WGJ Travels: PCB Recap

It’s here…. the full recap of my adventure in Panama City Beach or PCB for short.

There is SO MUCH to share, let’s jump in….

Saturday night I could not sleep. We had to leave for the airport at 3:30 AM to catch our flight. I ended up spending a few hours staring at the Christmas tree downstairs before falling asleep on the couch. THANK goodness for alarms. I was up and dressed and ready to leave in the quickest time I’ve ever had. 

The drive to the airport was quick and easy considering it was 3:30 in the morning. I was a little too excited to go through security. After security, we made our way to the Delta Sky Club. We were about 15 minutes early before it actually opened at 5 AM. I was SO excited to be there I had Kyle take a photo of me in front of the sign.

Luckily, no one else was around so it was easy to snap. 

4:45 AM plus my perkiness was a bit much for Kyle, especially before coffee. HA! We checked into the club and I was in awe. Kyle knew exactly what to do- head straight for the Starbucks coffee machines. Smart man. We grabbed something to eat, and then in no time, it was time for us to head to our gate. There were 4 different flights boarding in the same at the same time. It was a bit chaotic. Again, I was so excited to board the plane. We were seated in the Comfort + section. Our flight was packed and I was in the middle seat. Luckily the man sitting by the window, was quiet and kind. 

When the beverage cart came around, I naturally ordered apple juice (are we surprised?!). After the apple juice, I pulled out my word search book and listened to some music. A few times when I glanced out the window, the sunrise was so pretty!

We arrived in Atlanta and we had 40 minutes until our connecting flight. Kyle knew exactly how to get from one terminal to another- with the help of a monorail train. We arrived to the gate with time to spare. We ended up sitting in the same row but not next to each other, which was a first for me. I had the window seat then Kyle had the middle seat. I had the sweetest couple sitting next to me. They noticed my luggage and my backpack were purple. The husband said to me, do you like LSU? I giggled and said “nope, I just like lavender.” I even pointed out that my phone was lavender too. I pulled out my word search book and listened to music.  We were again in comfort+ again and in this plane, it was bulkhead. Extra legroom AND a window. I was a happy girl.

We opened the door, and we were pleasantly surprised how beautiful the condo was! My favorite part, the balcony that had an unobstructed view of the beach and pier. I couldn’t wait to watch the sunsets from there. We got acquainted with the place and unpacked. Then I promptly took a nap for 2 hours on the comfy couch. I guess me not sleeping the night before finally caught up to me at 2:00 PM.

 

I woke up just in time for to watch the first sunset of our trip. I bundled up, took the comforter from the adorable bunkbeds and went out on the balcony with Kyle. The sunset was moody and dark. There were one strip of orange/yellow/red towards the horizon line. I was in awe of the view. This is exactly what I wanted. 

After the sunset, we got dressed and drove over to Pier Park to explore. We found there was an escape room, we signed up for “The Terminal” room at 6:45. We had a bit of time before that so we wandered over to Tootsies Orchid Lounge.

The original Tootsies is in Nashville. Tootsies is known for their country music. I was ecstatic, Kyle was excited for the drinks. We ordered Nachos and drinks. I had “the Loretta” it was delicious. There was a local singer performing and he did so good! My favorite song he sang was Big Green Tractor by Jason Aldean. I enjoyed the atmosphere of Tootsies, now I want to go to the original one.

After we got done, we walked back over to the Escape Room. We were able to go in early and start it. I had never been in an Escape room and it was a lot of fun. Slightly chaotic before I got the hang of it but we were able to solve the puzzle with 1 minute 15 seconds left.

After we got done in the escape room, I told Kyle I wanted to take a photo with the giant ornament. Pier Park was all decorated for Christmas, which made Pier Park even more joyful. I couldn’t pass up this photo op! I am so happy how these turned out. A sweet passerby, offered to take a photo of the two of us too!

Before heading back to the condo, we stopped at the Winn Dixie to get a corkscrew because our condo was missing one. We both did some work before falling asleep. It was a great first day and  I cannot wait to see what the rest of the week holds.

 

Monday 

 

We woke up around 7 and got ready for the day. I had some pizza for breakfast and then Kyle scooted to return the rental car and pick up a new one for the week.  We decided to keep the car for the week to make it easier to get around. While Kyle was doing the exchange, I video chatted with Mom and Dad to show them the condo. They were so impressed how nice it was!

