Double Dose of Old-School Delish

I'm coming to believe that if you walk into a restaurant around here and the chairs are plastic, the decor shabby and they've been around for a long time...the food must be pretty darn good! Certainly the two restaurants I'm reviewing today meet that bill.

 To celebrate our first payday in a while, Super Hero took us all out to lunch at Flamingo Joe's off Thomas Drive. He knew I had been dying to have a good shrimp po-boy, and I was certainly not disappointed. Our Little Mermaid was pretty impressed with her first introduction to shrimp as well. It wasn't exactly fast food, in terms of speed, but the wait wasn't bad and it was worthwhile. They know what matters there: the food.



Roy's Original Chili Dogs and Burgers, off of R. Jackson Rd. in the Edgewater Mall, has a similar understanding (with a cheaper price, but no po-boys). When I dropped by last Saturday for some food and some wifi, there was one guy at the open grill flipping burgers and another guy at the register. The menu displayed behind the counter consists of: the hot dog menu, the hamburger menu, the fries menu and the milkshake menu. I can attest that the single with cheddar, for $3.69, is very tasty. And it pairs perfectly with a chocolate milkshake.

As a side note, however, I was frustrated by the fact that no one in the restaurant knew the username to access the wifi. Just the password. Not helpful. And there are only a couple tables with access to outlets...maybe not a problem if, unlike me, your laptop battery lasts for more than ten minutes.

The Hunt for Good Espresso

I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I was a grad student for more years than I care to count. I'm a sleep-deprived mother. In other words, I miss my Starbucks on every corner.

Not to say that there aren't any Starbucks around here. The easiest one to get to is inside Target at Pier Park. But it is certainly not a place to get a coffee house experience, and they don't even participate in the Rewards system. What's the point of having a personalized gold card if I can't even get more points?? There's also a Starbucks inside a hotel down on Front Beach Road...smack dab in the middle of tourist central, no thank you. For a "real" Starbucks, you need to head across Hathaway Bridge into Panama City. There's a nice one where Hwy 77 intersects 23rd Street, right by the mall. If you go north on Hwy 77 and up into Lynn Haven there's a really nice Starbucks on the left, across from Wal-mart. It even has a drive-through.

But I can hardly justify the expense of my massage substitutes mochas, so I really can't justify driving so far to get one. Enter the hunt for a Starbucks stand-in.

Option 1: Dunkin' Donuts off Back Beach Road (98). Drive-thru: check. Coffee-house atmosphere: No. Wi-Fi: No. Taste: 3* (too bitter).

*On a scale of 1-5: 1 represents the crap-tastic mochas from McDonalds and 5 a perfect white chocolate mocha from Starbucks.

Option 2: Amy's Coffee Grind, located on Thomas Drive across from Publix and Winn Dixie. Drive-thru: that's about it. Taste: 4. Unfortunately, price is also comparable to Starbucks (which is sadly more expensive down here than anywhere I've been in the Northwest).

And now for the zero scores. Because they had so much promise...but don't really exist.

Ah, Joey's. You disappointed me so. I drove there last Saturday to get some work done in a comfortable atmosphere, only to have my hopes of coffee-house bliss dashed to pieces. And then I had to drive across Hathaway Bridge. On the way home several hours later, I noticed the WiFi sign on Donut Island -- yes! Er, no. Also dead.

Do PCB residents just not appreciate a good coffee house? Strangely, these kinds of businesses seem to be flourishing just fine:

In conclusion, to get good coffeehouse atmosphere along with some good espresso in PCB...you're going to have to get one of these and find a nice quiet corner of your house.

Stumbled Across: Cyber Cafe

It's a rare occasion, but sometimes even laptop-toting, wireless router-owning modern adults need a cyber cafe. Or at least, a place to print, scan and e-mail a document while you're waiting for your first paycheck in two months in order to buy a home printer. Back in the Pacific Northwest, that place would have been my local Kinkos. Here, the only place we could find in a moment of desperation was Next Step Cyber Cafe.

Now that my new Canon all-in-one printer is sitting so prettily on my desk, I can't imagine needing the cafe's services again, but I think I'll go back anyway. Because it is just so weird as to be a fun place to spend an afternoon.

