Currently counting down the days till my next beach vacation……
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always gone on family trips to the beach. It’s how my mom was raised, and she wanted me and my brother to experience the same thing, so ever since I was a little girl (starting at about 2 months old), I’ve always gone on family trips to the beach. And it’s turned me into a beach-aholic!
It’s been a little over a week since I left Panama City Beach, and post-vacay depression is a *real thing*. I’m already trying to see where I can fit in another beach trip this summer because I’m so ready to be back there.
Because of my mom’s and my love for the beach, we started doing an annual mother daughter beach trip a few years ago while I was still in college. My mom and I love spending time together, and when I say we do everything together, I literally mean we do everything together — and going to the beach is no different. We use our beach trip as a time for us to build an even stronger relationship and relax and unwind from the hustle and bustle of Atlanta and work life. We talk about all sorts of things from work to boys to clothes to animated movies (we share an intense love of animated movies especially Frozen, Finding Nemo, and the Secret Life of Pets!). By the end of our beach week, we’re trying to find a way to stay an extra day or two and complaining about how one week at the beach is never long enough for us.
This year’s beach trip was from Sunday to Friday, and we stayed at this super cute condo {linked here! and her other condo here} on the west side of Panama City Beach. It’s a lot quieter from the east side because there aren’t as many college students who just finished their spring semester of class, which is why we really enjoy it. We can really relax and enjoy our time together.
Sunday was our travel day, and we left Atlanta around 8am and because of the time change we made it to PCB around 1-1:30pm. We ate a quick lunch at Subway then headed to the beach to reserve our beach chairs {come with the condo} and to sit out for a few hours because we had finally made it! For dinner, we went to Olive Garden because it was conveniently located by the Walmart for us to go buy groceries.
Monday was our first full day at the beach, so we woke up relatively early (the time change really messed us up haha), did a quick 30-minute workout, got ready, and headed to the beach. We stayed out for nearly the entire day only to come in for a quick lunch and then to get ready for dinner. Last year when we took our vacation, we tried this local pizza shop called Panama Pizzeria {menu here!}, and it was AMAZING. It’s a quiet little place where the locals go, and the pizza and salad were so delicious. We decided that we’re adding it to our list of go-to restaurants while we’re there. They also have a number of pasta dishes that are all cooked to order, so you won’t be eating pasta sauce that was cooked that morning.
Tuesday through Friday followed the same “itinerary”. We woke up, did a workout, got ready, and go to the beach. Since we hadn’t been to the beach since July of last year, we wanted to make sure we soaked up as much sun as possible. I think I soaked up a little too much ‘cause I was sunburnt in a few places for a couple of days.
For the rest of the week, we tried restaurants that we felt were more for locals rather than restaurants that targeted tourists. So on Tuesday, we went to Diego’s Burrito Factory and Margarita Bar {menu here!} and had Mexican food and the best daiquiris and margaritas on the beach! The restaurant is set up like a Moe’s, so you order your food (we got nachos) then you tell them what toppings you want on them.
On Wednesday and Thursday, we knew we wanted to have seafood, so we had tried the Shrimp Basket {here!} on Wednesday and Sharky’s {here!}on Thursday. I had fried shrimp at both because I’m not much of a fish eater, and the shrimp was so fresh and so good. We had heard really good things about the Shrimp Basket, and it looked like a good place to try. They run daily specials for food like all you can eat popcorn shrimp on Wednesdays, and their drinks were so tasty. The drinks were also pretty strong so if you’re a lightweight like me, you’ve been warned! Sharky’s was a little more like a touristy destination for dinner, but it was delicious nonetheless. They had a live band playing out on the deck, and you could hear the music playing even if you were sitting inside like we were. We ate more shrimp (no surprise), and their fried gulf shrimp were also soooo yummy and fresh. After dinner on Thursday, we packed up the majority of our things and complained about how one week at the beach wasn’t enough time for us and that we needed to plan another trip soon after I get settled in my new job.
Like Sunday, Friday was a travel day. I woke up even earlier to take a final walk on the beach before packing up my final things and head home. When we left our condo, we did make a detour and had breakfast at the Donut Hole {here!} in Inlet Beach. It was recommended to us by someone we met at the beach. It also allowed us to stay at the beach a little longer before making the drive back. I got a short stack of pancakes and some hashbrowns, and the pancakes were the size of my head! I couldn’t even eat both of them along with my hashbrowns, but regardless the breakfast hit the spot and was a great way to end our trip.
As sad as I was (and still am) about leaving the beach, my mom and I made some great memories, met some new friends, and were really able to relax and figure out some plans for our next beach trip.
“The sand may brush off, and the salt may wash away, but the memories will last forever.”
– MC
