Rick Seltzer Park on an absolute PERFECT September day

So, since I am very pregnant (truth be told, due in just 14 days + hours) I took the opportunity with my 3 1/2 year old to make a last beach trip before baby comes and craziness reins. Panama City Beach has a ton of public beach access points, 96 to be exact, we decided to go to Rick Seltzer Park. Did I mention that September is the PERFECT beach month here? I contend that it is. Less crowd, less humidity, a bearable temperature, perfect water temperature, and did I say less crowds?

Here is a link to the park: http://www.visitpanamacitybeach.com/listings/attractions/rick-seltzer-park/ and one to Public Access on Panama City Beach http://www.visitpanamacitybeach.com/see/beach-access-map/

 

My happy beach bum on our beautiful emerald coast.

 

A view of the park entrance.

Richard Seltzer Park

 

Showers!

 

For those looking for public beach access, this worked for our family. They have a wooden walkway to the beach, more parking than most access points, SHOWERS AND BATHROOMS. For those of us with smaller children, a shower and bathroom is a biggie at the beach. Who wants to be sticky and get in a hot car? And my little paticular one does not want to be wet in the car (can I blame him?) and a change after the fun at the beach is a must for the is family. Most of the access points that we have driven by do NOT have these simple ammenities and, well, I don't want the hassle.

 

The down side: it is public. Meaning PUBLIC bathrooms. They are not ideal- yes they are on the beach- but frankly, I'm afraid to use them except to use the bench area to change my son. Public also implies interesting people watching, but thankfully mostly families were there and kids playing in the shallowed out water areas.

 

It looks like we have more beach spots to explore in the area....

 

     Jessica

 

Rock'It Lanes on a rainy Saturday

Our family decided to try a bowling alley in the area that our son (and I) have never visited before- Rock'It Lanes. We have heard of plenty of parties, gatherings, and events advertized there so we thought we would try it out on a rainy Saturday.

Well, there was hardly anyone there it seemed in the very dimly lit (I thought for children and day time) large mass of a building. I say large because it includes skating, bowling, an arcade, a bar, and a Cici's Pizza connected to it. A good sign was that someone was vaccuming the carpet when we came in- a good sign that they are clean(er).

 

Rock'It Lanes

513 Richard Jackson Blvd, Panama City, Florida

http://www.rockitlanes.com/

 

A quick view of the inside. From this picture it is hard to tell how dim it was. I was suprised! The good news is that the games were mostly clean and up to date.

 

 

 

Of course my 3 1/2 year old enjoyed the arcade part until the family arrived. The bowling experience for this area was great for a  younger child. The bowling alley AUTOMATICALLY raised the  gutter guards when  the screen came to our son's name. He loved that and so did we- convenient for parents of young children who want to enjoy hitting the bowling pins.

 

AND, the all important facilities. The bathroom was clean (I enjoyed that stainless walls) and there WAS a changing table in the large stall. This is SO important for our growing family. Can you believe some places do not have them?

 

 

 

 

The family pros:

-So, considering the area, this is probabley the best place to bowl and to take kids of all ages.

- the facilities were kept well

- automatic gutter guards for the smallest bowler

-an option for a rainy day to keep the kids active

 

Cons:

- if you choose to bring kids of several age groups (and they choose different activities), I would reccomend they have a cell phone

- not many kids around (maybe it was the day?) my child was disappopinted that there were a handful of kids to run around with

- not many healthy food options (but what was I expecting?)

 

 

 Jessica

 

 



 

 

Fat Clemenza's

So we wanted to dine out for diner and,well, actually went with UrbanSpoon App to help us make the decision as to where we were going to eat. Thus, Fat Clemenza's. Apparently a decorated, Best of the Emerald Coast place. We hadn't tried it, so we gave it a shot.

So, it is a cozy spot tucked in a mini strip mall. They have a open wood fire pizza girl and there were sweet families and couples that filled the restaurant .it was dimly lit, but appropriate for diner with our little family.

The first thing that the waitress took care of was the needs of our 3 year old by bringing coloring entertainment. That only lasts do long though. A good sign that this local place thinks of little ones. We had pizza which was good- I am regretting that I didn't order any of the Italian dishes that seemed mouth-watering. The order was delivered timely and we had bread pre-meal.

Overall this is a respectable local family restaurant with atmosphere that I appreciate and certainly would visit again.

Of course, like many restaurants the coloring only lasts so long do prep small child entertainment (maybe something that they haven't played with in a while) to make the meal enjoyable for busy little ones.

Jim N' Nick's BBQ Destin, FL

So we ventured out last Saturday for lunch at Jim N' Nicks BBQ. My husband was especially excited!

We found that it was a wonderful atmosphere for families to enjoy lunch or even diner. We LOVED their bread- lets just say we devoured an unspeakable amount ;). My beef brisket sandwich was wonderful and tender (I have been back since and tried it on a salad-mmmmmm).