How weird can it be, you ask?

Well, don't try finding the cyber cafe's website. It very nearly doesn't exist in cyberspace. Here's the only link I found worth mentioning: a business profile that lists the address and phone number.

Now imagine walking into a hole-in-the-wall cafe with hundreds of gaudy purses hanging from the ceiling. And packages marked in Chinese lining the walls. I assume they were snack bags of some kind, but my Mandarin is a bit sketchy. As in, restricted to knock-off pseudo-Chinese words learned from Firefly. The food smells pretty good, and some goth teens seemed to be enjoying their sushi and noodle plates in the corner.

Did I mention the tables are covered in linoleum? The same linoleum that covers the floor?

Are you starting to get why I think this place is awesome?

Back to the cyber part of the Chinese cafe/gaudy purse boutique. There is one computer, that I think dates back to the floppy drive days. But it does have a USB port so I must be exaggerating a bit. You can buy use of this fabulous device for $5/hour or $3/half hour. Don't worry, if you don't use the whole time during this visit, the minutes roll over to the next time you are in dire need of a cyber cafe.


Here's the process we went through: Buy time. Log in and print the needed form. Eat some "Genuine Hawaiiian shaved ice" while waiting for waitress/hostess/girl at the counter to go into the side office and retrieve printed paper. Sign and hand back. Finish your ice while you wait for her to explain to her dad how to scan the page. Several minutes later, get your usb stick back with the scanned document loaded on it. Complete sending of e-mail while Chinese ladies make oogly faces over your adorable daughter. Smile and head home.

Definitely a must-do experience.

EDIT: Aha! I found their...wait for it...myspace page! And it includes a menu. Of course.

Getting Thrifty: Kid's Consignment

One aspect of moving that I both dreaded and felt excited about was finding new places to save a few bucks. Especially when it comes to clothing and entertaining my children, since they grow out of the old clothes and toys so quickly (though my littlest gets to use a lot of pink items I saved from his sister....shhhh, don't tell him).

The first place I checked out is called Little Rascals, down on Highway 79 behind the DMV and visitor's center by a couple blocks. It was a very frustrating experience. Two days in a row I pulled in at 3pm and they were closed despite the sign on the door that said open from 10-4:00. The website listed the same hours. There was no note. The third day I called ahead of time and I was reassured the store would be open until 4:00. Pulled in at 3:00 again, and same story. Only this time I was truly peeved. Maybe they live in a different time zone? Like the Twilight Zone?

Finally made it through the door on the fourth day, after calling ahead immediately before heading in that direction. The closed sign was up again but a call to the owner got us in.

Frankly, it wasn't worth the trouble. We got a good deal on a used Bumbo seat and an activity center, but the customer service was less than ideal to put it nicely. And the clothes were priced a bit high for a thrift store. If I were renting items for a vacation, this would be the place to go. Otherwise, it's not my top pick.

Fortunately, I found an awesome thrift store over on 23rd St in Panama City proper. "This Little Piggy" wasn't easy to find the first (or third or fourth) time that I looked for it, but I finally found out it is by the Publix. Which happens to be across the road from TJ Maxx, one of my favorite discount stores, yay!

The service is friendly and efficient, the selection is excellent, the store is very nicely organized and the prices are great. The icing on the cake? There's a little kiddy cage play area that kept my 2 1/2 year old happily engaged the entire time I shopped. Win!

The store also hosts a free Story Time every Wednesday morning at 9am, and we'll be giving that a try in the near future.

What?! I haven't talked about the BEACH yet??

Despite it being quite a production to get set up on the beach with all the paraphernalia required for a toddler and an infant, we've managed to head down to the gulf at least once a week since we arrived last month. Still haven't found a good shade solution. but we have learned NOT to buy any of the options available at Target. I think I'm going to have to knuckle down and order a high quality umbrella online.

