The waters around Panama City gave me action and energy on a three-day holiday—and also the calmness of sunset dining and seafood abundance.
This is a big bay touching lots of Florida’s largest city between Pensacola and Tallahassee.
That makes it easy in Panama City, Florida to take a swim or board a boat simply walking out of the hotel.
Easy too to walk downtown where shops offer surprising hands-on activities, beyond the notion of selling stuff.
Traveling to Panama City, Florida? Read more here:
- The Beach and Beyond: 20 Fun Things to Do in Panama City Beach
- The Best Florida Panhandle Beaches for Families
Hotel Indigo overlooks a marina, and so does Harrison’s Kitchen & Bar. That means waterfront meals with a stroll along the water’s edge, or shortcut across a lawn of palm trees and lounging chairs.
Some places it takes a minute to figure out the best excursions, or ways to find them in a new destination. Panama City’s different.
An easy walk from the hotel in the other direction, bayfront in sight, is Destination Panama City with maps and insider tips, good ideas and invitations.
Anchor Charters: Eco-Adventure in the Bay
The starfish and conch shells Capt. Chris Bourque tenderly pulls from the Bay for his boating passengers to admire and seem like his friends.
Back in the deep they go quickly because he doesn’t want to stress them. Loving the waters of his youth influences the experience he gives on Anchor Charters: this eco-tour of St. Andrew Bay is as respectful as it is fun.
He’ll dive and snorkel for treasures to glimpse, and drop anchor for passengers to snorkel too.
Anchor Charters boards just steps from the Hotel Indigo, and gets close to Shell Island which seems tiny from the opposite shore, and interesting up close. Bourque seems to know every ship captain, from the kitschy themed boats from beach locations to the teenager-run ice cream boat even playing the music of neighborhood ice cream trucks.
He delights in talking about the waters, and the changing passes toward the sea. He has tools and also a sixth sense about water depths and emerging artifacts and sea life.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Limit your breakfast coffee because the boat has no facilities. Perhaps plan to snorkel; Bourque provides the gear.
Bourque has three boats and a lifetime in Panama City. He even knows how to access lunch on the water and in a building! Anchor Charters can dock at Bayou Joe’s Marina and Grill to scramble out of the boat, directly into a restaurant.
Bayou Joe’s Marina and Grill
Dining near the water is one pleasure; this is dining on the water. Surely a maintenance challenge for the owners. . . who keep little lights shining up through the boards.
The front’s charming for landlubbers who arrive on foot, or bike or car. Worth walking the boardwalk to see the front when arriving by boat.
Bayou Joe’s Marina and Grill serves seafood fresh from Tarpon Dock, makes all the desserts and sauces from scratch in their tiny kitchen and praises their burgers.
Chefs have hailed from the Netherlands, Argentina and France so menu items and any day’s special choice can be unusual and enticing.
Downtown Panama City
Shopping isn’t the only thing to do while strolling the shops in Panama City.
Make stuff. Usable stuff. Shop owners seem to like doing things with visitors.
Atelier Candle Bar
Wisps of smoke arising from bourbon seemed as artistic as the candle I was making — what fun to sip a craft cocktail while choosing fragrances from an array of many dozens and to design my own candle for lighting later at home.
Candle wax melts to the proper temperature as the bartender keeps the cocktails going in this historic brick building—the first in Bay County. Atelier owner Shanta Brannon provides close guidance for the measuring and stirring.
Live music happens here often—and on many Panama City patios and connected buildings.
LH Bead Gallery
Surely Lisa Hanna intends to make a living with her shop of 16 years in downtown Panama City, but since it explodes with color and design, I wondered if I might be in an artisan workshop.
Lines of beads of every color fill the walls. Glass top cases protect exquisite necklaces featuring coastal themes with beads she made and then incorporated into designs.
An easy-to-reach open table invites children (or the rest of us because it feels good) to rifle through a gazillion beads, and choose colors to make a bracelet.
Classes happen all the time, on schedules and on a whim. Hanna can point the way toward beads matching your eye color, and that means the array of finer shades within each eye.
Jute & Palm
“Giving back” is part of what empowers Jute & Palm owner Lesli Todd throughout her shop of home furnishings, art, jewelry and items to add design to life.
She’s quick to point out what items lead to a 10% or more gift to specific charities. And the Jute & Palm merchandise, she says, largely represents “found, made, and gathered.
The Portal
Yes, there’s a big circle on the front window, but don’t fear slipping into an unknown world entering The Portal in downtown Panama City.
This is another place to participate! Hands-on here means playing board games—400 of them to choose from. The old favorites are all here, and bunches to try probably for the first time.
$6.00 gets two hours of game playing; staff will offer ideas, especially, says Portal owner Jayson Kretzer, if someone wants to visit other countries or other realms with a game!
Popcorn salad is the thing to munch while game-playing in The Portal: candy mixed with the popcorn. Soda names are intriguing: moonlight melon, sour candy, cherry blast.
Baywitch
A curated collection of witchy gifts isn’t my everyday shopping encounter. It’s possible in Panama City. They’re not as outlandish as one might imagine.
Organic tea, crystals, books, herbs, local art and candles seemed familiar. Singing bowls and tarot cards are lots of places too. Here, you can find readers, or interpreters, for the meaning of the cards in individual lives.
Baywitch sees itself to be a place to open some space for wonderment, and maybe a little magic.
Some of the Places To Eat
Patios accompany many Panama City restaurants, sometimes sidewalk facing and often overlooking a bay, bayou or inlet. Live music might happen too.
Ferrucci Ristorante
Intimate and in the heart of downtown Panama City, this Italian restaurant was filled and lively even with my early 5:00 p.m. reservation.
The mozzarella is made in house, and shaped as a big ball topped with prosciutto and roasted red peppers: art, texture and divine flavors – table-sharing size.
Zuppa Di Pesce was my satisfying entree–seafood from the Gulf in a gentle tomato-based liquid. Since I’d heard the pasta is made in-house too, I asked for some in the broth. Excessive, but delicious.
Choices for meat lovers too, and multiple ways to incorporate the Ferrucci pasta into interesting entrees.
Big Mama’s on the Bayou
Breakfast and lunch at Big Mama’s, not dinner. And no oatmeal or fruit—-this is seriously about pancakes and what families have called comfort food for generations.
Think fried chicken, country fried steak, chicken and dumplings.
Why a stack of pancakes is even on the menu I do not understand. My server advised me to order only one since “It’s bigger than your head” she said.
A wall of windows and a spacious back deck overlook the bayou, quite suitable for daydreaming and watching wildlife.
Harrison’s Kitchen & Bar
With long views of the bay and connections to Hotel Indigo by lawn and sidewalk, Harrison’s Kitchen & Bar is so family friendly it even offers a menu for the dog.
Might be pertinent to know happy hour starts at 3:00 p.m.
Seafood, of course, is abundant, but burgers are Harrison’s pride and joy. Mine was black Angus beef, topped with gouda mac ‘n cheese and tomato jam.
El Weirdo
Venture just a bit off Panama City’s main street to explore El Weirdo. Eat tacos or quesadillas, nachos or the signature Wizard fries. Flash-fried Brussels sprouts are possible too, with miso, green onions and cotija cheese.
Beer is brewed at El Weirdo, cocktails are kegged and creative and it’s hard to choose between a table inside or out because big murals and unusual found objects pull you every which way.
At least a dozen artists were unleashed to create the art however they liked and they filled every inch. Fun, whimsical, tons of fun for families too.
Is Panama City a Bay or a Beach or a City?
A bridge and a bay separate two spaces which share a name. They’re partners in many ways, and different with their own distinctive traits.
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