G&D's Florida Panhandle Vacation Pictures - June 2017

[dzJeepChic 1,874]

George and I just got back from a trip to the 'Redneck Riviera' AKA the Florida Panhandle. We flew to Pensacola and got a VRBO 100 miles east at Inlet Beach, which is closer to Panama City Beach.

 

Going over Pensacola Bay on the way to our rental, I got my first glimpse of the white sand / blue water beaches that run up and down this coastline.

 

 

South Walton Beach was just a few steps down the street from our rental, and the first thing we did when we got there was walk to the beach to check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

Selfie

 

 

Walking back through the neighborhood:

 

 

 

 

The next day we went exploring by car. First stop was at Panama City Beach, which was gorgeous and crowded.

 

 

 

One of the city piers in the background

 

 

 

Down the road in Panama City we saw this upside down building a building shaped like a ship:

 

 

We drove past Tydall Air Force Base and saw a few jets flying by:

 

 

Then we went to Mexico Beach to see our old Jeeping buddy George (George's other brother George ), who works on a fishing boat. In the summer they do fishing charters, and in the winter they do commercial fishing. He had arranged for us to hang out on an upper deck waiting for the boat to come in so we could watch them unload the catch of the day. The dock is in a channel called Mexico Beach Canal that goes way back into town. We saw plenty of boats go by on their way home, and this smart pelican who caught a great big fish while we were waiting.

 

 

 

Our friend George's boat coming in, and watching him unload fish. Get a load of those fish!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Back at the rental that evening we went for a walk on the beach going the other way:

 

 

G in a sand castle

 

 

 

Later in the week we went back to Mexico Beach and beyond, to check out St. Joseph Bay Aquatic Preserve. From Mexico Beach all the way down into St. Joseph Bay was this dark, coffee-colored water. When we asked our friend George about it he said it happens when they get a lot of rain because fresh water runoff draining out of the canals is stained by dead fall, leaves, pine needles and such. He said it washes away eventually.

 

Even though I know why it's that color, I couldn't get myself to swim in it:

 

 

 

At St. Joseph Bay Aquatic Preserve we hung out at the beach on the ocean side (vs. the bay side) and went swimming.

 

 

 

The last couple days we were there it started getting stormy. At first it was just a little windy and the surf really picked up. That was the most fun we had at the beach because it was fun to play in the waves. But soon they rose the 'NO SWIMMING' flags, and it began to rain a lot. We went to Panama City Beach to have lunch with the other George and everybody else who was on vacation that week; since you couldn't go to the beach, everybody was at the restaurants.

 

By now it was clear that this storm was getting serious; it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Cindy. Back at the rental I got an email from our airline suggesting we consider flying home a day early rather than risking our scheduled flight being cancelled, so we took them up on it and got home Wednesday night.

 

So now we've been to Florida twice, and we got run out of there both times by a storm!

 

[theksmith 2,927]

thanks for posting the report D!

 

what was the hi/lo temps while you were there?

[dzJeepChic 1,874]

thanks for posting the report D!

 

what was the hi/lo temps while you were there?

 

The weather was really nice! The highs were mostly in the mid 80's and one afternoon it went up to 88. It was hot if you were standing in the sun for sure. G bought us an umbrella the day after I got burnt.

From our place there was usually a nice ocean breeze and it cooled off really nice in the afternoon and evenings. The lows were 71 - 77; it was really nice in the mornings and evenings.

[kaspily 2]

Looks like you guys had a great time! The beaches look wonderful!

[Ladybug 241]

Great pics!

The fact that you got chased out of Florida on both your visits is a good message...its a good place to visit, but don't move there! LOL!

smiles, ladybug

[jgaz 418]

Nice pics! Thanks for posting them.

[ob1jeeper 362]

Ha Ha... You guys were near Destin / Ft Walton Beach the same time my boating club was there for thier annual fishing tournament, which I missed (again) . They got weathered out (again) as well.

 

That part of Florida (the whole of the "Emerald Coast") is indeed a beautiful place to vacation, however after the weather my sister and husband experienced in the years they lived there, before retiring to the Ozarks, I'm also not going to be putting it very high up on the places I want to retire to...