Extended trip to Panama City Beach and Myrtle Beach
#41
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Conservation Park
Conservation Park quickly became our favorite park in Panama City Beach.
It's located inland about 15 minutes from the beach.
It has parking, restrooms, large park map display (pocket paper maps available).
The trails themselves are well signed.
We found the park relaxingly serene, very enjoyable for walking, the elevated walkways are our favorite.
Conservation Park
Park restrooms and also map display and pocket maps available
Park map display
Start of wide trail
Gravel pathway with tall pines
Trail signs
Start of elevated walkway
Elevated walkway with tall pines
Elevated walkway
In some areas the green algae on top of water looks like smooth green carpet
Elevated walkway with Cypress trees
Elevated walkway viewing platform bench
Cypress knees - protrusions from the Cypress tree roots , possibly to help stabilize the tree or for more oxygen
The park has a number of ponds with beautiful reflections
Pond reflection
Pond reflection
Spanish Moss on tree
The park trees are mostly Pine and Cypress that grow straight and tall but there some that differ from the uniformity
Differently shaped tree, perhaps an oak
Very tall and straight Pine
The bark of a Pine tree that protects it from fire, the sap from pines is very flammable ( turpentine used to be made from pine sap)
Pine tree bark after a fire, the tree survives
Odd shaped tree offshoot
Dead tree with termite damage
Fungi on dead tree
Fungi on dead tree
Metal rebar mosquito in front of mosquito control building on the road to the park, we haven't noticed any mosquitos while in the park or in the city
Conservation Park quickly became our favorite park in Panama City Beach.
It's located inland about 15 minutes from the beach.
It has parking, restrooms, large park map display (pocket paper maps available).
The trails themselves are well signed.
We found the park relaxingly serene, very enjoyable for walking, the elevated walkways are our favorite.
Conservation Park
Park restrooms and also map display and pocket maps available
Park map display
Start of wide trail
Gravel pathway with tall pines
Trail signs
Start of elevated walkway
Elevated walkway with tall pines
Elevated walkway
In some areas the green algae on top of water looks like smooth green carpet
Elevated walkway with Cypress trees
Elevated walkway viewing platform bench
Cypress knees - protrusions from the Cypress tree roots , possibly to help stabilize the tree or for more oxygen
The park has a number of ponds with beautiful reflections
Pond reflection
Pond reflection
Spanish Moss on tree
The park trees are mostly Pine and Cypress that grow straight and tall but there some that differ from the uniformity
Differently shaped tree, perhaps an oak
Very tall and straight Pine
The bark of a Pine tree that protects it from fire, the sap from pines is very flammable ( turpentine used to be made from pine sap)
Pine tree bark after a fire, the tree survives
Odd shaped tree offshoot
Dead tree with termite damage
Fungi on dead tree
Fungi on dead tree
Metal rebar mosquito in front of mosquito control building on the road to the park, we haven't noticed any mosquitos while in the park or in the city
Last edited by aulop; Feb 17th, 2024 at 08:19 AM.
#42
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Air Force Armament Museum
Day trip to Elgin to visit the Armament Museum located outside Elgin air base.
The museum has free parking and is free to visit.
The museum has exterior and interior exhibits with a mixture of guided and unguided bombs, missiles, small arms and airplanes.
Air Force Armament Museum
Two inert bombs that can be sat on - Dr. Strangelove immediately came to mind
MOAB - Mother Of All Bombs is actually Massive Ordinance Air Blast Bomb
Museum building view from upper walkway
Small arms display
General purpose bomb
Various missiles are exhibited
Fat Man - exhibit of the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki Japan during WWII.
B-52
F4 Phantom
MH 53 helicopter
SR 71 unusual shape
SR 71 under view
We took a different road on the way back and drove through an actual town named Niceville
Niceville Turkey Creek
Day trip to Elgin to visit the Armament Museum located outside Elgin air base.
The museum has free parking and is free to visit.
The museum has exterior and interior exhibits with a mixture of guided and unguided bombs, missiles, small arms and airplanes.
