Panama City Beach – American Cancer Society Cattle Baron’s Ball

Panama City Beach… 

Sorry this is late notice but if you are at Panama City Beach today 6.27.09 you may want to attend…

The annual good-time roundup known as the Cattle Barons’ Ball has a new time and place in Panama City Beach, in early summer rather than its traditional September date. But the mission remains the same: to support cancer survivors and aid research in the fight against the disease.

The fundraiser for the American Cancer Society will be at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at the Edgewater Beach Resort. This is the ninth year for the ball in Bay County, with money raised going in particular to programs of the Cancer Society’s office in Panama City. It serves a seven-county region stretching from Marianna to Apalachicola. For more information or tickets call (850) 785-9205.

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Panama City Beach – Named Top Beach by TripAdvisor

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla., June 24 /PRNewswire/ — Panama City Beach, Fla., was just recognized by TripAdvisor(R) as home to one of America’s top beaches. Ranking third in the U.S. on the just-released 2009 listing, the destination’s St. Andrews State Recreation Area was selected based on opinions of millions of travelers worldwide and the expertise of the editors of the world’s largest online travel community, TripAdvisor.com(R). Spanning 1,260 acres in picturesque Northwest Florida, St. Andrews State Recreation Area boasts sugar-white sand overlooking the clear, emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico and St. Andrew Bay. The 1.5-mile-long beach has a calm, child-friendly area, offering swimming and snorkeling in a shallow, tranquil pool, protected by jetties. Visitors can take a quick ferry ride to nearby Shell Island for more surf and sun. Hikers and birders, meanwhile, enjoy the park’s 1.25 miles of pristine trails with an incredible array of plants and wildlife, including deer, egrets and graceful tropical birds. At St. Andrews, anglers enjoy surf fishing, as well as fishing off a deep-sea jetty and two piers. Concession stands and campsites also are available for lovers of the outdoors. Panama City Beach also enjoys recognition as a premier beach destination from Conde Nast Traveler, USA Today, The Travel Channel, Southern Living, Dr. Beach and the Clean Beaches Council. “The destination offers something for everyone,” explains Dan Rowe, C.E.O., Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Our award-winning beaches and predictably sunny weather have drawn travelers for generations. Visitors here today discover a wealth of new offerings. From new restaurants, shops and nightlife venues to outdoor concerts, festivals, fishing, golfing, eco-tours and more, there’s always something fun going on in Panama City Beach.” Shoppers and culinary enthusiasts here are rewarded at the new Pier Park, located in the heart of town. Spanning roughly one million-square-foot Pier Park serves up soft sea breezes and an array of unique offerings as Northwest Florida’s largest shopping, dining and entertainment venue. For marine life lovers, the nearby Gulf World Marine Park delights with animal exhibits and shows as well as opportunities to swim with the dolphins. Little ones marvel at ZooWorld Zoological & Botanical Park, home to more than 250 animals, including rare and endangered species, in a lush, tropical setting. Family attractions abound, including Shipwreck Island Waterpark, one of Florida’s largest theme water parks, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, featuring fascinating finds from around the world. For outdoor enthusiasts, there’s world-class fishing, hiking, kayaking and more. Adventurers find plenty of ways to test their skills with Panama City Beach’s full spectrum of water sports – snorkeling, diving, parasailing, skimboards, Yolo boards, wave runners and more. To showcase the destination’s many charms, the Convention and Visitors Bureau recently launched a summer-long online video contest, offering $50,000 in cash and prizes, including customized vacations to Panama City Beach. Tapping into the fast-growing popularity of online videos, the contest encourages consumers to post their original works, offering an innovative travel personality twist. Through July 31, consumers can visit www.RealFunContest.com and take a quick quiz to determine their Panama City Beach travel personality: Eco-Seeker, Wave Warrior, After Dark Shark looking for glittery nightlife, Soul Surfer who loves long strolls on the beach, or a leader of the family-friendly Sandy Bottom Bunch. Then, they can produce an original video that showcases their unique travel personality type. The top videos will be showcased for online voting, and five winners will receive $10,000 each in cash and prizes, including five-night vacations in Panama City Beach, customized to suit their travel interests. To date, nearly 2,000 people from around the country have taken the destination’s travel personality quick quiz. With so much to offer, it’s no surprise that Panama City Beach attracts visitors from around the globe. Even more travelers are about to discover this Florida gem thanks to a new international airport slated to make its debut in the spring 2010. The airport’s opening will increase accessibility to Panama City Beach for travelers nationally and internationally. With myriad green features incorporated into its design and construction, the airport aims to be the first in the U.S. to receive LEED certification. For more information, go to www.visitpanamacitybeach.com or call the Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-PC-BEACH (850-233-6503). About Panama City Beach Panama City Beach boasts 27 miles of sugar-white sand beaches bordering the clear, emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico and St. Andrews Bay. The Northwest Florida community is home to St. Andrew’s State Park, a Top Three beach on the 2009 TripAdvisor list of America’s best beaches. Panama City Beach also enjoys recognition as a premier beach destination by Conde Nast Traveler, The Travel Channel, USA Today, Southern Living, Dr. Beach and the Clean Beaches Council. Family attractions, championship golf courses, sporting events, award-winning dining, predictably sunny weather and a vast number of recreational activities draw visitors to this seaside community.

