March 09
Panama City Beach, Florida

2009

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 March
   31   We are in a cloudy rainy pattern lately.  So we headed over to Panama City to a used book store.  Now that I’m into reading, I have a list of books I’m looking for.  Then we stopped for groceries.  John needed more supplies for his salsa.  That was next, John made up a new batch of his hot salsa.

   30   Today is another warm and sunny day.  We decided to head to the beach.  John needed his 8 mile beach walk and there was no way I can do 8 miles.  So I took the trolley to pier park and met up with John right outside of Margaritaville.  Then we did our beach walk back together.  So John got his 8 miles and I did 4 miles.  John found quite a few shells that were shellworthy for his shell garden.

   29   We headed over the Tyndall Air Force Base which is about 20 miles from us.  Today is the Gulf Coast Air Show.  It was free admission and parking.  We had been to the air show in Yuma last year.  This one was better.  You could get in some planes and actually tour the huge cargo planes.  We saw the F18 fighters perform and The Blue Angels.  This was the first time we saw the Blue Angels.  They were great.  When they get in diamond formation, their wings are only 18 inches apart. 

   28   Another rainy and stormy day.  We hung around the cow in the morning and then headed over to the library in the afternoon. 

   27   Another rainy and stormy day.  We just hung around the cow.

   26   Rainy Day today and I’m still fighting this cold.  We hung around the cow all day and then went over to Kingfisher Restaurant and Sushi Bar at the Bay Point Marriott.  On Thursday’s they have sushi happy hour.  This is specials on different sushi rolls.

   25   Today is a little cloudy and rain is predicted.  We headed off to the Ebro Greyhound Track.  It’s not far and we had a coupon for entry.  We did cash one ticket and have fun.  But it was hard trying to pick the dogs.

   24   The Holiday Golf Course is very close to us and has an 18 hole and a 9 hole par 3.  We played the par 3.  It's very short, you really only need irons.  It's a very pretty course with some water and pine trees.

   23  This morning we headed out to find our fortune.  We took the metal detector and we’re heading to the beach.  Quite a few breakers were tenting last week so we thought we would check out their tent area.  We did pretty well.  Then we headed to the beach.  You would think we would do well there, but so far not so good.  All in all we got 11 coins equaling 96 cents.  John is 3 cents short for a beer at Calypso.
    After lunch, we headed back to the beach for our beach walk.  We set up our area and then headed west.  I only go to Paradise Palms and back which works out to be about 2 ½ miles.  John goes all the way to the City Pier and back.  This is about 8 miles.  In the last 5 days John has beach walked about 40 miles. 
    The breakers are still out but winding down.  The last two weeks were crazy.  The beach was packed everyday.  This week not as many but still crazy.  When John got back, he had a can of Keystone Light warm and unopened.  While he was walking back, some breakers wanted him to play Beach Beer Baseball.  He took the beer, but didn’t play. 
    Here’s how it works.  You take a beer and pour it into a plastic bat.  Then as you’re drinking it everyone counts how long it takes you.  Let’s say 15 seconds.  When you’re done, you put one end of the bat in the sand and the other you put your forehead on.  Then you have to turn around how many times it took in seconds to drink the beer (15).  Then you stand up and they toss the empty beer can at you and you have to hit it with the bat.  It’s a very popular game.  Also beer bongs and beer pong.

 
   22   Today is a warm and sunny Beach Day.  I did a 2 ½ mile beach walk and John did his 8 mile beach walk.  In the last 4 days John has walked over 30 miles.  Johns shell garden is growing.  He tries not to duplicate shells. If you look closely at the shell garden photo, you will see valuable jewelry he’s found.  A bracelet and belly button ring.

   21   John went on his 8 mile beach hike.  I am still fighting this cold and decided to just rest and read.

   20   John is out of Salsa!  OMG!  This morning he took over the kitchen and made a big batch of Salsa and his HOT onion salad.  Yes, we are going to the beach today.  However we will be on a mission.  The Barefoot Beach Club is 3 miles away.  So we will do a beach walk there.  They have live blues from 3pm – 8pm and happy hour is 4pm – 7pm.  However, during spring break they have Pabst for 1.25 all day long.  That’s our plan.  But you know, we change like the wind.

   19   This morning I’m still fighting a cold.  John headed out for his 8 mile beach walk.  I had another TCI consulting appointment so that worked out well.  We needed some supplies and I needed a haircut so we headed to Walmart.  We headed off to the beach in the afternoon for some sun, reading and relaxing.  You know, we don’t want to get to stressed out.

   18   I am still doing TCI consulting appointments periodically.  I can’t plan to many of them, because they take away from the important stuff.  It worked out fine.  We headed out for a 3 mile beach walk.  Right now, it’s always interesting doing a beach walk.  The breakers are out in force.  Today we saw an 8 hose beer bong. 

   17   We are really becoming beach bums.  We headed to the beach around 1pm.  I did some reading and John did an 8 mile beach walk.

