vacation in florida

[sandm]

have several free tickets on southwest. thinking about coming down to florida for a vacation either first of may or late september. spent last spring in myrtle and had fun.
only downside are the airports that I can fly into. orlando is one, but I think that southwest only flies into one other so.fla airport...

question is what city to stay in for a quiet time(not like daytona at spring break) and do you prefer ocean or gulf side?

maybe a tow?? :)

[jasonba1]

Southwest also goest to tampa and ft. myers

[kaneboats]

If you came to Panama City or Destin or anywhere in the panhandle you could join us for the 2nd annual Fint River mini-Jam. It will either be Labor Day weekend or Sept. 19th, depending on when they schedule the bass tournament.

[sandm]

I'd be all over that. september would be perfect. wife sent me a link to a vacation place in panama.
is it a nice place?
I would def. plan around a mini jam if the dates are solid.

[kaneboats]

PC has beautiful beaches. Destin is even nicer. I'll post the jam info as soon as I get it worked out.

[deerfield]

sandm - Destin is FANTASTIC. We drove from Chicago area. Rented a house. Hung out on the beach. Tried a wave runner on big water - what a rush. Stayed up late watching episode after episode of 24. Only thing we would do different is rent right on the ocean. I'd go back at the drop of a hat. - Deerfield

[zabooda]

I used to ski the bayous of Val-p and Hobie Cat the rest. Wonderful place in September.

[wolfeman131]

Sandm,

A favorite vacation spot of ours is Seagrove Beach which is located between Destin & Panama City. It's a great spot as you can get to Destin or PCity for some fun and it's less expensive than Seaside which is just down the road and another great place to hang out.

We rent a home and enjoy cooking up some of the local, fresh seafood. Beaches are white powder and you can find a private spot without much effort. We set up an Easy Up at the start of the week and leave chairs, boogie boards, etc. out on the beach until we take it all down at the end of the week. If you end up on the FL panhandle, you have to make a trip to Grayton Beach and find The Red Bar.

http://theredbar.com/

[sandm]

thanks all for the advice.
sounds like that's the area.
just waiting for the jam info to be posted and I'll book the tickets.
wife's schedule is posted through may now, so september will be a better time, and sounds like that is a nicer time to come.

[zabooda]

Valparaiso. Locals like myself called it Val-P. I won a few Hobie Cat Regattas in Ft. Walton and I was the Hawaiian Tropic salesman at the Tiki Hut at the Sheraton.

[kaneboats]

I've never been to The Red Bar. I'll have to check it out next time I'm down that way. Another place to just get away from it all is St. George Island. You can rent a huge house with a gulf view and a pool that will hold 2-3 families and it's not very expensive. Local shrimp near Apalachicola is fantastic!

[maxpower220]

Sandm,

A favorite vacation spot of ours is Seagrove Beach which is located between Destin & Panama City. It's a great spot as you can get to Destin or PCity for some fun and it's less expensive than Seaside which is just down the road and another great place to hang out.
http://theredbar.com/


The Corky Pickos ski school is in that same area if you are looking for instruction at the same time.

[Reese350]

For beaches, it's hard to beat Siesta Key in Sarasota. We prefer anywhere on the gulf side. If you're a boarder, I just heard there is a new cable park in Ft Myers call Revolution (http://www.revolutioncable.com/). There is also a cable park in Orlando called OWC. We're heading back down there in a couple weeks when I get home from Japan.

[Sled491]

We're leaving a few hrs:)

[sandm]

The Corky Pickos ski school is in that same area if you are looking for instruction at the same time.

I am sure I would get killed if I went down and took lessons while on vaca with the wife.
she already sees an ulterior motive to schedule this during your mini jam :)

thinking my sis and her bf are coming, so that will give her something to do during this time...

[Sled491]

What are you saying? Your wife won't let you stretch you legs a little while on vactaion, and maybe meet a few cyber friends with a common background while taking advantage of where you are?

Dude that bites:(

[sandm]

meeting up with a few for an afternoon on the water not an issue. paying a couple hundred for lessons that may go for a few days, not gunna happen, and really, I can do that here.. planning on with my sis and her bf, so he and I can sneak away for a day for this jam that's in the works, and if that doesn't pan out, hopefully an afternoon one day surfing with some of ya.
that's the goal and she's ok with that.

[maxpower220]

A lesson takes about 30-45 mins and it costs around $50. This is more of what I was talking about. Besides, unless you are in "good ski shape", you won't want more than 1 or 2 sessions.
Also, they have equipment that you can try out.

If you make your way to Pensacola, let me know. The boat is on the lift and I live on a private lake. Wind is my only problem.

[kaneboats]

I am leaning toward Labor Day weekend for the Flint River mini-jam. There's not much going on around here and we could make it a 2-3 day camping event that way. Should be fun.

[sandm]

not a bad way to lean, but once you have completely fallen over and booked it, lmk.

[zabooda]

kane, I may be able to make it as I'm usually down that way on hurricane duty that time of year.

[kaneboats]

That would be really cool. Might have to quit calling it a mini Jam if this keeps up.