"Living on the Beach-life as we know it" Top 5 Page for this destination Panama City Beach by criss1956

Since I was a little biddy baby, we would always come to Panama City Beach for vacation. I hated going back to my hometown, Pratt City (Birmingham), AL.
My wife and I moved here 5 years ago. The first year, we were swimming and laying in the sun at least 3 or 4 times per week. We thought we looked so cool with our tan. The next year, we only went on her off days and I really didn't want to go most of the time then. I decided I enjoyed staying in our air conditioned house, playing my piano more than I enjoyined frying in the sun.
The Gulf and sand gets old after a couple of years. There is nothing north of us, only woods and a few lttle run down town with churches and trailers here and there
Nothing south except water. To the west is Destin, Pensacola, etc. They don't have anything there that we don't have here in PCB, so why go? To the east there is Tyndal AFB, Port St Joe and A'cola; nothing to do there, either.
I really miss the smell of the ocean when I'm not here. On the other hand, I miss the smell of the woods, the brirds singing and the quitness of the night of country living. It's still nice to go to the beach on occasion and to sleep with the windows open in the springtime and wintertime and hear the waves but then you have to pay for this enjoyment when summertime comes. Then comes hurricane season!
Hurricane Ivan just missed us. You can walk west on the beach from my house and see how the beach damage gets worse the further west you go. Fortuantely, we only lost a few shingles, several boards from our privacy fence and a tree right behind the fence.
To think that I could loose everything I own, things that have been in my famly for over 100 years, pictures, my piano, etc in just a few seconds is scary.
Really, there is nothing to do here except walk on the beach, swim, fish or sit in a bar all day. I've done it all and am ready to move to the mountains.

• Pros:It's nice in Sept when it's not so hot and the Gulf is warm and clear.
• Cons:Let's face it: Florida is ugly. The only pretty thing about Florida is the beach and ocean. It's awful hot in the summer, too. Panama City Beach has lost it's small town status with high rise condos all along front beach road. Hurricanes
• In a nutshell:Nice place to visit but to live here full time gets old.