We loved every day of this short family beach trip to Panama City, Florida. It was everything we needed. A chance to recharge, play outside all day, and just talk as a family. We played at the beach, ate yummy food, swam at the pool, went mini golfing, and rested. One of my favorite parts of this trip was being on our own families’ timing. We got to get up when we wanted to, eat when we wanted to, play hard when we wanted to, and just follow a schedule that worked for us. We also got to celebrate Lacey’s birthday on our family beach trip, and it was the best!
Food at Panama City Beach, Florida
We only went out to eat a few times. The hotel we stayed at, SpringHill Suites by Marriott Panama City Beach Beachfront, had a great breakfast buffet, we packed food for lunches, and ate out for a few dinners. The food at Diego’s Burrito Factory tasted so good! We got the Street Tacos, a burrito, and a burrito bowl. My favorites were the burrito and the burrito bowl. Such good food! We learned a little trick on this trip, by packing enough snacks for the day to make it until a late lunch, we could wait until about 3ish to go out to eat. Which meant we could miss the dinner time rush, we didn’t have to wait, and we weren’t getting our kids to bed super late. Then we would eat our lunch food as a bedtime snack. It worked so much better for us, than going out to eat at 5.
On our way out of town, we stopped for a late lunch at The Pancakery. The food there was also really good, especially their pancakes, believe it or not. We also got their Original Eggs Benedict, and it was good, not as great as the pancakes, but still good.
Family Beach Trip Memories
These girls loved every moment of jumping in the waves together. They were rarely on shore, until we were playing in the waves at sunset one night and spotted some baby sting rays. It was really cool to see them swimming in the ocean, but we also preferred watching them from the shoreline. As always, we collected seashells for hours, and just soaked up exploring and adventuring together. Grant wanted to play sports on the beach most of the time, but played more in the waves this time than he has before. After playing for hours with him, Kurt told me he really looks forward to always having a frisbee and football buddy at the beach.
The Florida Gulf beaches have the most stunning sunsets over the water. It is one of our favorite parts of every trip to take an evening walk, collecting seashells, and watching the sky change colors. No sunset is ever the same, and it’s mesmerizing to watch the vivid colors deepen, as the sun goes down. Pictures never do it justice.
Our new wagon was the MVP of this trip. We got it for soccer games, but it was magical all the things it could hold. We felt like we could bring anything and everything to the pool and beach, because we just threw it in here. It also made a great spot for the littlest ones to nap.
Next Family Beach Trip to Panama City Beach
The Florida gulf beaches boast sugar sands, turquoise water, and stunning sunsets. Not only that, each beach has great places for family outings and delicious restaurants to try. Next time we’re in the area we want to check out even more than we had time for on this trip.
Other places we want to try and stay:
Splash Resort on Panama City Beach these individually owned condos seem nice and have great reviews. The whole complex is beach front and equipped with several pools, a lazy river, splash pad, and elaborate kids’ play area with slides, tunnels, and more.
Holiday Inn Resort Panama City Beach more luxurious and a little more expensive, but very fun kids’ pools, lazy river, splash pad areas.
Other places to eat:
Thomas Donut and Snack Shop known for their delicious donuts and Kolaches
The British Eatery this was close to where we were staying and looked really good. They serve gourmet burgers, pasties, and great fish ‘n chip baskets.
Uncle Ernie’s the view is pretty, the food is supposed to be good; their most well-known for their famous Key Lime Pie.
Other family activities in Panama City Beach:
Shipwreck Island Waterpark expensive, but looks amazing! So many fun water features, slides, and attractions. It would definitely be an all day family outing.
Hike at Conservation Park, supposedly the Green Trail, is an easy 1.8 mile loop.
Gayle’s Trails includes a system of paved greenways and trails that you can take to Conservation Park. The trail starts in the back of the Frank Brown Sports Complex, the park office can help if it’s difficult to find.
Bike the Beach PCB, offers great options for renting bikes to ride around the area or on some of the paved trails.
We loved the chance to travel and relax together as a family, and can’t wait to head to the beach again. If you’ve got a beach trip coming up, also check out my blog post with our must-haves for going to the beach with kids. I hope you’ll have a chance to visit Panama City, FL some day. It’s a beautiful area!
Sincerely,
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