June 23-25, 2008
Pineglen RV Park
We are camping with Pineglen RV Park 11930 Panama City Beach Parkway,
Panama
City Beach, FL 32407 Phone 850 230 8535 www.pineglenpark.com.
$43- (including taxes) a night for full hookup wifi & cable. While
the $43 may shock you we are talking June on Panama
City Beach. A fancier RV-Park is a few blocks from here--Emerald
Coast I think their rates start at $75 before taxes. We usually stay
at St
Andrews State Park when visiting Panama
City Beach but we didn't make reservations this time and the
State Park was full--the State Park is around $25 for water &
30-amps. Pine Glen RV Park has gravel/dirt interior roads and pads
but is otherwise a nice RV-Park that is well maintained with good
looking RV's in the place.
Sadly there isn't a 1/2 price
PPA Campground on Panama City Beach.
One day we drove to the west end of the Beach to visit Camp
Helen State Park. Camp
Helen
is a relatively new State Park and has yet to be developed
to its full potential. Still it is a good place to visit.
This is the "Lodge" circa 1932. At that time the Lodge
was the centerpiece of Camp
Helen. Of course Camp
Helen was privately owned at that time also.
This is a view over Phillips Inlet to the southeast. The condo in
the distance is on the Gulf. This picture was taken from Camp
Helen State Park looking back to the east and the condos on
Panama
City Beach.
This is a cabbage palm the state tree of Florida.
View looking to the southeast from atop the bluff at Camp
Helen State Park. The Gulf of Mexico is the dark blue strip
in the middle of the picture just above the narrow strip of white
sand beach.
We walked down to the beach where a large area was roped off protecting
a least tern nesting area. Least terns nest in the open laying eggs
in shallow depressions amongst scattered shells. The small birds have
to protect their eggs from the blazing sun. Only a few minutes in
this sun could cook them.
This is a side view of one of those nesting least terns on the beach
at Camp
Helen State Park.
Here comes Joyce from her walk on the beach. The beach is that white
strip you see in the distance.
Pindo palms like this one are not native to this area but there are
a good number of them in the State Park. I guess they are left over
from the days when this was a private property. Pindo palms are native
to Brazil & Argentina and have a reputation as a very cold hardy
palm tree.
We spent the day visiting Camp
Helen State Park and visiting with my Mom who lives in Panama
City. But we headed out to look for an enhanced excitement level around
5pm. It was no where near dark but that is time to start searching
for food and entertainment.
Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett's place in the new
Pier Park on Panama
City Beach
We wanted to dine a the new Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett's place
in the new Pier Park on Panama
City Beach. That was what we wanted to do but there was a
one & one-half hour wait each time we got hungry. I don't do waits
like that --15-minutes is about the extent of my wait-tolerance. We
attempted this exercise in futility three different evenings around
5:30, one time they said the wait was 2-hours.
Margaritaville on Panama
City Beach is definitely a hit. It seemed that everyone on
Panama
City Beach wanted to get a table in there.
This is as much of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville as we got to see.
If you are visiting Panama
City Beach you can find Margaritaville on Front Beach Road
at the entrance to Pier Park. Be forewarned you will not be dining
alone. vbg
One place that did not disappoint us was the new Tootsies
that also opened in Pier Park just a block north of Margaritaville.
Tootsies
was doing a landmark business as well -- just not as ridiculous as
Margaritaville. Tootsies,
the world famous honky tonk, on Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee has
opened this Tootsie's
on Panama City Beach. The music format so popular in Nashville
is being well received at Tootsies on Panama
City Beach. While the music format remains essentially the
same, featuring musicians and bands that are on the verge of becoming
top stars. For the most part these musicians lean heavily on a Country
Music format but also do songs from the Temptations (My Girl), the
Eagles and songs like Brown Eyed Girl. Musicians of the talent level
performing in Tootsies
play to the audience thus know a wide variety of songs from the Country
& old Rock & Roll genres.
The artist and bands we listened to in Tootsies
were performers we had listened to at the River
Front Stage at Fan Fair in Nashville several weeks ago. Some
of the band members and lead vocal artist were in the Nashville Convention
Center signing autographs right along with the likes of Sarah Evans
and Alan Jackson.
If you are contemplating a visit to Panama
City Beach and Tootsie's
you can count on good entertainment. The "atmosphere" in
the Panama
City Beach Tootsie's is MUCH more family friendly than the
original Tootsie's in Nashville. When I say the "atmosphere"
has improved (my opinion) I am speaking of things like serving food
(we ate there two nights), the music incorporates more "beach/new
Country" than the more hard core "old Country/honky tonk"
emphasized in the Nashville Tootsie's. This Tootsie's
is much larger than the Nashville Tootsie's and much cleaner. Families
bring children of all ages in to enjoy the music. One night when we
were there about 50-teen age girls visiting Panama
City Beach as part of a dance group dropped in -- they appeared
to range in age from 12 to 17 or 18. These girls and their chaperones
had a ball in Tootsie's, the musicians had them dancing on the bar
and on the band stage. The music quickly changed to appeal to this
"younger-age" group that appeared. Many of us were surprised
that the chaperones allowed this group of young girls to enter Tootsie's
much less dance on the bar when we settled down we realized that there
was absolutely NOTHING going on that was the least bit out of line.
Many families with children ranging in age from one year old to around
18-years came in and enjoyed the music and food. If anything "out
of line" would have happened I am sure these families would have
quickly exited. The inside area of Tootsie's is a no-smoking area
which is to our liking. Along the south side of Tootsie's
is an outside bar where smokers tend to congregate as well as many
tables outside that seem to stay pretty full of smokers. Bottom line,
this new Tootsie's is much more family friendly.
If you are interested in some of the artist we enjoyed there check
out Anthony Orio's web site: www.myspace.com/anthonyorio
His band is the Goodfellers, you can get a link to the Goodfellers
band from Anthony's web site.
The Goodfellers are also the band for recording artist Crystal Shawanda.
Crystal wasn't performing when we were at Tootsie's
but was arriving the day we left for a weeks worth of performances.
Jonathan Newton is a multitalented musician that plays lead guitar,
base guitar, fiddle and mandolin to name a few of the instruments
he has mastered.
Chris Griffiths is the Goodfellers base guitar player.
Lewis Winfield is the drummer for the Goodfellers. He has performed
with the Blues Brothers, Leonard Skynard and the Nevel Brothers to
name a few of the musicians he has performed with.
Scott Colier is a lead vocal that was singing with the Goodfellers
band. Google Scott Colier to find out more about this great performer.
He has a CD out that can be purchased from his web site.
The Goodfellers Band has opened for top acts like Travis Tritt, Montgomery
Gentry and Miranda Lambert as well as playing at the 2007 Canadian
Country Music Awards.
Singer/Songwriter Anthony Orio and The Goodfellers Band have brought
a taste of Nashville to Tootsie's.
Their southern-rock show features a large variety of country and rock
covers as well as original tunes with a few “hollers and swallers”
mixed in with the music.
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Until next time remember how good life is.
Mike & Joyce Hendrix
Mike
& Joyce Hendrix who we are
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