Panama City Beach Concerts in the Park – Pier Park

Panama City Beach

Every Thursday night throughout the summer a different artist will perform in the Aaron Bessant Ampitheatre at Pier Park in PCB.

June 25

Location: Aaron Bessant Ampitheater
500 West Park Drive
Panama City Beach
32413

Performing R&B Rock – Cyril Neville of the Neville Brothers

Location: Aaron Bessant Ampitheater.

Hours: 7-9pm http://www.bestpanamacitybeachcondo.com

Panama City Beach – Glug, Glug, Glug; Tug to become new reef

PANAMA CITY BEACH – The 125-foot tugboat Red Sea will begin its final voyage today to become an artificial reef off the Panama City coast, the first shallow-water sinking here since 1995.

The vessel is scheduled to nestle along the sandy bottom in 75 feet of water about six miles off shore, said Danny Grizzard of the Florida Aquatic & Marine Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing artificial reefs for divers and fishermen.

The decommissioned tug, which was discovered as a derelict in the Florida Keys, will leave dock from the St. Andrews Marina at about 6:30 a.m. and be towed to become one of many artificial reefs in the area, known as the Wreck Capital of the South, Grizzard said.

“Next month, it will have been two years since we began working on this project,” Grizzard said Tuesday, noting that this will be the first artificial-reef sinking off Panama City since 2003 when two tugboats dropped below the waves.

The Red Sea itself cost about $75,000 for preparation and cleaning, Grizzard said, and volunteers have put in thousands of hours of in-kind support.

The Bay County Tourist Development Council voted $40,000 for the project in 2007, and Panama City Dive Center and local shops raised more than $15,000 from $1 fees per boat customer over multiple years, Grizzard said.

Dan Rowe, TDC executive director, said that by providing enhanced fishing and diving venues, the reefs emphasize the crystal clear Gulf waters prized by tourists.

“Having a viable diving community is important to Panama City Beach and its many environmental opportunities,” he said. “We feel that the artificial reef program is very important and should continue.”

Although some larger vessels are sunk by explosives, the Red Sea has been prepared to sink by opening valves and cutting holes into the hull above the water line, Grizzard said.

After the wreck settles to the bottom, bait fish will gather within 24 hours, Grizzard said, setting the stage for sporting fish and an entire eco-system within a year.

The target coordinates for the site are listed as 30.00.98 North and 85.42.20 West, about one mile east of the old Midway site in the vicinity of the USS Strength.

According to Grizzard, the Panama City Beach area is the most popular drive-to destination in the United States for divers and dive instructors seeking safe areas for student training.

Thousands of divers visit the area for both training and recreational dives each year, he said.

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Panama City Beach – Construction of new airport on schedule

Panama City Beach — The new airport under construction near West Bay is proceeding on schedule and should be completed by the May 2010 target date, airport officials said Friday.

Jeff Dealy of KBR, program manager for the relocation project, said he was more worried about getting the various agency occupants moved onto the complex in a timely fashion.  “That would be our one hiccup,” Dealy said. He was referring to the different agencies slated to move into the new terminal structure, including the Transportation Security Adminstration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and various car rental firms and air carriers.  “Everyone is up to date, but there is still some work to be done,” he said.

