From Tarpon Springs to Panama City Beach is like night and day. Because of difficult air schedules, it was a car from New Orleans’ planning meetings for the Storm Warning events to the boat docked at Bay Point Marina in St. Andrews Bay off the Grand Lagoon. We would soon be re-tracking the car route with the boat. Panama City TV 13 began the day coming out to the boat and filing a story about hurricane protection and the America’s WETLAND call for coastal sustainability. Since the area is safe harbor for big ships in big storms because of the Bay’s depth, hurricane news is big here. This beach was very popular for vacations when I was a kid, but it was hardly recognizable after so many years upon returning. This stretch from Destin to Panama City Beach is fondly referred to as the Cajun Riviera, owing this distinction to the thousands who venture across I-10 to Hwy 98 from Louisiana in search of fun and sun. Downtown Panama City was never a place one visited, but that was the stop for dinner last night at the Shrimpboat Restaurant which has been reincarnated after being closed for many years as a symbol of the historic St. Andrews district. The fish here is FRESH, being taken daily from the Gulf and grilled over pecan planks. My advice to anyone visiting Panama City is to take the short drive and enjoy this delicacy. After the long Gulf crossing, the boat was screaming for attention. Oil, fan belts, and hose clamps were the new maintenance items to get ready for the weekend’s run to Destin and ultimately Pensacola, where the tour will rest again during the week. With the winds picking up, it will be the inside route that will run past Eglin Air Force Base, one of many military bases that dot this coast of Florida, including the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, better known as home to the Blue Angels ace flying team and pride of the Navy. Hmm. Let me see, the Air Force is here but the NAVY has the ace flyers. We’ll try to figure that out by time we get back up on tomorrow’s blog and that might be harder than understanding why beaches in Florida’s panhandle would be attacked by Cajuns! Happy Sails!
Battleship grounds - Moblie, Alabama
Military bases and monuments everywhere
Beginning of stormy weekend
Pensacola's white sandy beaches
Panama City's version of the sinkling of the Titanic
Sunset at Bay Point Marina - Panama City, FL
