Tired of the cold? It’s time for a Florida getaway
Banish winter blues with a short break in Panama City Beach
Got the PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLA. winter blues? Try exploring the 43 kilometres of sugar-like sandy coastline of Panama City Beach in Florida’s Panhandle region. A recent four-day stay in the area — part of the Emerald Coast — brought plenty of swimming, beach walks, restaurant outings, shopping and exploring.
DAY 1 Stylish stay
We arrive at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, about a 30-minute drive from our beautiful two-bedroom condo with kitchen and balcony overlooking a lake at the Carillon Beach Resort. Located on the western end of the beach, the resort includes a hotel and rental homes. Paved paths lead past swimming pools, hot tubs, and houses of all kinds — with quaint names like Lady Lizard — to pedestrian walkways over sand dunes and a glorious 1.2-km-long beachfront.
We are lucky enough to get a ride in a golf cart (rentals are available) from a friendly neighbour named Ronnie, who seems to magically appear every time we are headed to the beach. At the end of October, the beach is deserted (November is also slow) but come spring break it will be packed. See wyndhamvacationrentals.com.
Sunrise, sunset
Lucky for us, it’s nearing sunset when we take a 20-minute drive to check into Island Time Sailing for a relaxing two-hour cruise aboard a 16-metre catamaran. We tuck into a cold one — Florida Cracker is the local beer — as we sail past uninhabited Shell Island (which we will revisit on another cruise) and witness pods of bottlenose dolphins and a spectacular sunset. The area is home to the world’s highest concentration of bottlenose dolphins. See islandtimesailing.com.
Getting crabby
It’s time for dinner at the upscale Firefly, whose signature grouper was served to U.S. Olympians during the London Games in 2012. Don’t miss the deliciously creamy, if ultra-rich, She Crab soup. For less formal dining, the bar next door has an impressive display of guitars signed by their famous musician owners.
DAY 2 Park yourself
We grab coffee and a light breakfast at the super-casual Our Little Beach Cafe in Carillon Beach before heading to Camp Helen State Park about 10 minutes away. Bordered by water on three sides, the day-use park was once owned by Robert and Margaret Hicks, who built a summer home overlooking Lake Powell, a rare dune lake. Their lodge — called Loch Lomond — is still in use today for weddings. Later the property was developed as a resort for employees of a textile company. It became state park in 1996. After Camp Helen, we do a bit of light shopping at Pier Park — essentially a palm-tree-laden outdoor mall — and check out That Cute Little Soap Shop, which was featured by Ellen DeGeneres on her daytime talk show. See floridastateparks.org/park/ Camp-Helen.
Feeling Zen
For pure funkiness, you can’t beat lunch at the Zen Garden Market and Lotus Cafe, which also has a yoga studio, an art gallery, a coffee shop and a health food store. I could spend the whole day here but a massage awaits at Salon Baliage & Spa back at Carillon Beach before a super-casual beachfront meal at Hook’d, which serves something called a “Mind Eraser.” But who would want to forget this day? Later, we go for an evening walk on the pier and talk to the local fishermen whose day’s catch includes baby sharks (some of which are thrown back in the sea).
DAY 3 Hold the pickle
John Certo, owner of Andy’s Flour Power, is originally from Brooklyn, so there’s a little bit of New York City on the colourful premises. We chow down on delicious pistachio muffins and french toast with strawberries before Certo brings over a Reuben sandwich with a big pickle. Then we walk off our breakfast with a tour of St. Andrews State Park and a stroll on the pier, where a pelican has taken up temporary residence. See floridastateparks.org/park/StAndrews.
Captain! My Captain!
The highlight of our trip is a threehour dolphin, snorkel and Shell Island tour on Captain Lorraine Frasier’s eight-metre skiff out of Bay Point Marina. We see numerous dolphin pods up close and I see my very first hammerhead shark in the wild. (It’s rare to see them on the surface of the water, according to the captain.) Frasier anchors just off Shell Island, where many other boats have gathered, and we all go for an impromptu jump in the big blue waves. It’s heavenly. See dolphinandsnorkeltours.com.
Bennie and the Jets
We head to Schooners, where they fire a small cannon at sunset every night (bring earplugs), and where you can enjoy a cocktail in an Adirondack chair on the beach. Our final upscale dinner is at Saltwater Grill, where we are greeted by a 95,000-litre saltwater aquarium and a piano bar. I request a lot of Elton John tunes before we chow down on centre cut iceberg salad with blue cheese dressing, ahi tuna, blackened grouper, and the best key lime pie you’ve ever tasted.
DAY 4 Sunday, bloody Sunday
Before we head to the airport, we stop at the casual but lovely Liza’s Kitchen for breakfast sandwiches. I choose the B.L.E.A.T. — bacon, lettuce, egg, avocado and tomato — and want to order a Bloody Mary but restrain myself and go for a latte instead.
NEED TO KNOW How to fly
There are no direct flights to Panama City Beach from Canada, but Delta flies into Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport from their hub in Atlanta.
Rent a car
Taxis seem almost nonexistent and are quite expensive, so a rental car is a better bet for getting around.
Travel tip
This area is still a popular spring break destination for U.S. students. Most college breaks are in mid-February to early March, so if you don’t want to party with students, choose an alternate time to visit. One plus: Once the break period has passed, spring is a lovely time to visit. For travel information, visit panamacitybeach.com, where you will find details on attractions, accommodations, upcoming events and more.