Bagpipers and Sandpipers

March 2 – 13, 2023

Beaches, beaches and more beaches!  It’s what you do when you are camped only a mile from the Emerald Coast!  The white sand beaches combined with the stunning emerald waters stretching from Panama City Beach to Pensacola are quite the delight!

Sandpipers skittering across the sand in search of their dinner!

At least they are a delight until you see a purple flag flying at the beach entrance.  The purple flag signals a warning of stinging marine life.  During our stay in Panama City Beach, we had at least three days of purple flags flying!  The first day we saw them, I thought it was probably an exaggerated warning.  It wasn’t until I began strolling down the shoreline that I decided I definitely would not be getting into the water!  Portuguese Man o’ War were covering the white sand beach!  So many that it was impossible to count them!  The larger ones we saw were about the size of a large sweet potato and were actually beautiful.  Their iridescent blue color along with the slight orange and pink on the tip of their sails is so attractive!  As striking as they are to look at, I didn’t want to take any chance of one striking me in the water.  The tentacles can reach up to 165 feet and their sting is fierce, sending you to the ER if you have an allergic reaction.  

Uh-oh!  Stinging marine life warning!

Not only did the Emerald Coast have an invasion of Portuguese Man o’ War while we were there, but we also had the opportunity to witness the invasion of students on spring break!  Suddenly, signs were posted along the highways warning that, for the month of March, no alcohol is allowed on sandy beaches.  Campgrounds were accepting reservations only if you were over the age of 24. News stories were filled with new restrictions during spring break season due to past years’ experiences.  Hmmm.  It was time for us to head to the state parks!

The sands of Panama City Beach are about to be overrun by spring breakers!

St. Andrew State Park was a short drive from our campground.  In 1995, “Dr. Beach” (a.k.a. Dr. Stephen Leatherman) named this “America’s Best Beach”.  There we enjoyed a quiet day on the beach -- sans spring break students!  We also took a short hike around Alligator Lake; however, no gators were sighted.  What was exceptional about this park is that there are two distinctly different beaches. Location, location, location! This park takes advantage of sitting at the inlet of St. Andrew Bay.  One beach allows you to experience the waves of the Gulf of Mexico crashing onto the sandy beach, watch people playing on their boogie boards, and walking the shoreline looking for seashells.  Just around the bend, as you are entering the bay, there is a jetty which provides protection from the huge waves.  On this section of the beach, you see children safely playing in the water with their sand buckets and shovels, people snorkeling in the water and families playing water games together.  It seemed much more like a summer afternoon on the shore of a lake in Minnesota!  It was so strange to walk only a few hundred yards and experience such an entirely different beach!

The jetty of St. Andrew's Beach

A trip to Camp Helen State Park made for another interesting day!  In 1928, Robert Hicks purchased the property and built a summer home there.  In 1945, Avondale Textile Mill purchased the property from the family, named it Camp Helen, and for 39 years operated a resort for employees to use as a vacation destination.  Its unique location provided for a wide variety of activities.  It is surrounded by water on three sides (Gulf of Mexico, Lake Powell and Philips Inlet).  This allows for such a variety of wildlife and ecosystems!  You can spend time on the beach taking in the white sands and emerald water, or paddle board along Philips Inlet and Lake Powell.  Hiking trails take you past Duck Pond and along Lake Powell’s shoreline.  What a little gem of a park!

A trip to Eden Gardens State Park gave our skin a little break from the beach.  How this bit of paradise became a state park is a bit of a sad story.  In 1897, William Henry built his home there, located on the same property where the mill he owned operated.  His family continued to live there until 1953 when his wife, Katie, died.  The property was eventually sold to Lois Maxon who fell in love with the property and called it her “Eden”.  Lois renovated the home, bringing plumbing and electricity (including air conditioning!) to it.  She also created beautiful ornamental gardens of azaleas, roses and camellias.  After owning the property for only five years, Lois became ill and eventually donated the property to Florida before her death.  On the sunny side, Lois will forever be remembered and left her Eden for all to enjoy.  On the property in a 600-year-old live oak tree which is known as the “Wedding Tree”.  Apparently, many weddings happen under the branches of this enormous tree.  The park ranger told us five weddings were scheduled for that weekend alone.  Wedding dates are booked at least a year in advance!  Sure enough, before we left the park, there under the arms of that loving tree stood a groom and his bride in front of a pastor and surrounded by loved ones.  I’m certain Lois is smiling down as so many people enjoy her Eden!

The Wedding Tree can be seen from the porch of the Wesley House

Pineglen Motorcoach and RV Park was home during our stay on the Emerald Coast.  It is a small, quiet RV park allowing for easy access to so many places.  The park itself had several ponds that fish and turtles called their home.  It was fun feeding the turtles, including a couple of Florida softshell turtles which we named Taco and Burrito. 

