My Panama City Beach!

Me and my brother! <3

During spring break over half of the students at the University of Alabama could be found on the gulf coast, including myself! When people think about Panama City Beach for spring break they think about packed bars and clubs and little hotel rooms filled to the maximum capacity. But this is not the Panama City Beach(PBC) that I know and love! 

My mom's side of the family owns a house right outside of actual PBC, on a strip of beach known as Laguna Beach. They have owned this house for years and we have been coming here on vacation for as long as I can remember! There is no where else I would rather be than sitting on the back porch watching the sunset over the ocean. When we got to the beach though we do not do all the typical "tourist" outings. We like to have the "local" experience!

Down the road from the beach house one way is a Winn-Dixie and the other way is a local grocery store called the Carousel. Instead of going to the store that we are familiar with, we turn to the right and go to the local store. It is an experience itself and it is nice to walk into a store where everyone says "hey" and all the workers are pleased to help you. Another thing we love to do at the beach is wake up late morning and eat a huge breakfast! One of our favorite places is the Sunnyside Grill. It is literally a little pink shack on the side of the road that many people would not even notice as they drive by. But they have to best breakfast, complete with huge pancakes, eggs anyway you could possibly imagine, and my brother's favorite sausage. We also always have to get doughnuts from the Thomas Doughnut stand at least once. These are the best doughnuts you will ever have! They are a million times better the Krispy Kreme could ever dream about being! You go up to the window and pick out the kind of doughnuts you want, or if you dont like doughnuts you can order a biscuit or bagel from the kitchen inside. 

We my family goes to the beach we pig out on seafood! But we dont go to any of the chain seafood restaurants, because the local ones are a lot better! One of our favorites for lunch is Dusty's Oyster Bar and Grill, where the oyster shells make the gravel for the parking lot. Another place we love to go is right beside the bridge that goes over the Inter-coastal Waterway, called Boonedock's.  Their seafood is fresh from the local fishermen! Although we love to go out for dinner, our favorite thing to do is get food from Buddy's and bring it back to the house. Buddy's is a local fish and shrimp shop. Most of the fish are right from the boat! We like to get their shrimp and have them steam them for us with lots of wonderful seasonings and potatoes, the best shrimp you will find in PBC! 

This is my PBC, not the one people typically think of! When we go to the beach it is all about the local experience, which I personally thinks makes the trip. For my family is has almost become another "local" or home for us!