Space also is being allocated for a Bay County Chamber of Commerce Business Center and the Bay County Tourist Development Council, said Randy Curtis, executive director of the Panama City-Bay County International Airport, which is moving its operations to the new site.

The 8,400-foot runway is now 100-percent complete, and construction teams are awaiting FAA approval before extending it to 10,000 feet. Once approval is gained, the extension should take about two months to complete, officials said.

The 120,000-square-foot airport terminal, more than twice as large as the current structure in Panama City, is now about a third complete, Curtis said. The $62.8 million terminal complex always has been seen as the heart of the new $318 million airport taking shape near West Bay. The old terminal was only about 57,000 square feet, Curtis said.  “They are getting pretty close, about two-thirds, to at least having everything under a roof,” he said.

Curtis said the new terminal complex will not only consist of the main terminal and a 147-foot air traffic control tower, but will host a public safety building, a maintenance building, a cargo building and a rental car area.

“We are all moving toward that May date,” Curtis said.

On its first floor, the main terminal will house a ticket area for airlines, space for five rental car agencies, a baggage claim area with three conveyer belts, a restaurant and a gift shop with newsstand, Curtis said.  The upper level will consist of the passenger boarding area, airport administration offices, a second restaurant and a lounge area dedicated for the military.

One of the main goals of the new airport has been to “make it more efficient for processing both baggage and passengers,” Curtis said.

I wonder how the efforts are going with Southwest Airlines?

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Panama City Beach – Ron Jon Surf Shop Design a Roxy Bikini Event 6.21.09

Panama City Beach –

Design a Bikini at Ron Jon’s Surf Shop!

June 21

Location: Ron Jon’s Surf Shop
Pier Park
Panama City Beach
32413

Get ready for summer by tie dying a Roxy tee shirt, staying smooth with a free Schick Quattro for Women razor, mix n match custom Roxy flip flops, manicures by OPI & tons more! Be one of the first 75 girls to visit a Design-A-Bikini event and receive a goodie bag filled with tons of prizes from Roxy and Schick Quattro for Women. You’ll get all this while being inspired by some of the hottest summer trends for you to use in your design-a-bikini submission.

4 pm to 7 pm in the parking lot behind Ron Jon’s Surf Shop at Pier Park.

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Panama City Beach – Angler catches 700-pound blue marlin, breaks record

Panama City Beach / SANDESTIN – Chip Temple’s first major fishing tournament experience is one he’ll never forget.

In an article from the News Herald…

An admitted outsider when it comes to fishing’s biggest stages, Temple hooked, battled and helped reel in a 714.7-pound, 121.5-inch blue marlin to help the crew of the Jasper Time shatter the Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic record

“We fought about 100 runs from her,” said Temple, who battled the marlin for eight hours before the crew finally hauled it on board.

The crowd spilled down the Baytowne Marina’s pier in anticipation to see the massive fish hoisted up by its tail fin and weighed, a process that took three people. When the total weight flashed on the screen, cheers and cries of disbelief erupted from the crowd.

The marlin beat out the previous record of 692.6 pounds set in 2006 and far outpaced the 566.8-pound average for the tourney winner.

The record-setting catch cruised to first place and will earn the crew at least $167,000 in prize money. The 67-boat event carried a total purse of $1.3 million.

The five-man team consisted of owner Mark Wallace, captain Tommy Bradon and mates Ed Gobel, Matthew Pearson and Temple.

“That’s a once-in-a-lifetime fish,” Pearson said. “That’s not one you catch every day, that’s for sure. That’s a fish you dream of your whole life. Especially in a tournament and getting to bring it back and show it off to everybody.”

And show off they did.

Wallace said the 160-foot Jasper Time, which harbors at the Marabella Yacht Club in Destin (40 miles west of Panama City Beach), was almost 130 miles into the Gulf of Mexico when they finally hooked the marlin at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday.

The crew had started casting at daybreak, and when the big fish bit it was Stockbridge, Ga. native Temple’s turn in the fishing chair. The chair is mounted on the back deck of the boat and the angler hooks into the massive fishing pole.

