K sister trip to Panama City Beach Florida…yep Florida

April 2021

During my stay at the 50 and over RV resort my friend Kara, aka K sis, wanted to come for a visit! She wanted sunshine and the beach!

I looked on the map, and about an hour south of me was Panama City Beach. Now in my other blog posts I roast Florida…well, this trip changed my perception. At least for the panhandle anyway. Let’s not go too far with this.

I found an Airbnb that was within walking distance of the beach, and about 40 miles west of Panama City Beach. They also didn’t care if you have pets with you…score! It wasn’t too bad of a price, just a little over $100 per night. Split that in two and it was very affordable!

Friday

Kara flew into the nearest airport fairly early in the morning. I drove to pick her up and to take her back to the RV park. We couldn’t check into the Airbnb until after 3pm…but that was ok, we did some shopping to kill the time. Once there I took her on a mini tour of the RV park, then I packed up my suitcase and all of the dog and cat gear to put in the truck. We all loaded into the cab of the truck and drove straight to the Airbnb. I brought my wagon so we could load everything into it to take it up the elevator and into our second story condo! This condo also had a pool and hottub…double score!!!

Parley and Sydney were right at home there, but it took Murray a day to figure out he could get out of his backpack.

After loading up all our stuff we made some drinks and prepared some snacky food for us to eat! We also rented a golf cart which was already at the condo when we go there! It wasn’t the best running cart, but it worked! We called it the Fred Flintstone car. It was the cheapest rental I could find. It was about $50 per day…not too shabby!

And because this was only a long weekend trip, we spared no time in heading out in the golf cart. We headed west to see where we could go get into trouble…I mean dinner, where we could get dinner.

We found the Watercolor Inn…amazing. The food, the drinks and especially the view was amazing. Did I say it was amazing? Even though it was a long golf cart ride down the road, it was worth it. Plus, they had a special parking garage just for golf carts…so fancy.

Saturday

We woke up sort of early and drove the golf cart to the nail salon for pedicures! So nice!! Our toes needed it!!!

After our pedi’s we headed back to the condo for drinks and to get ready to head into town!

But for some reason, there was no Lyft’s, Uber’s or taxis that would take us into Panama City Beach…WTF.

We finally found a guy with a van who usually does airport runs. We paid him a horribly high rate to get to town. He said the pandemic is what caused all the ride options to disappear. They are probably back now!

We got dropped off at Pier Park. It had lots of cool shops, and as you got closer to the ocean there were more and more restaurants and bars. We saw that they had a Margaritaville…perfect! We went in and sat at the bar and ordered food and lots of drinks!! And of course, we made friends with the bartender…as per usual.

We were going to go clubbing that night, but we were not guaranteed a ride back to the condo after the bars close. So, we paid another million dollars to the guy in the van for a ride. Craziness…

Sunday

The next day we decided to head to the beach…it was so hot, but the sand was so soft! It was also a little windy, we had to make sure our stuff didn’t blow away. We lasted a couple of hours before it got too hot for us, and we headed back to the condo to get ready for another night out!

After getting all dolled up, we headed back to Water Color for more drinks and food, so amazing, we had been dreaming of the food and drinks there since our first visit. We left just as the sun was setting, and as we drove back towards the condo we hit a couple of other bars that were open.

Then we found a piano bar, Old Florida Fish House, that was open, and had a table by the stage! Now this bar was fun! We met a huge group of women there that were a lot of fun! They reminded us of our crew. Let’s just say there were lots of drinks drank, glasses broken, dancing and singing, lots of singing! Woohoo!

Monday

The next morning, we went on a gator tour…so much fun! We drove the truck under a highway underpass and found the Wild Thang Gator Tours office. There were kitties that lived there, which of course we made friends with, so cute.

After many pictures at the office, they asked if we wanted to hold a gator they had in captivity. I of course said yes right away with no hesitation! Kara on the other hand wasn’t as sure. But she did touch it with one finger…barely.

We did not see any gators while on the hovercraft, but the sun was out, and it was amazing to be on the water zipping around the marshes. The tour guide was really good too!!

After the gator tour we drove into Panama City Beach for lunch! We ate at Margaritaville once again, we are creatures of habit for sure. Then we walked around Pier Park and the actual pier spending time in many bars and shops!! It was so much fun, and the day quickly turned into night as we said hello to the amazing moon!! It was Kara’s last night there. And the golf cart was being picked up the next morning. But we definitely took full advantage of Kara’s last night there!

Tuesday

The next morning was Kara’s last day (insert sad face here). And our golf cart got picked up before we even woke up. The trip went by way to fast!

We had booked massages for that morning, awesome massages, at Hand & Stone. Ahhhhhh, much needed!!

In addition to the massage, we also made sure to take a dip in the hot tub at the condo at the end of each day we were there. It was glorious and relaxing!!! Met many couples who also had the same idea we did!

After our amazing massages we decided to head back into Panama City Beach before I had to take Kara to the airport. We ate lunch, and went to many beach bars, and beach shops. We primarily sat in the outside areas of the bars right on the beach. It was so cool! The weather was so nice, and the temperature was perfect!

In driving around town, we even saw an upside down house!

After taking Kara to the airport and saying our goodbye’s, I went back to the condo and started to pack everything up so that it would be easy to leave in the morning! I had booked an extra night at the condo for me so that the pets would be able to have a place to stay while we spent Kara’s last day in town.

Wednesday

The next morning after packing everything into the truck I could not find Sydney. Sigh…not again cat!!! I searched everywhere! As I was walking out the door of the condo a maintenance guy came up and said he was going to do work on the condo (which I had been told about by the owner, so no stranger danger here).

I told him that I could not find my cat, and to call me if he saw her. The second I drove out of the parking lot, he called me. She had been somewhere up in the hide a bed couch. That cat…so I turned around and picked her up.

Before you all say how could I just leave…again, I had spent an hour inside and an hour outside looking for her. I didn’t want to be charged for a late check out. And I knew she would eventually be found…again, dang cat.

Then as we were all leaving town to head back to the RV park the air conditioning in my truck went out…of course it did.

Views: 27