Air Force Armament Museum
Two inert bombs that can be sat on - Dr. Strangelove immediately came to mind
MOAB - Mother Of All Bombs is actually Massive Ordinance Air Blast Bomb
Museum building view from upper walkway
Small arms display
General purpose bomb
Various missiles are exhibited
Fat Man - exhibit of the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki Japan during WWII.
B-52
F4 Phantom
MH 53 helicopter
SR 71 unusual shape
SR 71 under view
We took a different road on the way back and drove through an actual town named Niceville
Niceville Turkey Creek
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Duplin Winery
The Duplin Winery in PCB is housed in a beautiful wood building with a lake and a large patio area.
They have a dedicated tasting room to try their wines made from Muscadine grapes.
Along with the wines they also have cheese / cold cut trays and cakes to snack on while having a drink ($).
The whole experience was very enjoyable in a beautiful relaxing setting.
Duplin Winery building
Wine barrel truck in front of winery building
Inside the building, market style
Wine displays
"Sunshine" in a bottle
Dedicated tasting room
Patio area
Patio and building
Relaxing spot on the wood pier on the lake
View of building covered porch
The Duplin Winery in PCB is housed in a beautiful wood building with a lake and a large patio area.
They have a dedicated tasting room to try their wines made from Muscadine grapes.
Along with the wines they also have cheese / cold cut trays and cakes to snack on while having a drink ($).
The whole experience was very enjoyable in a beautiful relaxing setting.
Duplin Winery building
Wine barrel truck in front of winery building
Inside the building, market style
Wine displays
"Sunshine" in a bottle
Dedicated tasting room
Patio area
Patio and building
Relaxing spot on the wood pier on the lake
View of building covered porch
#44
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Rainy days
The weather has been mostly sunny but there's also been some cold windy rainy days.
On those days we try to find indoor activities or at least partially indoors.
Here's the ones we tried so far.
Rainforest black light golf & arcade.
Once our eyes adjusted to the black glow lights we enjoyed it more than we expected.
Indoor glow in the dark mini golf with arcade games and a snack bar
Arcade games at the entrance
Arcade games at entrance
Glow in the dark mini golf rainforest theme
Glow animal statues
Glow dinosaur
Glow portal
Glow pterodactyl
Glow plant
Glow plant
Glow dinosaur head
The weather has been mostly sunny but there's also been some cold windy rainy days.
On those days we try to find indoor activities or at least partially indoors.
Here's the ones we tried so far.
Rainforest black light golf & arcade.
Once our eyes adjusted to the black glow lights we enjoyed it more than we expected.
Indoor glow in the dark mini golf with arcade games and a snack bar
Arcade games at the entrance
Arcade games at entrance
Glow in the dark mini golf rainforest theme
Glow animal statues
Glow dinosaur
Glow portal
Glow pterodactyl
Glow plant
Glow plant
Glow dinosaur head
Last edited by aulop; Feb 22nd, 2024 at 07:49 AM.
#45
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Rainy day continuation
Ripley's Believe It Or Not has a collection of oddities along with some art work and some odd / bizarre items.
This location also has a maze and a theatre.
We have seen it at other locations so we weren't as impressed as someone seeing it for the first time but was ok on a rainy day.
Ripley's building in the shape of a boat
Ripley's building
Intricately carved Jade stone boat
Except for the wood base this sculpture it's carved from bone
Bone carving detail
Bone carving detail
Temple door
Megalodon shark jaw over 5 feet
Genuine tribal mask
Tribal mask
Tribal mask
Jimmy Hendrix image made with guitar picks
Across the street from Ripley's is Wonderworks, the "upside" down building design is very eye catching but we haven't visited it so we can't comment on the interior
Ripley's Believe It Or Not has a collection of oddities along with some art work and some odd / bizarre items.
This location also has a maze and a theatre.
We have seen it at other locations so we weren't as impressed as someone seeing it for the first time but was ok on a rainy day.
