Royal Red shrimp with cajun seasoning and drawn butter. Even though we had to peel them, they were delicious!!!!
The morning of our last hotel stay Charlie was ready to leave. Little did he know we had an 11 hour ride ahead of us.
Well, that's a wrap for Chapter 28. We still really like Pensacola, but Panama City Beach fell short of our expectations.
And the ongoing quest for our favorite place continues....until next time!
Corp (Crabby) & Tammy (Chipper)
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