Panama City Beach, FL 2017 - Day 5

The sun finally decided to come and join us on the fifth day of our trip, and it was definitely a sight for sore eyes. 

We headed out to the beach bright and early to make the most of our day and to beat the crowds.  We always rent chairs from the condo to ensure that we get chairs along with an umbrella, so we weren’t worried about not getting a spot… we were just wanting to have some time down there before everything got too crowded.  For some reason this year the crowding on the beach was extra bad.  It has never been that bad before, and it was actually kind of miserable because there wasn’t much space for the kids to spread out and play.  Next year I would love to go somewhere a little more private, mostly just so we can have that extra space on the beach!

Anyway, the kids wanted to go straight down to the water when we got there, so we got settled in by our chairs and then walked down.  They both splashed and played and looked for shells and it was wonderful!  In year’s past, they were both terrified of the ocean and wouldn’t get anywhere within 50 feet of it.  I’m so glad that they love it now!  My, how much has changed these last few years…  

We spent the entire morning playing in the water, picking up shells, and playing in the sand.  B took turns taking Jacob far out in the ocean and then taking Olivia.  Momma doesn’t go that far out in the ocean.  Nope.  I’m an excellent swimmer and the undertow doesn’t scare me, but there’s just something about swimming in rivers/lakes/ocean with other living beings in there that freaks me out.  Don’t let a fish brush up against my leg!  Lawd, I would die.  And no, I’m not scared of fish, I’m basically scared of the unknown.  I’ll hang out in the knee deep water and that’s about it!  #NoShame

Once the kids tired of the beach, we headed up to the pool, but neither of them were very interested (which was odd), so we didn’t stay long.  That was fine with me because I figure, why spend much time at a pool when you’re at the ocean?!  I’d much rather lay out there!  We have plenty of pools back home!

Lunch in the condo was next – sandwiches, chips, and fresh fruit – and then it was bath time for the kiddos followed by nap time for Olivia and quiet time for J.  I grabbed my book and hat and headed straight back down to the beach for some alone time AKA reading in peace.

After a couple of hours, I headed back up to the condo, showered, and got ready for the day, and then we headed out for dinner.

We have been to PCB oodles of times but we have never been to one of their most popular beachside restaurants, Schooners, so we decided to try it.  It was a pretty good haul from where we were on the strip (considering most everything else is within three miles) so it took a bit of time to get there, but it was worth it!  I got the BLT flatbread and it was delicious.  It was loaded with spinach, bacon, tomato, feta, and alfredo sauce.  Mmmm.  

After dinner, we headed to St. Andrew’s State Park to try to find a good spot to take family pictures and to watch the sun set.  We had never been there either, but it was something that I feel we’ll definitely be going back to do again!  Since it’s a state park, there is wildlife everywhere.  I saw more deer that evening than I have in the last year back home and they were only 3-4 feet away from us!  They didn’t even run when our car drove by.

We parked, crossed the boardwalk to get to the beach, and then settled in to wait for that perfect evening light for family pictures.  Some of the pictures were taken earlier on when the light was too harsh (we were testing the tripod/automatic timer setup), but they still turned out cute.

After family pictures, we watched the sun go down and it was a sight to behold.  Panama City Beach, FL has some of the most gorgeous sunsets I’ve ever seen in my whole life.  And pictures can never do any of them justice, that’s for sure.  We even got to see the moon, which was either full or almost full that evening.  It was huge and just beautiful.

At dark, we loaded back up in the car and then set out to find a place to ride Go Karts.  Brian had mentioned it to Jacob earlier in the week and he was super excited, and of course, Olivia wanted to do whatever big brother was doing, so we went ahead and bought tickets for her as well.  I was not appropriately dressed and I was also worried about my back getting irritated since they are so bumpy, so I didn’t ride.  B took Jacob for his three laps first and he LOVED it just as we knew he would.  Olivia’s three laps were next, but she only made it around one time before she told Brian that she wanted to get out.  I don’t think it was the speed or the ride itself that scared her so much as it was the loud noises.  Girlfriend HATES loud noises so I was worried it would freak her out.  Look how serious she is in the picture below.

By that time, it was close to 10 PM back home and it was way past the kids’ bedtime, so we skipped dessert and headed back to the condo for bed.  It was the one and only night that we skipped dessert on the whole trip, but don’t worry… we made up for it the next day by having ice cream after lunch AND dinner.  Haha. 

I’ll be back to recap the last full day soon, and it’s the post that you have all been waiting and asking for… I will finally be telling the story about the bottle of marijuana that we found on the beach!  Hehe.  Stay tuned…

And if you missed the other recaps, you can find them below.

By the Numbers

Day 1 

Day 2

Days 3 & 4

*Linking up with Sparkles and Lattes for Confessional Thursday and Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.