We planned a family beach vacation around Alex’s baseball tournament in Panama City Beach, Florida.
It was absolutely glorious and the first time Alex has been to the beach in his memory! He was born in Hawaii, but we moved to Utah when he was just a few months old.
We left Ohio on 14 June, and stayed in Homewood Suites (super nice!) south of Birmingham. We got Zaxby’s for dinner and ate by the pool.
We arrived in Panama City Beach on Saturday evening, 15 June.
I chose Tidewater Resort for their two pools and other fun amenities like a cute bar and shop, its proximity to the beach, walking to restaurants and Pier Park, and near the baseball facilities.
It was a nice place. Lots of street construction going on, but no real concerns and they have a lovely parking garage and walk over bridge.
There are rules for where you can place beach tents and chairs. Security patrols the property and we felt safe and protected. There are kitties who live under the boardwalk!
Our condo was on the 18th floor.
Balcony beach view:
View from our front door of a lagoon and Pier Park:
I thought everything was just lovely and clean and beautiful. My only real complaint were no hooks to hang towels or wet swimwear which I thought was a sad oversight.
I had read the horrifying reviews about the elevators, and they did take a while, but we only had two or three times when we actually waited more than 10 minutes. We had to plan at checkin and checkout with the luggage trolleys which take up a lot of space and weight. Many people were irritable, but it is what it is. I thought all the staff was very friendly and helpful.
We were pretty exhausted after driving two days and unloading the cars. We just got Marco’s pizza that first night.
Sunday and Monday were fun beach days for us, and the only days the water, waves, currents weren’t that scary.
It was red and double red flags every day after that. Some people even died which was so tragic.
Sunday was Father’s Day and the evening was absolutely torrential rain! We just ended up at Whataburger for dinner. Some local bars and restaurants actually got flooded. It was a mess!
Monday, mostly the whole team ate at Sharky’s and it was just adorable.
Craig, our waiter, was outstanding! The food is great and fun drinks in cute souvenir cups! Playgrounds and sand volleyball for the kids. A lovely experience all around.
Tori and I chose to walk back to our condo and we stopped at Pier Park to walk around. We stopped in a few of the tourist shops. There are some restaurants and bars and boutiques in Pier Park, popular places like Margaritaville and Dick’s Last Resort. At the circle, there is Sky Wheel and amusements like IMAX and Dave and Buster’s and some other places. It connects to the nicer shopping mall with Target, Dillard’s and JCPenney off 98/30A.
Tuesday, 18 June, was the official beginning of the baseball tournament and the boys won both their pool play games. In the afternoon, there were very disorganized skills competitions with misinformation, but the boys had fun.
Some of the boys got a golf cart with older brothers to cruise around. Alex said that was his favorite part of the trip!
We ate dinner at Sandbar. Three generations veteran family-owned and lots of veteran memorabilia inside. It was great, with live music and delicious food.
Wednesday and Thursday was double elimination tournament play. We didn’t make it to Thursday.
Wednesday night, 19 June, was a coach dinner at Diego’s Burrito Factory & Margarita Bar, as a consolation. It’s a really cute little beach taco bar. Counter orders and then they bring the food. Order drinks at the bar. Very basic menu excellently executed.
Thursday night, 20 June, we went to Swampy Jack’s Wongo Adventure, which is built on the old site of The Miracle Strip.
They tried to keep the memory alive of the Miracle Strip fun games and rides and it was a rush down memory lane for me!
They have an absolutely beautiful putt-putt course.
Friday, 21 June, we met another baseball family at Runaway Island and I got some gorgeous flounder.
Saturday, 22 June, Aaron and Alex left early and stayed in Huntsville to see a Trash Pandas game, then home for a local baseball camp.
We went shopping at some local thrift stores.
The Best thrift store in PCB is Save the Closet that helps hurricane victims.
We found some fun and silly things, like artsy sunglasses and a vintage handmade polyester pantsuit.
The photos are from when Miracle Strip was destroyed in the hurricane Opal in 1995.
The best ice cream is at Bruster’s!
We had dinner at Salty Sue’s and the fish and shrimp were overcooked, but the okra and hush puppies were great!
Sunday, 23 June, we drove to the Destin outlet mall. There’s a Häagen-Dazs shop there! Vans and Converse!
We stopped at Donut Hole for a snack!
We stopped in Seaside on the way back and that is the most beautiful white sand beach!
We ate dinner on the boardwalk. It’s not much different than my memories!
Monday, 24 June, we found some other thrift stores and drove around. It was our last day.
We checked out Rosemary Beach for some photos. It’s a lovely little place.
We ate dinner on the Pier at Hook’d right at sunset. The food was so fresh and delicious. The staff is wonderful!
We walked the beach back to our condo.
We left Tuesday, 25 June, stayed a night in Athens, AL, then home. It was hot in Alabama – 105°!
We loved the beach and Alex can’t wait to go back. I have done a good job raising him right.