 

After Kyle got back, we took a walk across the street to the beach. The sky was blue with not many clouds and it was much warmer than the day before.  Entered at beach entrance #53 and I immediately kicked off my boat shoes to feel the sand between my toes. It was so soft, which surprised me. I wanted to dip my toes into the gulf water; I was surprised it was so cold! I said to myself, Gab! It is November, what do you expect?!  I searched for shells and we walked towards the pier. I had Kyle take photos of me under the pier, which was an iconic photo spot, from all the PCB guides said. As we walked along the shore, I couldn’t get over how BLUE the water was. We wandered a little more on the beach on to the dog beach! I saw so many cute pups, living their best lives at the beach!

Our next stop was to enter The Russell Field Pier and walked out 1500 feet over the water. I happily paid the $4 entrance fee. We started walking and every so often I would stop to look over the side to see what was down below. I loved seeing the gradient of the water go from crystal clear to aqua to bright blue to dark blue. We were able to see so many neat things- a shark, schools of fish, large jelly fish, and my personal favorite, pelicans. I have never seen one in person and they are HUGE! They were just sitting in the water, riding the waves. One to my surprise, flew up on to the pier and just sat on the railing. I was in awe of him. His large beak, his wingspan, and his tiny eyes! He ended up taking a nap next to a fisherman who was fishing at the very end of the pier. The pelican wanted to go to this specific spot and he didn’t mind that EVERYONE was watching him. I wanted to pick him up under his wings and rest his beak on my shoulder and take him back to Jersey.

There were two fisherman/women on the pier and they ended up catching a starfish! They said it wasn’t even on the hook, it just on the line. I have never seen one so big before and up close. I touched it and it felt like wet scaly leather. After all that excitement, we took some photos and made our way back out.

We stopped at Margaretville for lunch, which was okay. Not my favorite restaurant of the week. After lunch we took a stroll through Pier Park to get coffee. I loved looking at all the different shops and made mental notes where I wanted to stop later in the week. We walked back to the condo, the long way, and then I sat outside on the balcony for a while with my coffee and worked on my blog. I love the views of the beach/water/pier. It was so relaxing. I ended up getting a lot of planning done for next year; this was one of the goals for this vacation- spending time planning for next year.

We brought the comforter out to the lounge chairs again on the balcony to watch the sunset. Tonight’s sunset was full of blues, yellows and oranges. The reflection on the water was really pretty. I am not over how lucky we were to witness these sunsets.  I was filled with happiness and gratitude as the sun dipped below the horizon.

I got ready and went to the gym while Kyle took a work call. The gym was really nice. I had it mostly to myself. I ran a 5k and stretched. Since it was warmer out, I decided to walk around the pool area and to my surprise it was heated. I did a few laps around the pool and by the fire pits. I was able to see the Ferris wheel all lit up. It looked magical from where I was. As I walked around the pool, how grateful I was to be here in this moment. I had dreamed about coming to Florida for a long time. It was nice to see it become a reality.

Once I got back, Kyle and I made dinner and watched I’ll Be Home For Christmas with the one and only Jonathan Taylor Thomas. It was just as good as I remembered it being. We had a really good day. I dreamt of that gulf water and that blue water.

 

Tuesday 

 

We woke up after 7 and went for a nice walk on the beach. I felt totally at home, finding lots of pretty shells and the sun was shining. I could have walked on that shoreline for hours! There is just something about the water that is really REALLY calming.  We saw a jet fly over the water really fast.  After our morning walk, we came back to the condo, made breakfast and promptly fell back  asleep until 1. Ha! While eating breakfast we saw 3 more jets, we think they were the Blue Angels! They were in perfect formation.

I worked a little more on my blog planning and then had lunch on the balcony. It was an overcast warm day. I ended up sitting on the balcony for a while again. This was such a treat having a balcony, I could have slept out there.

 

To continue our lazy day, I ended up watching an episode of Chicago fire before getting bundled up to watch the sunset. This sunset reminded me of a hologram- it was cloudy except for an opening in the sky. There were yellows, oranges and blues tonight. It was just as magical but totally different than the other two days.

After the sunset, we got ready and headed out to meet up with Kyle’s friends from high school, Jenner and Sam, who lived in Panama City. What a small world right? Kyle, Jenner and Sam who all went to high school in Boise, meeting up almost 15 years later in Panama City Beach, Florida for dinner. We went to Craft850 and we had a really nice time. We practically closed the place down; mind you it was 9:30 PM on a Tuesday in November. 

We had another great day but I was sad that tomorrow was going to be our last full day in Florida.

 

Wednesday 

 

I was up bright and early to see the sun rise, forgetting the sun doesn’t rise in the same place as it sets. HA! It was still a really beautiful morning. I was excited to really enjoy today being it was our last full day.  After getting some fresh air, I ate some breakfast- leftover pizza from the night before and we got ready.

