RV RAMBLING RAMBLES: Panama City Beach RV Resort

A great way to end the day... on the beach!

Time seems to slip away. We are still adjusting to full-timing. It is a lot different than going camping to the lake for the weekend. We are slowly learning about making reservations ahead and having a plan. The state and federal parks fill up quickly and are reserved way out in advance. Friday & Saturday nights are the most difficult to find in the parks. We believe it's due to the local residents booking them, as you can easily find spots Sunday thru Thursday. The last park, St. Andrews, the site was reserved for the weekend so we had to move. The same site may be available again starting on Sunday through Thursday. You have to reserve the state sites through ReserveAmerica. You can see & book out a year on the site. When we moved we searched all Florida state parks and the only thing available were "Walk-ins". These are where you show up in person and get a spot. You can see available sites online but you could drive 5 miles to it and someone could beat you to it. Not a good deal. We also found out since it was a 3 day holiday weekend it was that much tougher. We'd begun to believe we'd be staying in the Walmart parking lot! After a lot of looking, we moved from our spot in St. Andrews to less than 1 mile, right at the edge of the State Park. It is an independent called "Panama City Beach RV Resort". It is a gated resort with brick pavers for the roadway. Quite a step up from in the sand to concrete. It feels like the Beverly Hillbillies moving to town.

We have met our neighbors beside us and another couple from our resort while on the beach. It was easy to meet the neighbors on the beach. They have a Golden-Doodle name "Lilly". She had a feather barrette on her ear and a small purse attached to her collar. When she looks at you with her eyes you feel like she could talk to you. We've talked about having a dog but after seeing all the work they are we've decided it's easier to just pet someone else's and let them worry & clean up after them. We sent pictures to Debbie E. and she agreed Lilly could be Bo's new girlfriend.

Randy also found on his Facebook "RV 5th Wheels" that someone had posted they were at same park we're in. So he tracked them down by photo of their RV and went visiting. The two couples are from Georgia and it was fun comparing notes on campgrounds to camp chairs.

The beach is just across the road from the resort so we just walk to it. The sands are so beautiful white and soft. It almost feels like baking soda under your feet. The weather has warmed back into the 70s. Once the sun went down it would quickly cool out on the beach.

This last Sunday we went to Panama City Beach First Baptist. We really enjoyed the pastor's sermon. Their church looks to be even larger than First Baptist Raytown.

We had a lot of great food while here in Panama City Beach. Of course our food budget has taken a hit with all the restaurants we had to try. One of our favorites was Andy's Flour Power Cafe-Bakery. We ate breakfast there twice, as during first visit Joyce saw the BLT sandwich and had to go back and try it. When we went back the owner came by and suggested to try it with the avocado on it. Joyce agreed it was delicious! We found Triple J after church and waitress said we had to come back and have their prime rib. We did and it was one of the best we've had. Plus she'd given us a 20% off coupon, so it was a great deal! We enjoy trying the local restaurants rather than the chains you can find everywhere.