Panama City Beach, FL

My trip to Panama City Beach, Florida for Labor Day was wonderful. I flew into the brand new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport bright and early on Thursday morning, September 2nd. The flight was quick and uneventful, the only interesting thing being halfway through the flight when the pilot came on the intercom and told everyone to look out the left windows of the plane. Out over the ocean, you could see the white line of Hurricane Earl, which was pretty cool.

My mom picked me up at the airport in Panama City since Andrew needed to stay in Auburn for his classes. It was really good to see her, especially since I had not seen her since May and her birthday was that previous Sunday. We grabbed lunch at a place I had never eaten before called J. Michael's Restaurant which is sort of catty corner from Capt. Anderson's. It was good, solid beach food but not necessarily somewhere I would put on my must eat list. 

We did a little shopping after lunch, walked out to the beach for a few minutes, and went to Capt. Anderson's for dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday. Capt. Anderson's is my favorite restaurant. Ever. And it's also one of my mom's favorites. As usual, we both got grilled grouper and as usual, it was amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I forgot to take a picture of it until I was halfway through eating it. We also had mozzarella sticks, salads, rice rolls, and cheesecake which was all fantastic as well.

The next day, we slept in a bit and got biscuits and sausage gravy at Thomas Donuts which is a great little donut shop on Front Beach Road. Once we got out and about, we drove around, did a little shopping, and generally enjoyed being at the beach (especially with my mom's dark blue convertible bug!) For lunch we went to place my mom had been a long time ago and I had never been - Hunt's Oyster Bar & Seafood Restaurant in downtown Panama City (no relation to Hunt's in Dothan.) Before I had tried Hunt's in Panama City, Shuckums on Front Beach Road in Panama City had my favorite baked oyster (I don't like raw oysters). Now Hunt's has won this title for me. They had such an amazing flavor and were baked, as most places do, with garlic and Parmesan cheese and butter. We also had fried shrimp, which were fantastic. Don't let the hole in the wall appearance fool you - Hunt's has gained a place on my must eat list for Panama City.

My mom left to drive back to Dothan and Andrew left Auburn to drive to Panama City Friday afternoon. I had a few hours to myself so I spent them on the beach with a good book, of course. Andrew got there with Toby a little after dark. I was SO happy to see both of them! It had been since June 1st since I had seen Toby and since mid July since I had seen Andrew. We spent the next day being lazy, driving around, walking the beach, and watching football.

On Sunday, we went to St. Andrew's State Park. I had not been to St. Andrew's since I was very little and was looking forward to seeing it. There is a neat little bay area that is almost completely surrounded by rock where you can snorkel and see lots of different fish. We also spent time on the regular beach part where the water was crystal clear and extremely warm. We will have to start going to St. Andrew's more often when we're at the beach.

After spending the day at St. Andrew's State Park, we ate at a place Andrew had eaten at when he was in Panama City with his class over the summer - Captain's Table. Located almost next door to Hunt's, Captain's Table is another slightly hole in the wall looking place with amazing seafood. Andrew and I both had grilled fish (though I can't remember exactly which kinds), along with salads and key lime pie. Very good food and another addition to my must eat list.

The next day we were planning to leave later in the evening so we got up early and took Toby to the new dog beach across the street from Pier Park. Andrew and I learned last time that we came to the beach with Toby that he absolutely loved it, which was surprising to both of us. Even the water didn't seem to both him too much (though he certainly wasn't getting his feet wet on purpose). We walked up and down the beach with him a good bit, which he loved.

The entire time we were at the beach, there were people riding up and down the sand in golf carts - looking for and cleaning up tar balls we assumed. They seemed to be doing a great job because the one time we saw tar balls, they were completely gone the next day. It would take a lot for the oil to keep me out of the water or off the beaches. I love the Gulf beaches and they will always be my vacation spot of choice.