Panama City Beach: Make Some Memories #MyPCB

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Visit Panama City Beach for IZEA Worldwide. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you’ve ever vacationed in or around the Panama City Beach area, along the Gulf coast in Florida, you were probably holding your breath, as I was, last October, when Hurricane Michael blew through. Our hearts went out to those living near the emerald waters and sugar white sands of the Panhandle. Maybe you wondered if the area would ever be the same, again. And maybe, just like me, the thought crossed your mind that you NEED to get back down there again. Not just for the natural beauty, but also to DO something to support the economy of the good folk who live in the area! As Americans, that’s kind of what we do. We pitch in to help. Well, I’ve got some good news for you!

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Panama City Beach is ready for visitors!!!

Accommodations on the beach are open, and ready for visitors. Fortunately, the area received minimal damage from the storm so restaurants and attractions are open, and ready for business. Your business, and mine! Visit Panama City Beach 

How We First Made Memories at Panama City Beach

When my husband and I first had children, that area was our only vacation spot, year after year. To us, it became a kind of a home, away from home, when our kids were growing up. The first year we vacationed there, we knew no one there, and practically nothing about it: it was an area recommended to us by some friends of ours who also had young children. And, of course, they were right. We also fell in love with it! We were SO in love with it, that we went back, year after year, right before the Memorial Day weekend, for 7 years in a row! We made memories there as a young family that I cherish to this day. 

 Memories Our Family Made That I Cherish:

Falling in love at first sight with color of those turquoise waters: the Gulf contained unlimited, ever-varying shades of what immediately became my brand new favorite color.   The sound of those waves, that lulled me to sleep like a mother’s lullaby. What a sense of peace, and well-being that sound brings!  Daytime walks on the beach BY MYSELF, (courtesy of my husband, who stayed with the kids) with time to pray, and meditate Watching my children race toward the edge of those waters, to stand and stare, in awe and wonder, at the immensity of the body of water in front of them. Watching their delight when the first wave bubbled over their toes, sinking them just a little deeper into the sand underneath them, than where they stood before. Watching them use their new sand shovels to dig into those sugar white sands, with joy and determination to build the best sandcastle ever! Going on treasure hunts for shells, with my kids, to use to decorate their castles.  Our family’s evening sunset ritual of going back down with the kids to the beach, after dinner, to watch the sun set. 

Our Most Unique Memory of All: A Message in a Bottle

And then, there’s the most unique-to-us memory of all: one evening after dinner,  we went on a golden sunset stroll on the beach, and found a wine bottle, partially covered in barnacles, bobbing in the waves that were washing up on the beach. Our excitement heightened when we discovered that the bottle contained  a note inside! Of course we had to open it!  On one side, the note read like a shopping list of what someone might pack to take on a boat trip. But can you imagine how big our eyes got when we read on the other side of the shopping list: “The Gallant Lady”, stranded at sea”, with their latitude and longitude degrees. It also contained the name of port The Gallant Lady had departed from. We called the Coast Guard that night, and read the note to them over the phone. And our next day’s adventure involved taking the kids to the Coast Guard office, and turning the bottle over to them. Sadly, we never did hear any follow-up information  about our little adventure, but the Coast Guard folks seemed to believe it was very likely an authentic note, and assured us that they would be following up on it.

Future Memories I’d Like to Make at Panama City Beach: UNwineD

Since I blog so often about food, you won’t be surprised to learn that one of the future memories I’d most like to make at Panama City Beach involves food and wine! And they have a bunch of food and assorted spirits events coming up. If you’d like to read about all of them, I’ll put a link here for upcoming food and wine events in Panama City Beach. I guess if I could have my pick of all the fun events that PCB has coming up this year, I’d most like to attend the UNwineD festival. UNwineD is coming to Panama City Beach on March 22-23, 2019, at the Aaron Bessant Park. The UNwineD event will be a  weekend where you can try a variety of amazing craft beers, wines and spirits from around the world. You will also be able to taste the dishes of many of Northwest Florida’s most renowned chefs. Southern Living Magazine is a sponsor of this event, and I have a kind of a love affair that’s gone on with that magazine ever since I got married. I know how they love the South, and what a good job they do of promoting what’s best about our culture. Southern Living will be hosting a Friday night kickoff party. This one-of-a-kind night offers a top-named Chef, custom cocktails, live music and more. Only 300 tickets are sold to the Kickoff Party and include admission to the entire weekend of events. That’s what I’d love to attend! On Saturday, there will be a Grand Afternoon tasting, with booths offering food and wines, beers, and spirits, and a tent with live music. And on Saturday night, on the Aaron Bessant Park’s amphitheater stage, there will be live music. Musical guests include Brandi Carlile and JOHNNYSWIM!

Making Memories of Your Own at Panama City Beach

So, my memories of Panama City Beach are nice, but what can you do to make it yours ?Will it be at the PCB Food Truck and Craft Beer Festival, in February? The PCB Mardi Gras & Music Festival in March? Or perhaps the Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally is more your speed? Don’t forget the Seabreeze Jazz Festival in April. The time to start planning your trip, is now. plan your fun today There are sooooo many ways, and so many reasons, for you to make Panama City Beach YOUR home away from home. visit the Real. FUN. Beach.

The sun is shining. The sound of the waves is calling. The community of PCB can’t wait to welcome you!  Why not make some new memories, this spring?

How to Win a 2 Night Stay to Make Memories of Your Own in Panama City Beach: using #MyPCB

If you love Panama City Beach, like I do, and you already have some memories you’d like to share regarding how YOU PCB, Panama City Beach would like to encourage you to submit your images, stories, or videos on their website: Visit Panama City Beach using the hashtag #MyPCB Here are some thought starters, to get you going:

• What’s your favorite memory of PCB?
• What’s the first thing you do when you get to PCB?
• If you could go anywhere in PCB right now, where would you go?
• What’s your favorite thing to do at PCB?
• What visually sums up how you feel at PCB?

Those who share their experiences about PCB may be featured on their microsite, and will have the chance to win a 2-night stay, dinner gift certificate and attraction passes. You can bet I’m going to enter! Time for some new memories of Panama City Beach to be made!