Panama City Beach - Beach Patrol

If you are visiting Panama City Beach you will most likely see the Beach Patrol several times throughout the day.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office Beach Patrol, along with Bay Medical Center’s Surf Rescue Team and officers from the Panama City Beach Police Department, are Bay County’s de facto lifeguards. None of the condos that line Front Beach Road and Thomas Drive provides lifeguard services. The beach service managers at the condos also keep an eye out for trouble.

The Beach Patrol monitors 13 miles of gulf and sand for trouble. They have several trucks, surfboards, fins and use of the department’s helicopter. They wear green shorts and polo shirts. Ask the patrol and they are likely to tell you that they have the best job in the world except on days when the seas are angry and someone is pulled too far from the shore by a riptide.
The Beach Patrol also uses a helicopter to watch the beach and the gulf. The pilot keeps the helicopter at about 10 stories high. Riptides can be spotted easily from the air. And by knowing where they are, deputies can keep swimmers away from the danger area.
If they spot a strong current, the Patrol will ask swimmers to move away. When the swimmers won’t go, deputies often ask them for contact information for their next of kin to let the swimmers know that there is real danger. One idea the Beach Patrol officers have suggested is for all the condos to have large signs on the beach side of their property identifying themselves. That way, when someone is in trouble, they would know instantly where they are on the beach.
In addition keep your dogs off of the beach or you will get to have a chat with the Beach Patrol.
Watch the warning flags for water conditions and be safe.

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach - WWII Bomber

Fly in the Classic WWII B25 Mitchell Bomber one of the last B25 bombers that still flies today. Sit in the different flight positions, hear the history of the plane, photo ops included…a once in a lifetime experience! The one hour flight experience is only $375. Call 877-435-9225 for information.

The B25 will be at the “Gulf Coast Salute” at the Tyndall Air Force Base – March 29th

Come to the Air Show and Open House admission and parking are free with the gates opening at 9 AM. Get up close to all kinds of planes and helicopters. See the US Air Force Thunderbirds perform.

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach - Air Show

“Gulf Coast Salute” at the Tyndall Air Force Base – March 29th

Come to the Air Show and Open House admission and parking are free with the gates opening at 9 AM. Get up close to all kinds of planes and helicopters. See the US Air Force Thunderbirds perform.

Pensacola has the Blue Angles and Panama City Beach has the Thunderbirds.

Go Air Force!!
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach - Airport Update

On Thursday March 20th the Panama City-Bay County International Airport Authority members were given an update on the design of the new airport’s terminal building. The members liked the flow of the design but suggested a color change for the exterior of the building. The members worked with the designers to value engineer some of the features in order to lower the cost of the building. The members were also told that the groundwork for the new airport is proceeding on schedule. The new airport is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2010.

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach - MTV

MTV is on The Beach! Rap artists Kid Sister and Rick Ross performed Tuesday on the mtvU stage behind the Boardwalk Beach Resort in Panama City Beach. Panic! At the Disco and Cobra Starship are due on stage today. The performances and Spring Break-themed shows being taped this week will start airing on Spring Break networks in about two weeks. The concerts have attracted some of the biggest crowds in MTV Spring Break history.

Have fun!!

Panama City Beach - Navy Sonar

The effect of Navy sonar on marine life along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico will be the focus of a public hearing Wednesday March 19th in the Florida State University Panama City auditorium. The hearing will run from 5 to 9 PM.

Jerry

Panama City Beach - The Beach

Leaders from Bay County and three of its neighbors have banded together to promote the Northwest Florida region as a unique travel destination.
Under preparation for more than a year, an organization of business executives called Coastal Vision 3000 is preparing to launch a wide array of marketing and advertising initiatives this spring that will create “an internationally recognized, branded destination” encompassing the beaches of Gulf, Bay, Walton and Okaloosa counties.

At the heart of the impending initiative is a collective agreement among all four counties to brand the 100-mile segment of the Gulf of Mexico beachfront under a single name and marketing logo…resulting in “The Beach” with a verbal stress on the word “The.” Similar to The Woodlands, Texas.
Gone are previous slogans such as “The World’s Most Beautiful Beaches” and “The Emerald Coast.” A nationwide marketing and advertising campaign, ranging from newspaper and TV ads to billboards and online releases, is under preparation for later this spring and will tout the four-county area as “The Beach, a way of life that will change yours.”

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach Free Ride Program

Too much to drink on your Spring Break Vacation?

Beach Reach offers free rides on Panama City Beach from Sunday through Thursday until March 20. For more information call (850) 832-3000.

Be Careful!!

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach Real Estate Auction

Want to try to get a good deal on some prime Panama City Beach real estate Friday may be your day.

According to the Panama City News Herald:

One of the largest land holdings in Panama City Beach history goes on the auction block later this week as the estate of the late Charles Faircloth offers nearly a quarter-billion dollars worth of prime gulf beachfront land to the highest bidders.
Faircloth, who died Oct. 6, spent decades buying and selling Beach property and left behind a massive inventory of undeveloped land and finished condos and homes along the 22-mile beachfront.

“This will be the largest auction in the history of the area,” said project manager Thania Krafthefer of Roebuck Auctions Inc., a nationwide firm headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., with a regional office in Destin. “There is extraordinary, phenomenal interest in this property.”

The auction firm has announced more than 150 separate Faircloth properties in Bay County will be offered for sale Friday March 14, 2008. The auction is scheduled to take place at the Bay Point Marriott Gulf Resort beginning at noon.
Krafthefer said her firm was told several months ago the holdings have a combined market value in the neighborhood of $250 million, although the resort condo market has experienced falling prices and appraised values in recent years.

Good luck!

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach - Pier Repair

City and Bay County government and business leaders celebrated Thursday the formal groundbreaking for a new Dan Russell Pier that will replace the hurricane-damaged structure with an entirely new pier by summer 2009.

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach

Jimmy Buffett hasn’t arrived yet, but spring breakers, families and other parrotheads attended the opening of Buffett’s Margaritaville in Pier Park on Wednesday. Take a look at a picture of Buffett’s Margaritaville in Pier Park in the update section of my web site.

If you go have one for me!

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach - Kilwins

We spent the weekend in Panama City Beach getting the condos ready for beach season. We spent some time in Pier Park looking through some of the new stores. I wrote about the opening of Kilwins Chocolates and Ice Cream before Valentines Day. I can say first hand that if you like chocolate you will love Kilwins. They take chocolate to a new level. We tried the chocolate covered strawberries which were excellent! Chocolate covered Oreos, Twinkies, rice crispy teats and lots of types of fudge and ice cream abound.

Check out Kilwins if you get a chance.

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach

Today is Texas Independence Day!!

Celebreate!

Jerry
Panama City Beach Condos for Rent

Panama City Beach

March 1, 2008. Official start of beach season at Celadon Beach Resort. Chairs and umbrellas are out! Bill the beach manager is hard at work. Snowbirds are checking out and spring breakers in.

Party Time!!