Our first stop was St. Andrew’s State Park. I was excited to see the Northern part of Panama City Beach. Lots of souvenir shops and beach front properties. We arrived at St. Andrew’s and we drove around first to see what was there. Then we stopped the two wooden walkways to explore. The first one was just a small lookout over the swap. What I found so funny was the signs that said WARNING GATORS present. I was okay at the first walkway.

The second walkway, I got a little freaked out because again there was another sign that said WARNING Gators because once we got on the path, there was no distinct pathway, it was just a sand path on the ground AKA us being very close to the water and bushes with no protection if one of these alligators wanted to play. EEP! I stopped to take some photos of the foliage but I also kept looking around for a scaly friend. It was a really nice short walk. We ended up running into another family on this path too.

We got back to where we started and we went to the look out over the lake. It was really pretty. Our next and final stop in St. Andrew’s was the beach. Again once my shoes hit the sand, I threw them to the side and I rolled up my pants and I was down by the shore line quicker than a gator can chomp.

I was at home again, walking with the water lapping at my feet and my eyes glued to the sand looking for interesting shells. One of the first shells I found was a baby sand dollar. I should have snapped a photo of this before picking it up because when I picked it up, it spilt into to. I was so excited to find one of these. I have never saw a real one before.  I kept it cradled in my hand, thinking I would glue it back together once I got home. I stumbled upon this HUGE half of a sand dollar. I have never seen one so big and I was so excited it was right in front of me. It was heavy and not at all what I really expected. I kept walking and walking further and further away from my shoes that I threw down when I saw the water. It was so sunny and the water was SO blue! I made my way to the jetty and I had the biggest smile on my face and the biggest pile of shells in my hand.

I said to Kyle as we sat on the Jetty, we should have brought those sand chairs that were on the balcony. HA! Hindsight is everything.  Before grabbing my shoes, I plopped down in the sand for two reasons. To really soak in the view and to sort the shells that were overflowing in my hand. I started sorting the shells, putting the shells into different piles when a little bird came very close to me thinking I was feeding him. It was so cute. He wasn’t afraid and he didn’t scoot away when I went to reach for my phone. He was just so curious.

We made our back towards where my shoes were then as we turned to walk back to the car,  I saw this smaller area by the jetties. I had to go check it out . It was a wading pool protected by the beach and jetty. This area was empty! If you had little kids and they love to play in the water, this would be the perfect spot.

 

I was clutching my shoes in one hand, my other hand had a pile of sandy shells and I had the biggest smile on my face. I was in my happy place.

I dusted most of the sand off my feet, slipped my shoes back on and then placed the sandy pile of shells in the center console and we were off. 

 

I was hungry,  are we surprised? And on the highway, I saw a little bit ahead, a tall yellow sign. I knew exactly what that was- Waffle House. We had to stop; that was one of my must do’s for this trip. Ever since that late night Waffle House trip in North Carolina, I have been dreaming about these waffles. Are they fancy? NO. Are they expensive? NOPE! They are simple and yummy. A chocolate chip waffle, apple juice (Our waitress opened up the juice boxes and poured them into a cup for me!) and a smothered and spicy bowl for Kyle. I was happier than a pig in mud.

We hit the highway again and our next stop was Goofy Golf. An old school miniature golf place. We arrived and it looked so much fun with these gigantic animals all over. It looked pretty empty and then we realized it was closed for the season. WAH!

 

We got back in the car to re-group. We happened to pass another miniature golf place- Lagoon Golf. The sign boasted that you got $50 if you got a hole in one on hole 18. We were up for the challenge. The sweet older man said the left course was a little more challenging and it had a waterfall- which could be romantic! We giggled and we were off!

40 minutes later, we had finished almost 18 holes, with me getting a random hole in one! Talk about exciting! We were on the last hole, the one that you would get $50 if you get it in, in one shot. Kyle went first and he didn’t get it. I took  a big old swing and chased it and to my surprise, I missed the hole by not that much! Kyle was in shock- YOU ALMOST GOT IT! I was in disbelief too! HA! What a fun miniature golf course. For the record, Kyle won; I trailed behind by one point. 

Kyle said to me after getting back into the car, Kyle said, “Let’s go get you a photo of the 30A sign.”  It was about 30 minutes away from where we were.

Sidenote: When I created my Destination Bucket List back in June, the very first place and the place I wanted to go to was 30A. Technically we were in 30A while in Panama City Beach. The part of 30A I always saw and dreamt about was where we were headed. 

