Goodbye Panama City Beach and Bike Week (4/16 - 5/1)

Well... the weather improved slightly since my last post and we had some dry days, but it seemed to be constantly windy.

Regardless of the wind, we got out and explored some areas further afield with a drive through Mexico Beach, St. Joe, Cape San Blas, Apalachicola and St. George Island.  All were beautiful areas.  Mexico Beach was hit hard by the hurricane three years ago and is just rebuilding its beachfront.

While in Apalachicola visiting a friend of Mike's, we learned that this small town of 2,500 people heralded itself as the "Oyster Capital of the World". (unverified information)  However, it did appear on a sign as we entered town. We also learned that due to a confluence of events related to the BP Oil spill and a drought in Atlanta which caused over harvesting, the Apalachicola Bay and oyster industry has been closed to harvesting for 5 years.  It has basically shut down the industry.  Such a sad story.  We tried to help the economy with a tremendous dinner at a waterfront restaurant in Apalachicola before we headed back.  

The mound behind the little shack is oyster shells. 

Lighthouse at Port St. Joe

Fried green tomato appetizer. Gotta have my food pics.

We spent our last week and a half in Panama City Beach visiting with friends who were kind enough to come meet up with us. We had drinks, games a lot of laughs with our friends so the last week flew by.

The beginning of our trip was marked by crowds of spring breakers, the end of our trip was marked by Bike Week in Panama City Beach, THUNDER ON THE BEACH!   Mostly Harley riders began flowing into the campground pulling big toy haulers, many with more than one bike in tow.  It was a spectacle to behold.  It was also very loud as they rumbled out to festivities or back in from dinner. 

There were 3 sites set up across Panama City Beach to host the festival.  I assume that was some nod to social distancing...however all that did was distribute the bikes all over the city, some 10,000 I would suspect.  Every driving artery on and off the beach was a traffic jam. 

We saw some amazing motorcycles that could have also passed as works of art.  

We pulled out of Panama City Beach at around Noon on Saturday headed on to our next destination...Gunter Hill State Park.  This will be a rustic stop in the woods of Alabama.  We are looking forward to a little forest tranquility.