Panama City Beach Travel Guide

Hiiiiiiiiya! YIKES! It’s been over half a year since I’ve published a new blog! WhatTheHeck?!?!

So if you follow along my IG you might already know that Matt and I own a beach condo (which we AirBNB when we aren’t there). I have some highlights saved (CLICK HERE) that show you the renovation we did and some updated photos with the link to book. During one of our stays at the condo I realized how many new attractions PCB has and how many classics are still around, and I wanted to share some of our favorites for anyone who might be visiting the area.

The pool deck of our condo building

Panama City Beach is a beautiful destination on the Emerald Coast bordering the Gulf of Mexico waters. It features white silky sand and unique blue green waves along the panhandle of Florida. We hope you’ll come visit our beautiful area sometime and if you do….

Here’s a list of ideas/places I compiled that will hopefully add some fun to your trip to PCB.

Condo Concierge- This is a full service custom guest convenience services. They will stock your condo before you arrive with any items that you wish… including all of your groceries! www.condocierge.com

My girls on the Sea Dragon Pirate Cruise 7/3/21

Sea Screamer- Two hour sightseeings cruises of our local waters and you might even see some dolphins! Large boat that offers restrooms, refreshments, and a cash bar onboard.

Sea Dragon Pirate Ship- Two hour cruise with non stop kid friendly fun provided by our local pirates. We actually just took our girls to enjoy this boat ride a few days ago! I highly recommend for the kids. The boat offers cash bar with refreshments and drinks and restrooms on board.

St Andrews State Park/ Shell Island Shuttle- For a small fee, the state park offers a “kiddy pool,” campgrounds, trails, beach access, and a shuttle over to Shell Island which runs every 30 minutes. Beautiful, clear water provides the perfect spot for snorkeling, shell collecting, and more.

Sunset from the viewing deck at our condo

Pontoon Rental- Half day, whole day, and double decker with slides are all available for rent. This past April our family rented a half day pontoon from Lagoon Pontoons and we 1000% would do it again! Pontoons are great for large groups and younger kids because it has lots of seating and high sides. They typically aren’t designed for speed and are great for putting over to Shell Island or just for sightseeing around the bay area. It’s a must do

Beach Bonfire- Endless Beach Rentals will come and set up and break down your very own custom beach confire with chairs and everything you could possibly need. http://endlessrentalspcb.com

Kartona Speedway- kartonaelectricspeedway.com If you are into indoor speed tracks, you will love this! Our family has this on our to do list- hopefully soon!

My Mother-In-Law with our girls on the beach behind our condo

Pier Park- Great outdoor mall with shopping, dining, and more! Pier Park is a must see and is one of the newest attractions on the beach. They provide entertainment for all major holidays and they host a weekly outdoor concert series during the summer. (And, it’s located very near our condo- we love the convenience!)

SkyWheel- This is located inside of Pier Park and is a huge ferris wheel with enclosed gondolas that will give you beach views from 20 stories up! They also have a ropes course and zipline on premises. skywheelpcb.com

Shipwreck Island Water Park- This park is a PCB staple since 1976. It offers plenty of water rides, a kiddy pool area, refreshment stands, and a lazy river ride (my personal favorite). Open seasonally between Memorial Day and Labor Day. www.shipwreckisland.com

Sunset photo taken from our condo viewing deck August 2020

Current Favorite Places to Eat: Captain Anderson’s (dinner/fine dining), Marlin Grill (dinner/brunch/fine dining), Hang Five (waterfront/casual), Schooners (waterfront/casual/live music), Firefly (dinner/fine dining), Finn’s Island Style Grub (brunch/lunch/togo), Gypsea Crepes (brunch/lunch/togo), Liza’s Kitchen (brunch/lunch/togo), Dave’s SnoBalls (brunch/lunch/togo), Fresh Market (grocery mart with amazing deli/bakery options), Gulf Coast Burger Co (lunch/dinner/casual), Dat Cajun Place (lunch/dinner/casual).

I would LOVE to hear your feedback! Let me know what you would add to this list, or take away! What did I forget?! THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, AS ALWAYSSSSS!

Love to love ya,

Me + Matt plus our girls on the viewing deck at our condo

You asked for it

Hey yall! Happy Friday!

I have noticed lots of questions and requests on recent home tour posts that I wanted to try and answer and I decided to use this blog post to share some info. I love to see that you are using these design ideas and inspirations to plan your own spaces and I do my best to deliver as much paint color, product info, and the layout/floor plan when available. So thats what this post is dedicated to; I’m going to share the questions I saw and then the answers I found. As always, thank you for following along the blog and @summer_onthecoast Instagram! :)

Here were some of the questions:

For the home tour post on November 18 by Trickle Creek you asked:

Where can I get this floor plan? The Trickle Creek homes are in-house designs and are not available for purchase. Please refer to my previous House Plan blog post here for tips on how to get the EXACT floor plan that you want.

Can you tell me where this table is from? The dining room table featured in this home is from Cartwright Lighting, a Canadian company.
Linked here

linked here via Houzz for folks in USA

linked a more budget friendly similar here

For the home tour post on November 20 (by Raleigh Custom Homes), you asked:

What color and material is the gray on this house? Raleigh Custom Homes has confirmed that this is James Hardi board and the color is Sherwin Williams Gauntlet Gray

From the home tour post on November 25 by Trickle Creek, you asked:

Where is that beautiful globe light fixture from? It is from Cartwright Lighting, linked here

Similar Here in USA and Similar style on sale Here

Can you please share with me what color the cabinets are in the room where the dog is eating? Yes, that is Benjamin Moore Silver Cloud

Love the wood in the kitchen! Would you share what company you sourced this kitchen from? The cabinets are white oak. The flooring was sourced from After 8 Interiors linked here (Instagram site linked).