Ripley's building in the shape of a boat
Ripley's building
Intricately carved Jade stone boat
Except for the wood base this sculpture it's carved from bone
Bone carving detail
Bone carving detail
Temple door
Megalodon shark jaw over 5 feet
Genuine tribal mask
Tribal mask
Tribal mask
Jimmy Hendrix image made with guitar picks
Across the street from Ripley's is Wonderworks, the "upside" down building design is very eye catching but we haven't visited it so we can't comment on the interior
#46
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Rainy day continuation
Center for the Arts is a small art museum in Panama City (not Panama City Beach), entrance is free / donations accepted.
Despite it's small size and small number of exhibits we enjoyed viewing some of the quirky art pieces from local artists.
We made it a day by visiting the rest of the City's waterfront.
Center for the Arts in Panama City
The collection includes both paintings and photos
Shoehorn bill bird painting
Raven painting
"Melted Clocks" mural detail, reminiscent of Salvador Dali
Monochromatic photo, one of the best pieces IMO
Glass artwork
Mixed media
Traditional sculpture, life sized and very detailed
Quirky piece
Quirky piece
Center for the Arts is a small art museum in Panama City (not Panama City Beach), entrance is free / donations accepted.
Despite it's small size and small number of exhibits we enjoyed viewing some of the quirky art pieces from local artists.
We made it a day by visiting the rest of the City's waterfront.
Center for the Arts in Panama City
The collection includes both paintings and photos
Shoehorn bill bird painting
Raven painting
"Melted Clocks" mural detail, reminiscent of Salvador Dali
Monochromatic photo, one of the best pieces IMO
Glass artwork
Mixed media
Traditional sculpture, life sized and very detailed
Quirky piece
Quirky piece
Last edited by aulop; Feb 23rd, 2024 at 06:44 AM.
#47
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Man in the Sea Museum
This a small museum with some interesting diving items, on the exterior there are some submersibles ( including Sealab) and some historical and more contemporaneous pieces on the inside.
A weight belt and shoes are available to try taking 12 steps to replicate the scene from the movie Man of Honor.
Surprisingly there is a saturation breathing apparatus used on a spy mission on the Soviet Union.
Man in the Sea submersibles
Exterior display
Visitors can try taking 12 steps with the diving shoes and weight belt
Old diving helmet
Old diving suit and helmet
Self contained diving apparatus
Saturation breathing apparatus used in spy mission
Explanation of the importance of the diving spy mission
Photo of diver parachuting, the amount of gear on him is surprising
This a small museum with some interesting diving items, on the exterior there are some submersibles ( including Sealab) and some historical and more contemporaneous pieces on the inside.
A weight belt and shoes are available to try taking 12 steps to replicate the scene from the movie Man of Honor.
Surprisingly there is a saturation breathing apparatus used on a spy mission on the Soviet Union.
Man in the Sea submersibles
Exterior display
Visitors can try taking 12 steps with the diving shoes and weight belt
Old diving helmet
Old diving suit and helmet
Self contained diving apparatus
Saturation breathing apparatus used in spy mission
Explanation of the importance of the diving spy mission
Photo of diver parachuting, the amount of gear on him is surprising
Last edited by aulop; Feb 25th, 2024 at 02:42 PM.
#48
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Panama City Beach, Falling Waters and Caverns.
After several weeks in Panama City Beach we are finally departing and travelling to Myrtle Beach.
On our way to Myrtle Beach we are visiting Falling Waters State Park and Caverns State Park in Florida.
Last day in PCB
Last night in PCB
Falling Waters State Park
Woodpecker carving inside the park
The park has accessible pathways to the falls
The falls were very disappointing, more of a trickle perhaps due to the lack of rain.
Next we went to the Forida Caverns State Park.
The Caverns can only be viewed as part of a tour.
Due to a medical emergency - a person in our tour group had claustrophobia / panic - we had to evacuate the Caverns, after that the tour resumed but we didn't have enough time to continue so we only saw a portion of the Caverns.
The Caverns are hot, humid and fog up eye glasses and camera lenses.