 

When we arrived on the actual 30A highway, I was really excited. THIS is exactly where I wanted to be. The mode of transportation for this area is either a beach cruiser bike OR a golf cart.  Kyle knew I wanted to take a photo with the 30A sign. Well the official 30A sign we found was tiny and on a busy busy highway with no shoulder. We passed an outdoor mall that had 30A in the name and I will give it to Kyle for being creative. I got my photo with the 30A sign. 

We ended up parking in Rosemary Beach. OH MY WORD! This town was gorgeous. It had cobblestone area where there was shops and houses/condos/rentals. We parked and I felt as if we were transported to somewhere else. We walked around and the whole vibe was exactly what I dreamed it would be. We started to walk down the street and there was outside dining and litlle shops you can bop in and out of. Their post office looked like it was out of a Hallmark movie. We found these gorgeous nutcrackers and I had to take a photo of it. We walked towards this grassy area that was the ‘parking lot’ for all the beach cruisers. My little heart couldn’t take all the cuteness around me.

 I saw people walking towards the beach. I wanted to check out Rosemary Beach. As we were walking on the boardwalk to the beach, Kyle noticed a sign that said “PRIVATE BEACH” I shushed him and continued to walk. The people in front of me held the gate open and we entered Rosemary Beach. It had matching cabanas, umbrellas, people partaking in water sports and lounging on the beach. I bet there were Cabana waiters somewhere around there too! I took some pictures of the beach- it was the most picture perfect day of the week. We turned around to leave and I quickly realized, Private Beach means going in and coming out. We were locked into this beach. I giggled and turned to Kyle to say “We’re locked in. I guess this isn’t the worst place to be stuck.” I turned around and I saw some people making their way off the beach. We followed them out and I got the biggest fit of giggles. Only me…

We walked back towards the car passing through the same street we came in on. They were having a 5K the next morning and things were set up for it. I thought to myself, how fantastic is that- running a 5K in some place so beautiful!

We started driving South on 30A through some of the other beach towns. What struck me so funny was seeing palm trees everywhere. The golf carts were so fun to see driving down the street too! As we made our way through Aly Beach, we were stopped in traffic and I saw this gigantic Christmas tree with presents around it. I snapped a quick photo before we started moving and it ended up being one of my favorite from the trip.

On our drive back to Panama City Beach, We drove along the coast through little beach towns. I got the biggest kick out of passing through Laguna Beach, FL. I had been re-watching Laguna Beach back home.  I asked Kyle to stop by the Rainbow Houses that were on the other side of Pier Park. These small rental homes were all painted in bright pastel colors. They were close to each other so it looked like a rainbow. 

We made it back to our building around 3. As we were approaching it, we noticed a lot of flashing lights which appeared to be right in front of the building. Wouldn’t you know it, there were police, fire and ambulances in front of our building. We parked and started to walk to the elevator bank and no one stopped us. Whatever happened, must have been on the tail end or it didn’t concern us. Still so curious of what happened. 

After we got back, we sat down for a bit and then it hit me- we hadn’t taken Penelope anywhere on our adventures. I felt terrible! It was getting to be around 4PM and I decided to take her to the beach and to take photos of her, for her travel log. I told Kyle I was taking Penelope to the beach and over to the shops. We agreed to touch base in a bit to see what we wanted to do on our last night. 

Penelope and I took the skywalk over the highway to the other building and then walked to the beach that way. Penelope was very confused about the beach- even though she has been to other beaches before. I shrugged it off as I made her pose for photos. I plopped down in the sand to take in the water and sky and everything else around us. Penelope ended up building a sandcastle that she was VERY proud of. 

We ventured across the street into Pier Park to buy some souvenirs. I loved going in and out of the little shops. I found some stickers for my laptop and a postcard. I bought a sand dollar ornament with a flamingo on it, only after Penelope insisted on it.  After a few shops, we went back to the beach to watch the sunset. We opted to go on the beach to the right of the pier and that was the best decision we made. We were right down by the water with an unobstructed view. I was shocked to see other people sitting and waiting for the sunset too. If I had to choose a sunset for the last night I was in Florida, THIS would be it. It was a perfect sunset- the colors, the reflection, no clouds, nothing to ruin it. After taking about 100 photos of the sunset, Penelope and I headed back across the street to browse and shop some more.

After coming out of a store, I noticed this golden glow coming from the beach. Penelope and I scooted back over to the beach, where we were able to catch the finale of this amazing sunset. It was orangey and neon pink. We stayed until the sun dipped down below the horizon line.

As we were walking back to Pier Park, for the last time, Kyle texted us he was heading over to meet with us at Pier Park.  We went to The Yard Milkshake Bar for a pre-dinner snack. Kyle got this humungous milkshake while I settled with a small cup of Cake Batter Ice Cream with rainbow sprinkles. We reserved “The Stolen Relic” Escape Room for after our treats. We were still a bit early for the Escape room so Kyle tried his hand at the bouncy trampolines. I am pretty sure he was the oldest one in line. He had lots of fun.

