Ladynomad on the Road to Nowhere: Search results for margaritaville

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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Panama City, FL

This area is known for its white sand beaches, college kids converging on the area during spring break, and tourists. And did I mention its pristine white beaches? There really is not much else in the area but beach, so we spent 3 days laying around on the beach. When we leave here tomorrow we head north, away from the beach. I will miss it!

This is the Midnight Princess, a tour ship where you can be a pirate for a day.

Not sure what this boat is, but it was unusual looking so I took a picture.

Don't know if these were crab traps, or something, but another commercial fishing boat. Oysters are very popular around here, so maybe an oyster boat?

There are lots of places to have a meal and a drink and watch the waves, such as Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville at Pier Park.

From our table overlooking the gulf.

Another place was Schooners, who claims to be the last local beach bar in Panama City Beach.

Sitting at our table looking out on the water.

One day we saw these surfers. Double red flags were flying which means no one is supposed to be in the water. But the surfers say this is the only time you get a good wave here on the gulf.

This little sand crab got cornered by some kids and was scared to death. The kids finally let the crab get back to its hole in the sand.

We visited Tootsie's in Nashville, but here it was again at Pier Park. Inside was a live cam of the entertainment going on hundreds of miles away in Nashville.

There are beaches both east and west of Panama City. This is Mexico Beach, east of Panama City.

I just liked this shot.

Mexico Beach is a much quieter, laid back tourist area than Panama City Beach. It had a totally different atmosphere than Panama City Beach. Instead of high rise condos, we found these quaint bed and breakfast style places.

This was a hotel on the beach. It was just a series of small houses which have been converted to condos.

I was fascinated watching these little clams. They would wash up and there would be hundreds laying on the sand. Then as you watched, they would bury themselves in the sand. In seconds you could not even tell they had been there.

Walking down Panama City Beach.

The waves were pretty rough. It was another double red flag day.

Our last night we decided to watch the sun go down.

It wasn't the most spectacular sunset I have seen, but it was my goodbye to beach (until next time).

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Boulder Beach

We also did other things while at Boulder Beach, such as some hiking and biking and kayaking. Some of us even went to Vegas. There is an Historic Railroad Trail which goes from a trailhead on Lakeshore Dr, to Hoover Dam. Of course it follows the old railroad bed, which brought supplies in while they where building Hoover Dam. The last train ran in 1961 and shortly after they tore out the rails. It is 3.5 miles one way. It is another 2 miles one way from our campground. One day I biked the trail, and the next day I hiked the trail (from the trailhead only).

We saw bighorn sheep while on the bike ride.

Here is a view towards the first of five tunnels you go through on the trail.

And here is below Hoover Dam.

The day we arrived was a full moon. I learned that a true full moon only happens when the moon rises at the same time the sun sets. It was a great night for a moonlight kayak. And of course we were all hungry, so we went for a prime rib buffett at a nearby casino.

One day Max and I drove into Vegas, the Strip, just to see what had changed. Lots of construction going on and new casinos going and many old casinos are gone. The Frontier, which used to be next to Circus Circus, is now a thing of the past, as is Aladdin. We parked at Bills Casino (used to be Barbary Coast), and walked up to the Venetian where we saw the actors above singing and performing. Then we walked across to Caesar's Palace and watched a show there. And of course we had to stroll through Las Vegas's Margaritaville. But the show we really came into town to see was the Star Trek Experience, which we found out closed Sep 1, 2008.

Margaritaville

The highlight of the Boulder Beach gathering was the Murder Mystery "Margaritaville", put on by 20 of our WIN members. I think most everyone had more fun picking out their costumes at the local thrift shop, than actually performing in the play. If none of you have ever attended a murder mystery before (I hadn't), then listen up. You are given a part with a characterization and some objectives which you are to perform, such as: I was as new honeymooner and was putting together a surprise reception for my husband, but he didn't know this and thought I was flirting with others at the resort. Oh I forgot to mention, the play was set at a resort on a carribean island. It was all adlib, no lines to memorize. We weren't on a stage, but mingled with the crowd watching the performance. It was lots of fun. Jack Daniels, the bartender was the one murdered, and lifesavin' Sam was his murderer. But oh, getting to that deduction was the most fun of all. Here are the characters and their costumes.