For the home tour post on November 30 by Forte Building Group, you asked:

I love that light fixture, where is it from (the black chandelier)? I have searched high and low and did not find an exact match but I linked several similar options

Linked here from Houzz Linked Here from Houzz Linked Here from Houzz Linked Here Wayfair

For the home tour post on December 1 designed by Scout and Nimble, you asked:

Can you tell me any info on the floor? It is an 8’ wide oak floor

Can you share the exterior paint color? Aesthetic White by Sherwin Williams

The house is beautiful! What fridge and freezer is in the kitchen and what technique is on the exterior brick? Exterior brick is painted Aesthetic White by Sherwin Williams. I could not locate exact appliance info but I’m going to guess it could be a Frigidaire linked HERE, maybe a Viking set linked HERE, or an Electrolux set linked HERE

The island chairs are EVERYTHING! Need those! Linked exact ones HERE Linked exact ones on SALE HERE Linked budget friendly ones HERE

This home is still for sale in Nashville and I will link the listing here

I sure hope these resources help you guys! Thank you for being here!

Happy weekend,

{T H A N K} FULL Belly

So here’s our Thanksgiving Sitch 2020: eat as much buttery, southern cookin’ as possible 😋 When my little family gets together to eat we keep it casual and do it potluck style. The goal is to find the biggest paper plates available and wear our most stretchy, comfy pants🤰🏼It’s all about eatin’ good! 🙌🏼 Typically we get together every Sunday and do a Sunday dinner, but 2020 has not been typical (to say the least). This year we did a little Thanksgiving meal together this past Sunday and it was delish.👌🏼Today I’m sharing some of our most favorite side dish recipes.

Ok, this first recipe is a family favorite and over the years it’s been tweaked and slightly changed. I am going to call it Fancy Pants Mac + Cheese. It is macaroni and cheese with ALL THE YUMMY THINGS added to it. I grew up eating this for every nice potluck our family attended and I’ve yet to meet a person who didn’t like it. And after our Florida Thanksgiving dinner Sunday I asked Matt what his favorite dish was and this was his vote. It’s that good, y’all! According to my mom the recipe originally came from some folks in Birmingham, Alabama. So if you have ever eaten this or made this, I would love to hear from you because so far I haven’t found anyone else that is familiar with this fancy mac n cheese. The green beans is a recipe that my mother-in-law introduced me to and now thats the only way we eat them!

SUMMER’S FANCY PANTS MAC + CHEESE

Ingredients:

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup mayo

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 lb grated cheese (I use cheddar)

1 small jar pimentos chopped (reserve juice)

8 oz cooked macaroni pasta

bread crumbs (I use finely smashed Ritz crackers)

Combine soup, mayo, pimento juice. Toss the macaroni with onion, pepper, pimentos then arrange in two layers in buttered casserole dish with cheese in the middle of the layers. Pour mayo sauce over and top with the bread/cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. (I usually double the recipe and bake for 30 min)

NANA’S GREEN BEANS

Ingredients:

4 cans of French style green beans, drained

5-6 slices of bacon

chicken broth (enough to cover beans)

1 onion chopped

Add all ingredients to slow cooker and cook on high 2-4 hours or low 3-5 hours. It’s an easy peasy veggie addition. We season with our favorite all purpose seasoning McCormick’s pink himalayan salt + ground black pepper + garlic.

SEAFOOD DRESSING

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter

1 yellow onion chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

1/2 bell pepper chopped

1/2 lb fresh shrimp (peeled and deveined( cut into bite sized pieces

1 tsp cajun seasoning

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 bag herb seasoned stuffing mix

1/2 bag cornbread stuffing mix

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can chicken broth

15 oz crab meat drained

2 tbsp butter cut into slivers

Preheat oven 350 and grease a 9x13 dish. Melt butter in large pan. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper and cook until soft. Add shirmp and cook just until no longer pink. Remove from heat. Stir in cajun seasoning and thyme and transfer mixture to larger bowl. Add remaining ingredients, except butter to bowl. Stir to mix. Transfer to casserole dish. Scatter butter pieces over top, place in oven and bake for 30 min

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

4-5 cups cooked sweet potatoes, mashed

1/2 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp milk

1/2 c butter

Toppings:

1/3 c flour

1 c chopped pecans

1/3 c melted butter

1 c brown sugar

1/2 bag mini marshmallows

Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, butter. Pour into buttered casserole dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Make topping: mix flour, pecans, brown sugar, and melted butter. Pull out of oven add toppings (I do 1/2 of the pan just marshmallows and then the other 1/2 of the pan I top with the pecan mixture). Put back in a bake an additional 10-15 minutes. YUMMMMMYYYYYYY

stock photo by unsplash

Let me know if you try any of these recipes! I would LOVE to hear from you! I wish I would have stopped and taken photos while I was cooking all of these recipes this past weekend, but I will update this post with photos next time I do. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your people! 🦃

With Gratitude,