Ft Walton Beach to Panama City Marina

Fort Walton Beach had a nice pier (30.401770, -86.606586) with several slips adjacent to a pretty little park (Landing Park) located within walking distance to a grocery store and several restaurants. When arriving you're supposed to call city hall to check-in, which we did, and you can only stay one night; there is no power or any other amenities. We liked the area so much we called to see if they'd let us stay one more night but they had no record of the previous call. Rather than accusing us of not calling they were nice enough to say that no record existed of us staying the previous night therefore we could most certainly stay. Tuesday morning (12/13) we untied and crossed Choctawhatchee Bay followed by a small canal called the Grand Canyon which lead us to West Bay, Grand Lagoon and Panama City Marina (30.150713, -85.664633) located in St Andrews Bay. We are within walking distance of the downtown area which has several good restaurants. Kim and I went for a bike ride today and saw a lot of beautiful old homes with large oak trees which were covered with Spanish moss. We are still traveling with our friends Bob and Sharon, our other friends, Rob and Glenda, are staying in Niceville for a few days and will catch up with us soon. Kim and I will be heading home Monday for a week to see family and friends for Christmas.

Kim’s Korner:
Dolphins!!! All through Choctawhatchee Bay, we saw dolphins! They had a great time bow riding, wake riding and riding alongside Overtime – it was absolutely spectacular! If you had asked me what the #1 thing on my list of things I wanted to see during the Great Loop, this would be it. See my album for pictures.
In Panama City, we’ve enjoyed the downtown restaurants, shops and fresh seafood markets as well as biking along Beach Ave. The weather has been nice and we plan to go to the beach tomorrow – it’s supposed to be 75 degrees in the afternoon!
We’ll be headed home for Christmas and be looking at trying to do “the jump” – the 170 mile crossing of the gulf when we return. We are both ready for warmer weather although the last week has been much nicer.
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe, happy holiday!