FL Panhandle Beach House - Dec 2023

Chapter four of retirement is a 5-month road trip up the east coast, with the first stop a beach house in Grayton Beach, just west of Panama City.  We rented a 6 bedroom house with John/Joanna, Phil/Joyce, Kim/Jonathan, and Will/Cindy.  We had found the house when John/Joanna were visiting us in Santa Fe over Labor Day weekend.  

Rental house in Grayson Beach

The house is less than two years old, with a huge open kitchen/living/dining area that open to the pool, and  a master bedroom and second bedroom on the ground floor.  The second floor had three more bedrooms (all of them were king beds) as well as a couple of balconies.  A spiral stair went from the second floor to a 3rd floor deck that has a view of the ocean.  

With our early start from Moreauville, we were first to arrive at the house at 2pm.  We unloaded the car into our second floor room and then drove to Sharkys in Panama City Beach to pick up John/Joanna who had flown in to Panama City airport and were at the bar drinking beers until the Dodds shuttle picked them up.  We joined John/Joanna for one beer before driving back to the house via the grocery store where we stocked up on the basics (beer).  By the time we got back to the house, Phil/Joyce and Kim/Jonathan had just arrived after their 11 hour road trip caravan from Raleigh.  Will/Cindy arrived a couple of hours later.   Dinner the first night was easy - we just ordered pizza from Grace Pizza and Shakes, had a few beers, and enjoyed the hot tub.

Morning walk along the beach

The weather was quite chilly while there so we were not able to enjoy much of the beach nor the pool.  Each day, some of the house would go for walks, often ending at a bar where the rest of the group would join.  Afternoons, we mainly relaxed in the house and used the hot tub from around 4-6pm in time to get ready for dinner.  We rotated who was responsible for dinner each evening as follow: 

• Joyce and Phil hosted the second night with a lovely asian-themed surf & turf.
• Kim and Jonathan led the next night with a 3-course fondue: cheese, then meats/broth, and of course wrapping up with chocolate.
• JoAnna and John had New Years Eve.  We had an early dinner at Down Island where we had some yummy seafood and then went back to the house for hot tub, snacks and champagne at midnight.
• Cindy and Will led New Years day dinner with a fantastic lasagna.
• Shawna and Keith had the second to last night, making Indian.
• Our last night, we just ordered in pizza again from Grace Pizza.

Lunch at Chiringo

Dinner at Down Island

Some other places we went:

• Chiringo: Stopped here for lunch one day and had a few beers.  Cute place with good food.
• The Red Bar: Stopped here for lunch one day - food was not great.
• Bud and Alleys Taco Bar: Stopped her for a few beers and snacks.  Right on the square in Seaside.
• Escapology: Did an escape room on our last afternoon since it was a rainy day. We finished it with only a few minutes to spare!

On the last morning, we drove away to spend two weeks in Southern FL while the rest of the gang returned to NC.