A Two Day Stay in Panama Beach!

Instant Hair!

Mary and Elvis!

Dancing to Anthony Oreo and the Good Fellows at Tootsi's Saloon 

Rigley's Believe It or Not!

John likes Panama Beach!

We set up a two day stay in Panama City to relax on the white sand beach and have a chance to explore this popular Mecca of spring breakers. We managed to find St. Andrew State Park Campground without the help of the Garvin Girl who was on a repeating mode trying to send to nowhere fast! We arrived at 3 in the afternoon but found we gained and hour having passed the Central time zone. So excited that we had gained an hour, we decided to explore the campground before setting up our campsite.
St. Andrews was situated at the far end of the island so that the northern part was on the Grand Lagoon and around the bend was on the Gulf. All the campsites were on the Lagoon side safe from the gulf winds. This popular campground was full of RVs with wild sounding names: Cougars, Mallards, Wildcats, Kodiaks and an occasional Air Stream. Tents in every variety were in great abundance filling up almost all the 175 campsites. By the license plates most campers came from Alabama and Georgia. We were the only English speaking people there!
After we set up our campsite we went into town to get some lunch. We stopped at the Experience The Rigley's Believe It Or Not! exhibition on the way to Pier Park. It looked like a big ship that landed on land after the Katrina hurricane. I went inside while John stopped to talk to some people sitting on a bench to find out if they thought it was worth the money. As he talked to them a security guard approached him
and asked him if he was
asking people for money! Amused by this, John played along and said, "Yes, but they won't give me any!" She then answered, "You get off this property immediately or I will have you removed!" I came out just then after experiencing the laser light show with my eyes still seeing red lines. Everyone on the bench was laughing as John was confronting the bewildered security lady. I quickly grabbed him by the arm and we headed to our car and down the strip to the Pier.
A few miles down the strip we came to Pier Park, a classic tourist trap with all the cute shops, World's Best Tee Shirts, Spray on Tan, Hats Galore…. We parked Moby Dick and walked to the single street mal. We walked into each Shirt shop to relish the air conditioning as we checked out the merchandise. John enjoyed trying on the faux hair visors with tufts of fur sprouting off the top. He almost bought one but he opted for a Confederate flag cap labeled, "Southern Born and Bred." He thought it would help in dealing with our neighbors back at the campsite. We then ambled toward the music coming from Tootsie's Saloon. This is where Mary spotted Elvis who had seen his better days having lost his left index finger. We walked into the saloon just as the band was toning up and the guys on the ladder were adjusting the VCR for the Nascar video on the big screen. We ordered a large Strawberry Daqueri to share as we spun around in our beer stools cooling off in the air conditioned saloon.
Anthony Oreo and the Good Fellows finished their tuning and broke out into song with "Way Down in the Chattahoochee." We were told that there was also a Tootsie in Nashville, and the musicians paraded back and forth doing gigs! When "Saturday Night at the Twist and Shout" started playing, people got up and started dancing. Great stuff for three in the afternoon! We sipped our drink and joined the group. After all that dancing, we built up an appetite and headed down the street passing up Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and settling for the local eatery called the Buckaloo Saloon.
The flavor of the hickory sauce from the outside barbeque drew us in. We sat indoors to cool down and sat on high stools while mellow country music played in the background. Sweet Pea Sue, our waitress with several body piercings on the tongue, lip, and nose, recommended the popular entre. "Yoth ike se ba-biqhu speial! Ish e besht!" It's not easy talking with a knob on our tongue! So, we shared a half of a barbequed chicken and boiled potatoes and a salad on the side for $20. What a bargain! Cooled down to goose pimples, we went outside to finish our drinks and to hear the guitar player. After a while we realized we did not recognize any of his songs for he was singing his own compositions, and they were the saddest, most forlorn pieces of music to pierce the air waves.
We didn't leave thought because we were more interested in what was happening in the booth in front of us. Two ladies were sitting next to each other as two guys on the other side of the booth kept topping off their beer mugs. As more people came in, they slid next to the company hugging each other and pulling up chairs making the group into a crowd. It got so raucous that someone spilled a glass of beer on the lady's laps sending them into a giggling fit. Finally, they had to excuse themselves and left, taking one step forward, teetering in place, and taking two steps back. The youngest blond got into her Mustang while the other one was trying to negotiate the stairs draping herself over the handrails as the guys in the booth cracked up with laughter. She finally made it into the car barely closing her door as the young blond gunned the engine and squeeled out of the parking lot flipping off the crowd.
Well, that was enough for one day so we headed back to the campsite and a bike ride around the camp and sleeping under the stars! Tomorrow we hit the beach!