So far we've been to two different sections of the beach. The first is a place recommended by several long-term locals, off of Toledo. Basically, head west on 98, past Pier Park, and follow the sign that says "Beaches by Toledo". There's a store just across from the beach in case you forgot your water or sunblock, and you can park about 100 feet from the water. In our two visits, it hasn't been crowded at all and there's not much traffic (relatively speaking) to deal with to get there. The only downside for me is that you have to bring  your own shade and chair and I get tired of hauling a heavy baby in a carseat back up the hill to the car.

The other option costs $8 or a $120/yr family state park pass. St. Andrews State Recreational Area (or whatever they decided to call parks down here) is on the far east end of the Beach by Shell Island. Bring cash for your entrance fee. There's also a great store you literally walk through to get to the beach, there's a nice pier you can fish off of or just look for marine life from, showers on the boardwalk, and restrooms! My favorite feature, however, is the jetty area where little ones can play without worrying about an undertow. On the left side as you walk down is the jetty, on the right side is the Gulf in all its glory. And to top it all off, there are first-come, first-serve wooden beach chairs set up and a little rotunda area with benches that overlook the jetty. Usually Super Hero heads down to the jetty with our Little Mermaid while I sit up in the breezy shade with Super Fussy Pants and read my kindle.

Which reminds me: there's also WiFi.

You can guess which is my favorite option. And what I'm spending $120 on next pay period...

Ouch! Florida Registration

So. Changing your vehicle registration to Florida is neither easy nor cheap, despite my husband's initial insistence that I could just "drop by" and take care of it...with a toddler and an infant in tow, no less.

Before attempting this simple "dropping by", I checked out the website. There's a nice comprehensive...and LONG...list of what to do to register your vehicle if you are a new Florida resident. And you are supposed to do it all within 10 days of moving to Florida.

I won't repeat what's on the website; I'll just add my two coppers from personal experience. First, you don't actually have to have a Florida's drivers license to register your vehicle. You do have to have two proofs of your new address. So good luck if you're trying to take your time to find a place to lease or buy.

Second, it is really expensive. We drive a $4500 SUV and it was $430. Hence the "ouch!" Another reason being the terribly long wait in the office. The only time I could go in was on a Friday afternoon, and I'm sure that made it even worse than usual. But this is not news to anyone who has ever conducted business with a DMV before, so moving on...

The last tidbit I'll mention is that all of the stuff listed on the website can be done at the PCB office (linked to map). Good luck, and don't forget to take a book!

First Night on the Town: Schooners

Despite being particularly short on funds, we took advantage of our one weekend of free babysitting before Grandma flew home and hit the town the Saturday after I arrived. After the craziest and toughest few months of my life (new baby, husband finishing dissertation, selling a house, moving across the country...you get the point), it was well earned!

We wanted a restaurant with both good seafood, good atmosphere and, most important, where we could watch the sunset over the Gulf. From previous business trips to the Beach, my Super Hero knew Schooners would fit the bill nicely. Just in case the wait was ridiculous (I did, after all, have a nursing baby waiting at home), we checked out tripadvisor.com for a back-up option and settled on J. Michaels (which I've since had a few people recommend to me).

I'm looking forward to trying out J. Michaels in the future, but I'm glad that the wait at Schooners was acceptable -- about half an hour. Parking was easy and convenient, and while we waited for our buzzer to go off we ordered a couple drinks from the bar and stepped down onto the sugar white sands to watch the sunset. The live band was good, and every one around us was happy, friendly and smiling.

Unusually for us, we ordered an appetizer. The shrimp was excellent, as expected. Super Hero went all out and ordered the seafood platter (though it was called something else). Everything on it tasted great, especially the grouper. My jerk chicken sandwich was only $8, and it was HUGE. I only had a couple bites, but I'm glad I ordered it because it made for fantastic leftovers when I chopped up the chicken and mixed it into some four cheese Rice-a-Roni the next day. So good, in fact, that I'm going to start cooking up and freezing some jerk chicken at home from now on to mix into casseroles. If anyone has a good jerk seasoning mix to recommend, please tell me about it in the comments section!

In conclusion, my perfect day would kick off with a Grande White Chocolate Mocha Frappacino from Starbucks and end with a pina colada on the beach at Schooners. If only I could do that every day with busting my waistline (what remains of it after baby #2, anyway) or my budget!