Son-in-law Barry's Mom passed away in December, and the memorial service was set for December 29 in Selmer, Tennessee. Lady Adventurer and I changed our travel plans to leave early and attend the service. This meant staying in Tupelo, Mississippi afterward, on the way South. Before we continued on, we were able to visit Elvis Presley's Birthplace, where there is a museum, chapel, church, reflection pond, and of course the house itself. We walked around a bit before moving on.
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| Elvis Presley's Birthplace |
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| Elvis Presley's Birthplace |
Arriving earlier than normal to a different-than-normal place (Days Inn Panama City Beach) was a little disorienting, but we got settled and celebrated New Year's Eve by getting to sleep by 8:30 PM.
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| Arrival at Days Inn, PCB |
The Days Inn ain't bad. We like it better than Beachside. Some of our old friends from Beachside are here with us, and others chose to stay at the old place. We did get together to see everyone at Bayou on the Beach, which is a happening place here. It was a fun get-together. Later, we had a similar experience at Hammerhead Fred's as well as other joints.
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| Friends at Bayou on the Beach |
And the sunsets here are every bit as spectacular. Highlight of the day, nearly every day. I won't bore you with any of my sunset pictures. (Editor comments: that last statement is a lie.)
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| Another PCB Sunset |
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| These are some people who are not Lady A. and Dan |
We also did a cultural, though spur-of-the-moment thing: we attended the Panama City Symphony concert featuring some Hollywood music as well as a superb performance of Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto.
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| Panama City Symphony |
It hasn't snowed as much as this since the 1980s. Those couple of inches, combined with some solid ice and cold temperatures shut down the entire region. We're snowed in! We had some food so we managed to survive.
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| The beach the day after |
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| Snowy beach sunrise |
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| The Days Inn amidst the snow (It's not sand!) |
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| Snow on the palm trees |
Believe it or not, it warmed back up after those few cold days. Since then, it was mostly 60s and low 70s - just about normal.
Did I mention the food? We absolutely love the fresh seafood that's right out of the gulf. Can't get enough of it.
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| Schooners is one of our favs |
I also did a bit of running. That includes the 2025 Tallahassee Marathon. Here's a pic, but there's plenty more in my running blog post.
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| Tallahassee Marathon on Groundhog Day |
We walk and run a great deal at Conservation Park as well as other areas.
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| PCB Conservation Park |
By February, it was festivals galore. We went to Eden Gardens State Park and were surprised that the Camelia Festival was going on.
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| Camelia Festival |
Next, it was over to Arron Bessant Park for the Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival. Okay eats, but pretty expensive. It was fun, but we won't need to do it again. Now, guess which festival was the more peaceful and serene: the Camelia Festival or the Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival?
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| Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival |
The Days Inn PCB has their very own dolphin statue.
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| In front of the Days Inn |
We saw a gator! First time here in the PCB area. Of course, we've seen plenty further South in Florida. But this young guy was at "Gator Lake" in St. Andrews State Park. We'd been here many other times, but the lake has finally earned its name, at least for us.
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| Gator at Gator Lake |
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| St. Andrews State Park |
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| St. Andrews State Park |
And then there was more running. With a just week left on our trip, I ran the 2025 PCB Luau Half-Marathon at nearby Frank Brown Park. This time Lady A. was there to cheer me on.
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| Start of the race around the lake at Frank Brown Park |
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| For the win (not really; I was second) |
Leon Sinks is a geologic wonder south of Tallahassee, Leon Sinks Geological Area that showcases karst in the Woodville Karst Plain in Apalachicola National Forest. Karst is a landscape that happens through deep erosion of a soft rock such as limestone. Along the trail, there are sinkholes and caves. It took us two hours to drive there, but the well-marked 3-mile hike was well worth it. By the way, this area is not to be confused with Leon Spinks, the boxer.
After our hike, we hurried back to PCB in order to get to Schooners in time to get seated for one last (for this trip, at least) dinner on the beach. We had grouper again, of course. While we were waiting for our table, we walked over to the leaning house. It got that way when the tornadoes hit last year when we were here.
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| Leon Sinks Hike |
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| A sinkhole at Leon Sinks |
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| The leaning house near Schooners |
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| Last dinner out at Deckhand Social |
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| Just one more sunset |
P.S. On the way home, the car began making some scary noises. Hope we make it all the way. Spending over 90 minutes in snarled traffic didn't help. But what did lift our spirits was our first ever stop at a Buc-ees, a super-duper roadside rest area. You haven't lived until you've visited a Buc-ees on a Saturday night.