With Temple, 33, all but locked into his position, he endured an eight-hour battle with the marlin before the crew finally hauled it in at about 9:30 p.m. on Friday night. They rode overnight back to Sandestin.

“Yeah, I was kind of tired,” Temple said. “But we were all pleased with the effort.”

The Jasper Time crew reeled in the marlin with just five men on board, which Wallace said was a small group for this kind of event.

While Temple spent eight hours in the chair physically attached to the 80 Wide fishing reel, one mate tended the line and another stood behind Temple to pivot the chair as needed. Wallace filmed the event and Bradon ran the boat.

“You don’t have any back-up,” Wallace said. “Normally you have at least two anglers and a film man and two crew plus a captain, so we were a little shorthanded.”

The crew happened upon the marlin at Lloyd’s Ridge deep out to sea, which was where the crew purposefully headed following Thursday’s 7 p.m. start time after satellite reports showed favorable fishing conditions there. A break between blue and green water pushed water currents together, which made for plentiful fishing, Wallace said.

“We were right where we wanted to be,” Pearson said.

And when the marlin bit on a tuna line, the lightest gear the team had, Wallace knew the team had a battle on their hands.

“We knew we were in trouble,” Wallace said. “We saw her way off, and we saw her come out of the water one time; that’s the only time she jumped. And then she just stayed down the rest of the time, so we couldn’t put a lot of heat on her, so we just had to slowly, eight hours later, work her up.”

The fish latched onto a 200-pound leader with a circle hook, which caught the crew by surprise as they were looking for much lighter tuna with that line. To catch the fish, the team used a naked ballyhoo rig, or a large lure without a skirt attached. Wallace said crews usually need leaders at least twice as heavy to reel in marlin of that size.

The process of getting the massive fish into the boat would have been laborious even if the crew hadn’t just been wrestling with it for eight hours. After Temple’s fishing acumen helped get the fish up on the back door of the boat, the remaining four crewmembers wrapped a bloodied t-shirt around its bill and hauled it on board, making for a happy but exhausted night’s sleep.

“They all got together, and a lot of adrenaline and a couple of heave ho’s and pulled it up,” Temple said.

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Panama City Beach – Pier Park Grab your beach blanket and pack your cooler

Panama City Beach – Thursday night means outdoor concert time at Pier Park. This week, enjoy bluegrass jams with Rollin’ in the Hay. 7 9 pm at Aaron Bessant Amphitheater.

Bring the whole family and make it a fun-filled night to remember. Afterwards, stroll through Pier Park and snap up a snow-cone, grab a snack from Margaritaville or sip a cool summer drink from Starbuck’s. It’s the perfect way to spend a summer night, and it’s FREE! Wouldn’t you rather be sitting outside in Panama City Beach, basking in the summer air and listening to smooth tunes, than stuck inside a stuffy concert hall?
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Panama City Beach – Baby It’s Hot Outside

Panama City Beach – Thursday June 18, 7pm till?

Ladies it is time to slip into your favorite little sun dress for a steamy night out upstairs at the Boatyard.   Clill off with a complementary glass of champagne and a gift bag full of goodies for ladies in sun dresses

$3 drink specials, $2 beer and free hors d’oeuvres for ladies in sun dresses.

Music by – DJ Valdi!

Little sun dress raffle:

-       Win a little sun dress from Envy of Panama City Beach

-       Win a wedding set from Maharaja’s of PCB

Raffle proceeds go to the American Cancer Society to fight Breast Cancer.

Call (850) -249-9273 for more details.

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Panama City Beach – TDC Fall Ad Campaign You can Help!

Panama City Beach – The Tourist Development Commission is trying to determine the focus of the fall / winter ad campaign.

I would like to get your ideas for ad themes as well as the best place to run the ads.  Most of you come to our condos through VRBO.  How do you decide on Panama City Beach?  What would help someone decide on Panama City Beach instead of Destin or Gulf Shores? 

I am sure that the people reading this blog have lots to offer.   

How do we reach visitors interested in a fall break beach trip to PCB?

How do we attract families with kids that are not in school?

How do we attract adults with no kids that are interested in a fall beach vacation?

I will submit your ideas to the TDC.

All comments are appreciated. 

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