Panama City, Florida guide

September 13, 2005 4:33 PM

Yeah, it's another one of those "help me find resources for when I go to insert city here", but this time it's a small tourist town where the only information I can find from Google is crappy resort and vacation package sites. Probably a bit of a crapshoot, but I need some help finding info and tips on Panama City, Florida.

My sister moved to Panama City from Fort Walton Beach this summer and I'm going down to visit her for the first time. Here are specific things I would love to get some tips on:

1) Are there any kind of health food/quality produce (preferably organic) food stores there other than Super Target or (insert other place here)? My understanding is that the Farmer's Market will be closed by the time I arrive (Sept. 30)

2) Are there any good vegetarian or vegetarian-friendly restaurants? Any ethnicity of food is fine, so long as it's quality.

3) What are some hidden, non-touristy things to do that only locals would know about? My sister and her husband have only lived there for about 3 months and haven't had much time to explore.

4) Any other recommendations are appreciated. Thanks.

posted by Ufez Jones to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

Not sure this excactly fit your bill, but for what it's worth, New York Times ran a piece about how to spend 36 hours in Panama City last week.
posted by AwkwardPause at 4:49 PM on September 13, 2005

dfwblogs leia is from there....you could try emailing her.
posted by amandaudoff at 4:53 PM on September 13, 2005

AwkwardPause, not sure if you are being intentionally funny or not, but I believe Ufez Jones is asking about Panama City, Florida.

Less than an hour East on Hwy. 98 is Cape San Blas, a great state park with the flavor of undiscovered Florida. There is very little of interest in Panama City.
posted by wsg at 5:43 PM on September 13, 2005

You'll be close to the Gulf National Seashore which is really nice.

I can't be a lot of help BUT I can tell you I spent part of my honeymoon there.
posted by konolia at 5:50 PM on September 13, 2005

I've been to Panama City a number of times in my life. If you live in central Alabama and want to go to the beach but don't have the cash for Pensacola or Gulf Shores, you do Panama City Beach. It's not that uncommon for a bunch of guys to jump in someone's truck, head down there, get one hotel room and a cooler and stay trashed for three or four days. I remember being down there during spring break one year and there were like a hundred males for every female. I'm one hundred percent convinced that it was PC and similar places which led Vic Chesnutt to christen Florida "The Redneck Riviera."

In my experience, PC is ... lots of beach, most of it fronted and owned by tall, ugly hotels. Crappy souvenir shops selling crappy t-shirts, crappy sunglasses and crappy post cards. Some pretty good amusement parks absolutely packed with teenagers. The occasional shopping mall or holy roller church. Guys without shirts. Rednecks trying to pick up incredibly well tanned women. Cheap beer. Sand in your mouth, in your car, and in your food. Families on vacation, pools, the smell of dead fish, and fifteen thousand people who are eager to sell you shit you don't want or need. Clubs packed with people who want to get drunk, get laid, or both.

Sorry... but that's the PC I know.
posted by Clay201 at 7:33 PM on September 13, 2005

The PC of my not-long-ago youth is pretty much gone, replaced by giant condos. Ufez, I've emailed both you and a good friend of mine that lives in PC so that she can help you out.
posted by LeiaS at 9:16 PM on September 13, 2005

Nope, just plain ole stupid...
posted by AwkwardPause at 1:25 PM on September 14, 2005