We entered The Stolen Relic escape room with 60 minutes to complete it. It was a chaotic, crazy hard puzzle but with my quick thinking and total shot in the dark guess, we were able to solve it with 1.82 seconds left! We were both SHOCKED! The employee came in to debrief and said, “We have never seen someone just stuff the rocks into the bag like you did at the end!” I said “I had to try something!” After a few celebration photos, we were on our way back to the condo for the last time.

We cooked dinner and then we sat down and had a long, hard conversation about us and what was ahead for us. We truly do love each other but we have realized we are on two different paths. There was no easy way for us to have this conversation, especially on our last night of vacation but we both agreed our story to this point was really amazing we are grateful for the adventures we were able to experience.

 

We went to bed that night sad for a multitude of reasons and especially since we both realized we are flying home tomorrow.

 

Thursday

 

We woke up and as I stepped out on to the balcony for the last time, I saw it was a dreary day.

The day was just as sad as we were to be leaving and knowing what we had talked about the night before. I took a shower and got ready early. I finished packing, double checking each area to make sure we didn’t leave anything. 

I went downstairs to the Emerald Hub to get breakfast. I had been trying all week to stop here but every time I remembered it, it was already closed. The Emerald Hub was the gift shop, and restaurant on the bottom floor of our building. It was adorable. The gift shop had such cute PCB items and items that you might have forgot at home. It was the perfect mix of items. The restaurant part had so many different items. It was truly a one stop shop. I ordered a bagel with cream cheese and then I noticed as I was waiting a case full of huge donuts that all looked SO good! I ordered a glazed donut and I had the best intentions of waiting to eat it BUT it was finished by the time my bagel was ready. IT WAS THAT GOOD!  

 

I went back up to the condo to eat my bagel and do a final walk through of the condo; we took out the trash, straighten up and return our condo bracelets. We walked out of the condo, very happy but also very sad. We got to the car, loaded it up and we were on our way to the airport by 8:30 AM.

 

We got to the airport, returned the car and breezed through the lax security. I didn’t realize it when we arrived on Sunday but this airport was tiny! Atlantic City airport is pretty cozy but this I think is even more cozy. We got to our gate and we ended up being upgraded to comfort plus BUT we weren’t sitting together again. Kyle had the window seat and I had the aisle. Okay, I thought. I didn’t expect to feel so frazzled once we got on the plane.

 

Kyle got my suitcase up into the overhead and then I wanted to get my phone, headphones, water bottle and puzzle book out of my backpack before putting it up in the overhead bin because we were sitting in a bulkhead seat. I had a terrible time getting those things out. I finally zipped everything up and put my bag in the overhead bin and sat down. I felt terrible and I just started to cry.

 

The nice man that was going to sit between us took one look at us and said unknowingly “Y’all together?” I thought to myself, ‘Sir, that is a loaded question.’ I looked at him and slide over to the middle seat. Where I proceeded to cry for the whole 40 minute flight, while Kyle held my hand, and I clutched my puzzle book and phone with my other hand. I seriously could not wait to get off that plane. My mask was a denim material, and I am pretty sure you knew I was crying because the top of it was soaked with tears.

The flight from Panama City Beach was quick and easy. We touched down in Atlanta and we made a bee line for the Delta Club in Terminal B. We walked from  our gate to the Delta Club. We decided to walk instead of taking of the monorail because Kyle thought I would want to see the artwork through the different terminals. Heck yes I did! We passed through one  terminal that had a history timeline of Atlanta and then next one we were immersed in a jungle. I loved it! 

We had about a 3 hours layover and I was ready for a strong drink. This Delta Club was totally different than the one we went to in Newark. First difference, it was HUGE! It felt like a mini city! I was in shock, I could get use to this, I thought to myself.

I found the Starbucks coffee machines and got Kyle and myself a coffee- we were getting ready to leave the lounge. I was sad to go- there was so much more to eat and drink and see! We spent about 2 hours there and we gathered our things and made our way to our gate.

The Atlanta airport is chock full of art; on our way from the Delta Club to our gate we went on an escalator where we saw sculptures that were made out of crayons! I had to do a double take to make sure I was seeing them correctly. I wished I caught who the artist was.

We made it to our gate and had the loveliest conversation with a woman from Canada. We ended up  chatting about dogs and her time her.  We were able to board our flight first since we were sitting in first class! I was so excited. I have not sat in first class for a long time! We had nice big comfy seats and we settled right in.