   16   We headed out for a 3 1/5 mile beach walk.  My goal was the Barefoot Beach Club.  This is where the Parrothead convention “Rendezvous” is being held in April.  So I stopped and John continued on to the pier and back to the Barefoot.  We met a couple of the bartenders and servers.  Also the manager is a member of the Panama City Beach Parrothead Club.  So we got the scoop for the party.  It started raining so we took the trolley home.

   15   They have been predicting rain the last few days but just West of us is really getting it.  It is overcast again.  We did a beach walk heading east.  I like to walk around 3 miles or so.  When we got back we lounged around.  During dinner we had some breakers pull into the spot next to us.  Their rig is an old school bus with the seats pulled out.  They have 3 mattress, 3 bicycles and one motorcycle.  Their license plate is applied for.  It’s actually just a piece of cardboard that says “Licence applied for”. 

   14   Today is cloudy and overcast.  I decided to have a couch day and read.  John headed out for his 8 mile beach walk.  He walks from our campground up to the city pier and back.  It takes him about 2.5 hours. 

   13   During the day today we hung around the cow.  Then we headed over to Margaritaville and the Hofbrau House in pier park.  We found out the Hofbrau House has free beer on Fridays.  At 6pm in the beer garden, they ring the cow bell and tap a keg.  Today it’s their Octoberfest beer.  The beer is free until the kegs gone.  The last person to get a beer from the keg gets to drink all night for free.  He must wear this hat though so everyone knows he won. 
        They had a guitarist in the beer garden.  After the kegs gone, they had some contests.  There was drinking shots off the ski.  Also holding a full beer stein the longest.  They had one contest for men and one for women.  I entered the women's.  There was me and two breakers.  They thought I was going down no problem.  But not me, I broke the breakers.  I was holding my stein and dancing and I won.  We were going to leave, but stopped inside.  There was an accordion and drummer.  These guys were good.  We had more beer and I did some dancing including the chicken dance. 

   12   Today we just had a cow day.  We worked on our journal and photos, did some laundry and just lounged.  I also started a Facebook page, you can find it on facebook under bush@awaywego.com or Sandy Bush.  Let me know if you want to be a friend.  Also check out our movie page, I have 4 clips from the Kenny Chesney concert.

   11   Well……. Last night on the 10 o’clock I heard Kenny Chesney was going to be playing a free concert at 3pm today at Spinnakers Bar.  This is one of his “Keg in the Closet” shows.  These are unannounced free shows.  John suggested we go there early to check it out.  So at 9am we drove over to Spinnakers.  There was already a line starting, only about 15 people.  So John got in line, and I went back to the cow to get swimsuits, sandals, cooler and a few other things.  I stopped at Walmart to get beer and ice and it was packed with breakers.  The biggest seller I could see was the beer ball and keystone beer. 
   When I got back to Spinnaker, the line was growing and they wouldn’t let you park in the lot or have coolers, so I gave John his sandals and was going to go a few blocks away and park.  One of the breakers in line heard this and let us borrow his Club La Vela parking pass which was next door.  That was great.  John parked the car and we were all organized.  We got in line around 930am and they opened the gate around 1130am.  It was very organized, single file line and nobody running for the gate.  John never has his ID.  This is one of the first times I didn’t bring my ID, like how often do I get carded?  John got stamped no problem, but they wanted my ID.  I told the guy, come on; you don’t think I’m 21?  Finally he gave in. 
   Since we were right in front on the line, we could have been right up front as well.  But there was a 3 foot platform about 20 feet away from center stage.  We had a corner, a rail, right by the stairs, so even a tall person in front of us we could see over, and close to the beer and bathrooms.  We had also met Gary another breaker from Connecticut.  He hung around with us.  The people kept coming and the place was packed. 
   Kenny Chesney went on about 330pm.  This is the start of his summer tour.  He loves to play spring break because he can drink, when he’s on tour he doesn’t really drink during the concert.   Today he was definitely drinking.  He was down here last year also.  This is his time to play, goof off, drink and have fun.  At this concert, no shoes, no shirt, no problem for sure.  Also, all the cameras, videos and photos you want to take.  He played 3 ½ hours until around 7pm at sunset.  There were no breaks, just Kenny or a band member leaving the stage to take a pee break. 
   Around 530pm, he held up his beer and said; “From now on, you all have to sign a wavier if you want me to keep playing.  I will no longer be responsible for the quality of the music or if I get all the words right”.   At the end, he was a double fisted drinker.  Corona in one had and a drink in the other. Luke Bryan and Mark Collie other country singers were also in the crowd.  They both ended up on stage with Kenny.  It got to be like a jam session. 
   There was this little kid, maybe 10 years old.  His Mom took him out of school today to bring him to his first concert.  He had this big black cowboy hat, Kenny ended up having him come up on stage and the crowd went wild.  The condo’s balcony’s behind Spinnakers was packed with breakers watching the show.  It was a great day, lots of fun.  But now we’re spoiled, another Kenny Chesney concert just won’t be the same.

   10   This morning I was not ready for a walk.  I did more than my limit yesterday.  John was ready, so off he went to the city pier and back.  A total of about 8 miles round trip.  I started a new book and enjoyed that.  Tonight is the full moon.  So we walked down to the beach to watch sunset and the full moon rise.