Florida Caverns State Park
Beautiful coloration due to the different color lighting used in the Caverns
The blue lights reflected intensely from a pond in the Caverns
Caverns
Caverns
Caverns
This is the narrowest "tunnel" in the Caverns - less than 4 feet high - shortly after the tunnel the medical emergency happened
After several weeks in Panama City Beach we are finally departing and travelling to Myrtle Beach.
On our way to Myrtle Beach we are visiting Falling Waters State Park and Caverns State Park in Florida.
Last day in PCB
Last night in PCB
Falling Waters State Park
Woodpecker carving inside the park
The park has accessible pathways to the falls
The falls were very disappointing, more of a trickle perhaps due to the lack of rain.
Next we went to the Forida Caverns State Park.
The Caverns can only be viewed as part of a tour.
Due to a medical emergency - a person in our tour group had claustrophobia / panic - we had to evacuate the Caverns, after that the tour resumed but we didn't have enough time to continue so we only saw a portion of the Caverns.
The Caverns are hot, humid and fog up eye glasses and camera lenses.
Florida Caverns State Park
Beautiful coloration due to the different color lighting used in the Caverns
The blue lights reflected intensely from a pond in the Caverns
Caverns
Caverns
Caverns
This is the narrowest "tunnel" in the Caverns - less than 4 feet high - shortly after the tunnel the medical emergency happened
#49
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Hobcaw Barony and Atalya Castle were our next stops on our trip ( thanks for the travel tips Gretchen).
Hobcaw Barony is 16000 acres of mostly natural wildlife habitat.
The only way to visit is with a guided tour on a mini bus.
Our guide was very knowledgeable, explaining both the historical importance of the property, it's residents and guests along with the environmental research and habitat rehabilitation.
We visited one of the slave villages ( the slaves originally worked on the rice plantation) on the property as well the main house.
Hobcaw Barony welcome center
Mini bus for the guided tour
Hobcaw house no photography inside
House front porch
The house is made of cement and brick in order to avoid fire that destroid a previous structure
Slave village house
Interior of slave house
Slave village church
Inside of the church
Church altar
Inside the church is the list of slaves that lived at Hobcaw Barony
Atalya Castle design has a Moroccon style design and is entirely made of brick .
The brick was painted white on the interior and left natural on the exterior, volunteers are trying to preserve it and stop any further deteoration.
All the furnishings were removed by the family.
Atalya Castle entrance
The castle's covered exterior walkway
Interior rooms, all that remains are the brick walls, no furnishings
Interior walkway
Castle's tower
Beautifuly restored iron window grates
Window iron grate
Hobcaw Barony is 16000 acres of mostly natural wildlife habitat.
The only way to visit is with a guided tour on a mini bus.
Our guide was very knowledgeable, explaining both the historical importance of the property, it's residents and guests along with the environmental research and habitat rehabilitation.
We visited one of the slave villages ( the slaves originally worked on the rice plantation) on the property as well the main house.
Hobcaw Barony welcome center
Mini bus for the guided tour
Hobcaw house no photography inside
House front porch
The house is made of cement and brick in order to avoid fire that destroid a previous structure
Slave village house
Interior of slave house
Slave village church
Inside of the church
Church altar
Inside the church is the list of slaves that lived at Hobcaw Barony
Atalya Castle design has a Moroccon style design and is entirely made of brick .
The brick was painted white on the interior and left natural on the exterior, volunteers are trying to preserve it and stop any further deteoration.
All the furnishings were removed by the family.
Atalya Castle entrance
The castle's covered exterior walkway
Interior rooms, all that remains are the brick walls, no furnishings
Interior walkway
Castle's tower
Beautifuly restored iron window grates
Window iron grate
Last edited by aulop; Mar 4th, 2024 at 04:18 PM.
#50
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For anyone that was reading my trip report and was wondering why it suddenly stop - we had an emergency that required us to stop our trip and return home.
All is fine now but unfortunately we didn't have the opportunity to explore Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area.
Perhaps a future trip.
Travel adds to life, happy travels.
All is fine now but unfortunately we didn't have the opportunity to explore Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area.
Perhaps a future trip.
Travel adds to life, happy travels.
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