Apparently this place is a game day tradition in Alabama according to our friends in Birmingham.

SO the great part about this place is that there are not really any Cons. Really! We had a great experience with the waitstaff and plenty of other families seemed to leave there with the same experience. The place was very clean and so was the bathroom which is super important no matter where you are. I completely forgot to check the baby changing station.

I would recommend it to anyone visiting the south ;).

Going to Bay Humane Society's Furry Friend Fun Day Saturday with our 5 month-old boxer Diesel! Excited to review the event!

Camp Helen State Park, Panama City Beach, Florida

So, May 5 we decided to visit Camp Helen State Park. (http://www.floridastateparks.org/camphelen/default.cfm) It was a beautfiul Saturday and we just had to be somewhere outside. The park is very low key and we enjoyed the serenity. The park has a history of once functioning as a resort for an Alabama textile company which explains a few buildings on the walk. THe most notable assets of the park are the beach and the fishing areas.

Here is the brief on what we learned:
1. Prepare for a WALK to the beach
2. The WALK to the beach is NOT recommended for small children. My 3 year-old was exhausted from the 6/10 of a mile walk in the sugary sand AND I am 5 months pregnant and on orders to "take it easy" meaning no running or strenuous activity. Luckily on our way back in a ranger picked us up. A stroller would not make it to the beach in the dense sand.
3. Did I say that the walk to the beach isn't suitable for small children?
4. Go fishing next time! We learned that this is a great location to fish-we watched others.
5. There are not many people on the beach. The Park Ranger told us that it is never busy because people are weary of the walk. Red flag for the little ones, again!



Here are a few snapshots from our adventure.

And our walk begins

Lake view

Looking for gators in the lake!

Sugary white dunes

Camp Helen Beach

Camp Helen Beach

The water was perfect!

Hubby enjoying the emerald waters

Our son had the run of the beach and loved it

A little bird watching

One of the cabins

                                                                            Jessica

Frank Brown Park, Panama City Beach, Florida

We took a little trip on Saturday, January 7 to Under the Palms Playground at Frank Brown Park to check out the place. We are also looking for a location in the area for a upcomming birthday party! The link to the park's website is http://www.playballinparadise.com/

So here is the skinny on Frank Brown Park:

The park is great in January. HOWEVER, any park in Florida WITHOUT shade like this one feels like the surface of the sun in the summer. Steer clear unless you are there for the water park (which we will have to check out then) or for a  Softball Tournament (apparently several are hosted there).

There are a few gaping holes in the rubber which need to be seen to, BUT I do like that the play area does have rubber.

Bring a bike if your kids has one- or a skate board/skooter. There were several kids who were riding trails and my little one wished he had his bike.

The play area is great for even smaller ones, but A HUGE CON: bathrooms. There is not a bathroom near the play area. So, we either walked to the aquatic center or go to the huge building about 1/4 miles away. A huge CON for a mommy with a little one.

Under the Palms Playground

A view of the play area.

We loved the swings!!

A view...

The sandbox seemed to be a hit.

Ringing in the 2012 @ Countdown Seaside

ok. I must admit that this (SEASIDE) is one of my absolute favorite place to go in the Emerald Coast. Here people are real friendly and the water is clear emerald. So, this year we decided to try Countdown Seasde- a family affair- and we rated it an A+ (need a rating system) on friendly to the smaller family members.

We also had an opprotunity to eat at Pickles resturant in seaside and try their fried pickles. The pickles were wonderful my family agreed- and my husband is a pickle connoisseur. Really. He is. The atmosphere was very casual on New Year's Eve and that is just what we wanted. The service was fairly quick and their prices were in line with the area. It would be a great place to walk up from the beach and eat at. Here is the link: http://www.sweetwilliamsltd.com/pickles.html


Tips for a New Year's Eve at Seaside:
-Have a blanket or chair handy to watch the concerts.
- Bring something for the kid(s) to do if you plan on staying late for the fireworks. Listening to music for a few hours won't work. Don't expect it to.
- Prepared to park and walk. We brought a stoller- it made parking and walking a breeze.

Here is an overview of the night...

As we walked up to the festivities, the first thing that we spotted was balloon making. And there was a ling. How cool?!

The ballon making lady. On stilts.

The craft tent. They had two crafts for the kids to decorate the noise makers to bring in the new year. Our little one was super excited.

Craft #1.  There were tons of fuzzies and beads to put on the boxes of noise! He loved it.

Craft #2 was a tube to decorate with gliter, paper and sequins. Inside, we wrote our favorite memory from the year and locked it in. What's better than glue and glitter? All of the kids around were excited to decorate their noise makers. And, at that sight we were prepared for lots of noise making at 12:00 AM January 1, 2012.

The crowd. Seaside had several bands rocking the stage to entertain families. They were pretty mellow.

Then, Camden decided he was hungry, so we were off to Pcikles to grab a bit. Mommy and Camden @ Pickles.  

Fun with Daddy.

Happy 2012! 

 Jessica