183 Choctawhatchee Bay and Beyond

Hit the waters at 7:30 this morning to meet up with Serenity to head east to Panama City Marina. Free Bird is running along side of us out in the Gulf. Their mast cannot get under the bridges so they have to ride the coast and come in and out of the passes to get to marinas and anchorages. Started off cold and bumpy but settled down, and by the afternoon, the water was like glass and we were peeling off layers - dolphins escorting us most of the way. We crossed Choctawhatchee Bay then wound our way through the "Grand Canyon", which is a narrow waterway (pic 1) with high surrounding banks that connects two bays. Traversed West Bay and St. Andrews Bay to get to our slip by 3pm where I made an early dinner of jambalaya for everyone. We heard there was a multi-national street fair in downtown Panama City so Free Bird and us wandered over.  It was suppose to go on till 8pm but by 6, it was mostly shut down. I guess it was just too cold for the locals to stay out. On the way back to the boat, we found a small bar where this amazing guy was singing all of our favorite songs but in his own style. We stayed out way past "Looper midnight", which is 9pm - seriously, and had a great time. Our friends on Estrellita emailed us some pictures from the Veteran's Day air show that we watched on the beach. The last pic is the Blue Angels flying right over our heads. What a memory! A front is moving by us bringing rain, winds, and choppy waters so we are here for a couple of days.