PANAMA CITY BEACH

It is exactly 2 years  since Donna and I could go on a trip together, because Alee was to old and incapacitated to leave her with a dog sitter.
Now, with only Teddy left and Brian, Windy,
Gina and Daniel not minding to take care of his                              
needs, we were really looking forward with
joy to this journey. Having a brand new ride
helped enhance our excitement.





We decided to visit our friends Tony and Amy in Panama City Beach, Florida for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Panama city beach is located on the gulf of Mexico with sky blue water and  very fine white sand beaches, 830 miles from our home in St. Louis or 13 hours with a Volvo S80.

We left home at 4:30 am for our non stop drive, we only stopped for gas, restrooms, snacks
and  a 15 minute picnic we brought with us.  5:30 pm we arrived at the Lucero`s home.  It is of course hard to describe the joyful encounter with Tony and Amy after we have not seen them for a very
long time.

As soon I entered the house I was greeted with a triple Bacardi and coke (a splash) and right then
I knew I arrived at the right destination, especially after we snacked from a gourmet buffet, containing smoked white fish , prosciutto, sugar cured ham, met wurst, specialty pickles, freshly baked bread and much more.  It was delicious, also a promising sign what was to come the next four days, emphasizing on food and beverage.

That night, exhausted and a little bit tipsy, we slept like angels.

We got up the next morning around 7:30 am.  It was Thanksgiving, a holiday you only celebrate in
America.  It has something to do with the pilgrims saying thanks once a year for all the food they had
grown, hunted and shared with the native Indians, all the while taking their land from them.  Or something like that.

Anyway, that morning Tony and I took the dogs out to the park for a run.  Donna stayed in the
back yard reading and having 4 to 5 fresh brewed coffees.   When we got back we had a delicious breakfast with a abundance of fresh fruit, home made jams, croissants, french bread, etc.
After that we all went to the fishing pier, a brand new structure, replacing the one destroyed by hurricane Katherine.

 Getting back home,Tony started working on a semi traditional Thanksgiving feast.  It was more gourmet than traditional, like he prepared 2 different stuffings, the jam casserole was a soufflé with pecans and he let Amy do the green bean casserole.

Before we could indulge this fantastic meal we had to have lunch, of course, with imported cheese,

salad, fresh bread and wine.  Did I mention, that day we started early with Cocktails, and also demonstrated our skills on the Wii?

 

 Happy Thanksgiving.----- This feast was wonderful. ------ Thank you Tony and Amy.

Friday morning Amy had to go to work. So after breakfast Tony and I took out the scooters and cruised up and down the beach and we also visited Amy at work.  I had the greatest time and I felt like the king of the road.  To bad we had to cut the cruising a little to early, because 72 degree was just a touch to cold for Tony to be on a scooter.

 

 Amy came home before noon and we all headed off to a weathered beach restaurant called "Shuck-em".  Between Donna, Amy, Tony and myself we sucked down 7 dozen Oysters.  It was fabulous!!

After lunch we had a relaxing afternoon with cocktails and Tony spending time again in the kitchen  preparing white fish mousse, fresh spinach Parmesan dip, etc, etc, for a cocktail party for our friends in Florida.

 

Everybody arrived between 6:30 and 7:00 pm.  They're all dear friends and great people.  In my view,
this was a unforgettable night and it seemed we all had a fantastic time as the pictures will reveal and everybody stayed to after midnight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, big breakfast again with some delicious chicken sausages, ham, eggs, potatoes and always
side dishes like  homemade blueberry jam and toast from bread Tony baked.   Delicious.  We had lots of fresh coffee this morning from Tony and Amy`s super Solis coffee machine.  Relaxing all morning  we got ready for........ quess what?  Lunch!!  Beside all the good meats, salad, pickles, cheese, met wurst, we had this super great tasting German pretzel breads, I wish I could find them here in St Louis.

After lunch we headed out to "Gulf World".  A great place to spend your afternoon.  My favorite was the Dolphin show.  I hate that my picture did not turn out.

 

 

               
Needless to say, we had a outstanding dinner that evening.  "New York Steak"   It was so good I think that is why Tony saved this for last !!

We spend the evening playing Wii and watching Movies.

Sunday,  Tony had to go to a meeting in the morning, but he was back by 11 am.  After lunch
we went walking in the sand on the beach, collecting some shells, taking pictures and enjoying the
scenery of the golf of Mexico. 

 

 

Here it started to sink in  that the Lucero visit is coming to an end.
But wait a minute, we still had some time.  We went to this Italian restaurant "Carabas" for dinner and we encountered Andy and Pattie on the bar, instantly we had another party going.  Food and service was superior to outstanding.  The mussels with that presoaked Bread from Tony where delicious, not to mention the drinks. After that we went  home with a couple pizzas.

It just so happened it was Tony and Amy`s 13th Anniversary, and Donna and I had to help them drink there fabulous anniversary wine. Yes, it came to an end now.

 

 

 

We left there house at 4:30 am.  I gained easily another 5-8 pounds on this trip, but I enjoyed every minute of it !!