Growing up, Panama City Beach was the vacation destination for my family. With the exception of a couple trips to Disney World, I honestly don’t remember taking a vacation to any other place—which was fine by all of us. Instead, we headed down to PC each spring and gradually built up a series of rituals and traditions that came to define “vacation” for us. We stayed at the same resort, swam in the same beautiful collection of pools and hot tubs, played in the same ocean, ordered the same virgin strawberry daquiris to be consumed poolside, bought the same Haagan Daas bars from the corner shop in the resort, ate at the same restaurants, played the same putt-putt courses…you get the idea. Our sunburns were always delightfully unique (once our friend Rick had a nice, smeared handprint burned onto his chest from a botched sunscreen application), but everything else was comfortingly predictable. We would play tennis, goof around on the shuffle board courts, hit up any number of tacky gift shops, and spend way too much money in arcades and fun parks. Each night we would return to the condo after it all and watch movies. Often, we would have stopped to pick strawberries on the way down, which meant that there was usually a large quantity of strawberries and ice cream consumed on vacation, as well.
Our last family trip to PC was when Greg and I were engaged. After that, though, we moved to the Carolina coast, so there wasn’t much point in a family beach vacation in Florida. And after Mike died, I think our enthusiasm further waned. It was rekindled, however, when Greg took some young adults to a college retreat last year at the very resort we always stayed at. Miffed that I had missed the chance to take the kids to visit my old stomping ground, I talked about it with mom, and I think the idea was planted in both of our heads for a return trip.
This year, that trip became a reality, and it was so much fun! Sadly, Greg couldn’t go because of work and grad school. It would have been lots better with him, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves:).
One cool thing about the timing of this trip was that the place was practically deserted.
We found out rather accidentally that after all the spring breaks but before summer vacation is the prime time to go. By mid-morning, of course, there were always people and families around, but the crowds were incredibly thin compared to my memories of our spring break trips. If our kids were teenagers, they might have been disappointed, but for this trip, it was perfect for us. It provided a very calm and relaxing environment.
For me, it was a kick getting to watch my kids cross the “big bridge” that used to fascinate Mike and me…
…and to eat the same Haagen Das bars…
…and to swim in the same pools that we loved as kids.
Even with the warm weather, the temperature of the pools was still pretty cold (the kids called the lagoon pool the “ice cold pool”), so we also spent plenty of time in jacuzzis:
It was also fun to swim at the “normal” pool right outside our villa.
And, of course, we spent a TON of time building sand castles:
After my years of Carolina beaches, I was amazed at how clear the water was in Florida:
The water was still pretty cold, though. Once, while Luke and I were in the ocean, I remarked on the beauty of the water. I said, “Isn’t this water so pretty and clear? It’s like being on a tropical island.” He at once chimed in cheerfully, “Yeeeeah…a tropical island near Alaska!”
Alaskan temperatures notwithstanding, the kids spent a good amount of time trying to perfect the fine art of body boarding using the available waves, which were…negligible. They had fun trying, though!
One thing we realized this trip was that in the two and half years since their last mini-golf experience, my kids have come to love it! We played 72 holes of putt-putt in three days, and we would have played twice that if Luke had had his way!
The first course we went to was the pirate putt-putt course that our family always went to when I was young.
Throughout our putt-putt excursions, a pattern emerged. Luke had a Happy-Gilmore-like experience where his main struggle was to control his power…especially when he was close to the hole.
In the meantime, Anna would hold the club in ridiculous ways, take several swings while totally missing the ball, cause all those around her to duck…only to send the ball ricocheting 27 times off various surfaces…out of the putt-putt green, but eventually bouncing back in…and inevitably into the hole in fewer strokes than should have been possible.
In fact, it was she that got the first hole-in-one (she would go on to get several)...
…out of sheer dumb luck!
Thankfully, Luke’s aim and control really improved over the week, and he even ended up winning a round. And Anna’s luck eventually ran out…not that she cared in the least. She just loved hitting the ball:). Really, both of their enthusiasms for the “sport” were boundless!
We also visited several gift shops…
…and ate our family’s all-time favorite PC restaurant: Angelo’s Steak Pit.
They seriously have the best steaks I have ever eaten in my life. They are amazing. We ate there twice.
The third night we were there (and our second night of putt-putting) we discovered a new place: Goofy Golf.
It was the tackiest thing you’ve ever seen.
It was also the kids’ favorite.
Right before we stumbled upon it, Luke had been saying that he wanted a golf course with obstacles…and this one had them at every hole! For example, this alligator’s mouth:
Or this windmill, where Anna and Gaga got holes-in-one:
Or this…dinosaur dangling a monkey??? What??
Is that even a thing?
There was also a spider (pictured above with Anna) who would periodically cover up the hole, a giant Buddha which inexplicably kept rejecting my ball, and a haunted house, among other crazy holes. The kids loved it so much that we had to go back the next night and play the other course that it offered. I think we may have found a new tradition!
We never ordered an virgin strawberry daquiris or went to any arcades and played ski ball, but other than that, I think we reenacted all of my old childhood memories. It was a great, relaxing trip, and the kids said they liked it better than our Disney/Universal trip! We definitely hope to go back in the future…and this time, take Greg!