Panama City Beach is a fun city in itself.  We quickly found our favorite coffee shop -- The Pour!  It was located right on Front Beach Road, which tells you everything you need to know!  Actually, maybe not everything!  You should also know that they are well known for their homemade cinnamon rolls.  Mouthwatering deliciousness on a plate is the only way to describe them!  We discovered this spot when we were in need of wi-fi.  Our computer was struggling and we needed to update the operating system and get some help from Apple support.  The Pour was able to provide a great cup of joe, a delicious breakfast and speedy wi-fi.  Now, that’s a win!  We couldn’t resist returning another time for a repeat on the coffee and breakfast!  Another cool thing about the coffee shop is 100% of the profits go to support those struggling in the community.  It’s a Christian-based organization that partners with The Ark, providing transitional housing as well as other help for the poor.  

St. Bernadette Catholic Church fed our soul as we attended Mass there a couple of times as well as Stations of the Cross on Friday.  Following Stations, they offered soup and salad, which was an easy button for dinner that night.   

Following the Sunday morning Mass, we found ourselves craving doughnuts.  This took us to our second favorite coffee fix.  Parlor Doughnuts served the most unusual doughnuts I’ve ever had!  They were missing their hole!  They are well known for what they called “layered” doughnuts.  Dick and I ended up splitting several of their offerings, including: Blueberry, Espresso, Sandy Beach (think cinnamon roll) and Turtle Cheesecake.  Yummy!

We were lucky enough to be in Panama City Beach over the weekend of the 29th annual Scottish Festival!  There we enjoyed listening to the bagpipers play, watch the Irish dancers perform, eat yummy food, and observe all kinds of traditional Scottish games.  In the Caber toss, the contestant lifts a full-length log, runs forward holding the log upright against their chest and then tosses the log so that the log rotates end-over-end.  It looks next to impossible!  In the sheaf toss game, the contestant uses a pitchfork to toss a burlap bag over a horizontal bar that is well over the contestant’s head (the world record is 60 feet 10 inches!).  Imagine doing all of this while dressed in the traditional kilt!  Yep, I kept wondering if I would finally find evidence to answer the question of what is worn under that kilt!  Sadly, the question remained unanswered.

Panama City was only a few miles away and we found ourselves checking out the community as well!  Favorite spots included History Class Brewing Company!  Imagine the combination of great beer, tasty food and local history!  The owner of this brewery has a collection of Panama City’s history not only stored on the walls but also as part of the structure itself.  Church pews, school lockers, doors from former businesses, floorboards, even the stern of an old fishing boat make up this funky brewery!

Now, this is my kind of history class!

Panama City’s biggest contribution to history is undoubtedly the story of Clarence Earl Gideon.  Clarence was a poor drifter who kept finding himself in trouble, most of which he readily admitted to.  On June 3rd, 1961 he was arrested for breaking into a Panama City pool hall and stealing beer, wine and money, to which he strongly insisted his innocence.  Not being able to afford an attorney, he ended up defending himself and was found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail.  Clarence eventually took his case all the way to the United States Supreme Court where it was decided that everyone has the right to free counsel!  When Clarence’s case was retried and he had an attorney representing him, he was found innocent and released.  It took three years, but Clarence eventually found justice.  “Equal Justice Under the Law” is entirely due to Clarence Gideon!

I'm innocent, I tell you!  Note the Public Defender's Office behind the mural of Gideon.

Panama City had hosted the FLLUXE Festival a week before we arrived, but evidence of the fun was all over the streets and sidewalks of historic Panama City!  Most intriguing was the 3D sidewalk chalk art!  If you stood at a certain spot below the art, it suddenly appeared 3D!  It was just the strangest effect!

The same sidewalk art from just a few steps to the side!

A stop inside the Bay County Historical Society Museum added to the lessons we learned at the brewery!  I’m sure if we had stayed at the brewery for another round or two, we could have learned a little more though!  What the museum taught us was the answer to the large clock hanging on the outside of an attorney’s office in the historic district.  The building was originally Panama City’s first bank and had the clock hanging there.  When the bank moved farther up the street, they took the clock with them.  The mystery was why the clock was still on the original building.  Apparently, this is the third edition of the original clock.  The original clock is being rebuilt and planned to be the centerpiece in the restored downtown, historic district currently under construction.  The second edition of the clock is currently stored in the basement of the museum!  

Tim's career was at the paper mill that closed last year and is now part of history.

The much-fought-over clock!

Farmer markets, historic walking tours, walks with Frankie, meeting new friends and keeping in touch with old friends rounded out our time on the Emerald Coast!  Finding it hard to leave, we made one last trip to the beach before packing up.  This time no purple flag was flying.  In its place were double red flags!  This signals extreme danger and means the water is closed and no swimming is allowed.  You might not have needed the double red flags, as the strong wind had stirred up very angry looking waves!  But then again, spring break students are here, so you better fly those flags!  It’s time to go!

No swimming today!

Up next:  Spanish Fort, Alabama!