Panama City Beach is Wide Open

By William E. Males

This time of year Panama City Beach is wide open. What I mean by “wide open” is that with all the beach goers out of town due to the winter season the whole place is like my old home town on an very early Sunday morning. Very little people out and about, the streets are easy to get around, no one running across the street. Seems most everyone you see is headed somewhere that you’re not. If you do run into a crowd, it’s usually a small one and probably at the local diner or restaurant where all the locals go and are greeted by name. For one of the top vacation spots in the country, Panama City turns into a quaint little town when all the out-of-towners are gone.

A drive down the coast here and it is clear to anyone not asleep in the car that the place is, by comparison, virtually empty and literally “wide open.” Personally, I found it a great time to get familiar with where everything is located and hit all the local sites. With the decreased traffic it was great just driving around sightseeing and visiting all the historic spots. For a place that has been real popular since before the founding of the nation, or the State of Florida becoming part of the United States, this place has some rich history behind it. Plus, just for funsies . . . there is even a one of kind tree in the whole world. Man, I haven’t said that since I was a kid.

 Now you may not be able to read it in the photo, but it does says, “This rare four headed palm, the only one of its kind know in the world, is dedicated to the people of Panama City.”  It is actually a Butia Capitata, or a Pindo Palm. It was transplanted to the park here in Panama City from where it had been growing naturally near the city’s water treatment facility.

However, when Spring Break comes this whole place becomes more jammed packed than stadium bathrooms at halftime . . . and everyone in just as much hurry. For a whole lot of people that equals non-stop excitement and fun. Some people are just made with the crowd pack mentality of “let’s see how many we can fit in one room.” Maybe that comes from being away at college and everyone getting together all the time to escape the cramming of books studying for exams. For them, the bigger the crowd the better. Perhaps that’s because the monotony of school life keeps them on the border of insanity. So, what better way to escape it than to run right into it face first. Heck, half the fun seems to be laughing about how crowded a place is and while you’re all waiting for a spot to eat to open up.

It is no secret here that quite a few places are strictly seasonal. There are several business that open up just before spring break. Afterwards, the businesses focus on following waves of vacationing crowds that continue to come like a never ending tsunami, filling the beaches and flooding over into every single open business door in down.

That is literally what Panama City Beach is like sometimes at Spring Break, a tsunami. But just like a real tsunami, just before one hits, the water level drops considerably and the tide goes way out. And right now, here in one of the most crowded places you’d ever want to be at Spring Break, the tide of people is way out and getting ready to rush back in like a mind blowing flood.

Right now with all the crowds gone, the place is virtually a wide open entertainment park. That’s because there are a lot of local entertainment parks that are die hard businesses who don’t close their doors because they know there are a lot of local folks who still get out and like to enjoy their own paradise while the crowd is at bay. We all got up and spent one day driving around having our own miniature golf playoffs. This is a town that seems to have as many miniature golf places as they do real “regular” golf courses.

Now I have to admit I was tempted to say “real” golf courses, but that would have greatly detracted to the significance on my several hole-in-ones I made that day. Why, even my wife displayed some putting skills that would have made her the envy of a few semi-pros.

So, if you’re within a tankful of gas away and have the urge to try your skills at the putting greens and could use a good, uh, excuse me, I mean “great” sundowner, than drive on over to the Emerald Coast and enjoy the wide open space and solitude and spend a day with the family making more memories to take back home.