   9   We got up before sunrise to head to the beach.  The mornings have been very misty and foggy.  We took our metal detector and off we went to find a fortune.  After about 2 hours, multiple twist tops and beer cans, we did find an earring and a bracelet.  Nothing of value, but John is adding these items to his shell garden.  I hope he doesn’t become like Lucille Ball in ‘The Long long trailer” and start collecting these.  They will have to stay here. 
   After our big find, we took a drive west down the road and didn’t find much.  We stopped for breakfast and got back to the cow around 11am.   We worked on our workamping resume and set up our summer workamping position.  We are going to be in Hillsville, Virginia.  We headed out about 3pm for a beach walk.  We walked to Sharky’s about 3 miles had a couple drinks then started back.  6 miles is too much for me.  We stopped at the Red Door for a couple drinks then caught the shuttle back to our cow.

   8   This morning was salsa morning.  John was in the kitchen building his recipes.  Now we headed to the beach.  We walked to Harpoon Harry’s to check out the Absolute Poker Texas Holdem tent.  There were about 6 tables set up but no one was playing.  We could have played each other and then one of us would have won.  Then we could have played again and the other one win.  That would get us into the Friday night game.  But we decided to just continue on the beach. 
     There were a lot more people out.  Since its Sunday, you have the families and the breakers.  We soaked up a few rays and continued down the beach.  At the Boardwalk Hotel, the US Army had an obstacle course setup and a climbing tower.  A few guys were doing it, but it was high and hard.  Lot’s of breakers at the Boardwalk.  We walked down to Bikini Beach hotel and stopped at the Tiki Bar for a pitcher.  John had some guys come up to him and ask “Sir, could you take our picture.”  Now Johns a “Sir”.  We walked back and we’re ready for dinner.

   7   Today is a full day.  We headed over to Panama City to the fairgrounds early.  The Red Cross has a mobile blood bus there today.  We like to give blood as often as we can usually every 2 months.  Most of the time you can also get your cholesterol results by giving.  There was a farmers market across the street and John was in need of salsa supplies.  Habaneras, jalapeños, onions, garlic, tomatoes and any other hot stuff he could find.  The temperatures are great these days with the highs in the mid 70’s.  So off we went for a long beach walk.  I went about 2 miles and then needed a break, so I found a piece of beach and soaked up some sun while John continued on.  He did another 2 miles.  So round trip, I did around 4 miles and he did 8 miles.  Walking along the beach is great.  Especially now.  Spring break is in full force.  Breakers are all over.  There is beer pong, beer bongs, volleyball, beach tennis and lots of people partying.  The Miller Delivery Man on the commercials is down here at Walmart and making appearances all over.  There were 3 breakers that asked us if we had a car, which we didn’t, the girl had hurt her foot and they needed a ride.  They had their ½ gallon of whisky with them.  Later we walked back down to the beach to watch sunset.  Now we’re done.

   6   Today was a miscellaneous day.  We did a few projects around the cow,  then headed off to Emerald RV Resort to meet with the GM about workamping.  We also did some research on a workamping position in Virginia.

   5   John needed a big walk, so he went on a 7 mile walk this morning while I relaxed at the cow.  Then we went to the beach to soak up some rays.  Later we headed to Harpoon Harry’s for happy hour and sunset.

   4   This morning and early afternoon we are spending at the cow.  Later in the afternoon we took a 3 mile beach walk and watched sunset.

   3   The campground we’re staying at is only 300 yards to the beach.  So we plan on doing a lot of beach walks.  We headed out around 1130am to the beach.  Today we are heading west to investigate.  We walked about 3 miles and I was ready for a break.  We stopped at Sharky’s and had a drink and relaxed for a little while then off we went.  Another mile and we made it to Margaritaville.  We found out they have a VIP club for locals.  So I talked to the manager and explained that we were fulltime rv’ers and so technically we’re locals.  I was able to set us up at VIP’s so now we get discounts and happy hour.  No way I could walk over 4 miles back to the cow, so we hopped on the trolley which ran right past our campground.  We quickly reorganized and walked back to the beach to watch sunset.

   2   This morning we got up and took a 5 mile walk along the beach.  We stopped at the visitor’s center and then came back to the cow and unpacked a few items.  We stopped at the grocery store and then went out for sunset.  We stopped at ClubLaVela.  It seemed there was a lot happening so we wanted to check it out.  This is the largest club that spring break activities are happening at.  When we got there it was only in the low 50’s, but they were having a bikini contest.  We stayed for one cocktail and headed next door to Spinnakers to check it out.  They have .25 margaritas for happy hour.  They weren’t too strong, but then what do you want for .25.  We ended up at Hooters to watch the sunset.   

   1    Today we’re “On the road again”.  A large front came through around 5am and we are having severe rain and wind.  We’re hoping it will move through.  We’re hoping to be on the road by 10am.  Well things worked out and Awaywego!  We are heading to Panama City Beach Florida.  It’s about 300 miles so we figure about 6-7 hours.  We got in and all set up and we were ready to just relax.