{"id":24146,"date":"2018-05-14T22:14:36","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T02:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=24146"},"modified":"2018-05-14T22:14:36","modified_gmt":"2018-05-15T02:14:36","slug":"day-30-monday-may-14-fort-walton-beach-to-panama-city-beach-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=24146","title":{"rendered":"Day 30. Monday, May 14 – Fort Walton Beach to Panama City Beach, Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humidity was as thick as the morning traffic, even with our early 7:00 a.m. start. \u00a0A short ride over the bridge to Okaloosa Island offered a superb view \"\"<\/a>of the other half of Fort Walton Beach. \u00a0Snowdrifts of sand dunes \"\"<\/a>separated Ft. Walton Beach from Destin. The heavy rush hour took most of the enjoyment out of the fancy resorts, \"\"<\/a>interesting restaurants and colorful tourist trappings.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0But water on the Emerald Coast, \"\"<\/a>even with the hazy, humid sky, is just spectacular.<\/p>\n

Anxious to get away from the constant rush of traffic, after an hour, we finally found a beach road. \u00a0We knew we were on a good course,\"\"<\/a> when bikers turned on to the same road.<\/p>\n

The contrast in two blocks was staggering.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0Row after row of tightly stacked expensive homes,\"\"<\/a> most of them being used as rentals.\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 Five miles on this stretch, before we saw our first high-rise (a condo and hotel).\"\"<\/a> \u00a0The sun burned through the haze well before nine, enhancing the water,\"\"<\/a> but sun and humidity were going to be a hot<\/em> combination. \u00a0Our home tour lasted for about eight miles before our road of luxury homes turned back to a tree lined highway.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0Loads of interior design shops and high end furniture stores were on the highway, even Goodwill had a “design” store; definitely an affluent area. Traffic was slightly better, but still took the next opportunity to rejoin the beach road and a nice bike path.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0The storm brewing south of us was creating some “interesting” cloud formations; \"\"<\/a>we were just happy for the shade. \u00a0 This two lane road took a couple miles before more unbelievable tightly packed facades appeared.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0This area was a bit more eclectic\"\"<\/a> and there were still a couple of small home holdouts.\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 Small lots warranted very narrow\"\"<\/a> and tall homes.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0We’d venture that this is the next area to see massive (and expensive) development. \u00a0A wide multi-use path made travel via bike,\"\"<\/a> almost as fast as the cars, until we hit the rolling roads,\"\"<\/a> picturesque but taxing. \u00a0One neighborhood melded into the next, but Seaside\"\"<\/a> was a bit more unique,\"\"<\/a> just not easily photographed. \u00a0Duckies took a rest in the shade\"\"<\/a> in this charming town.\"\"<\/a>But we have never seen so much “over the top”,\"\"<\/a> so close together homes,\"\"<\/a> overwhelming but fun. \u00a0On the way out of town, we had a delicious early lunch, popcorn shrimp\"\"<\/a> and amazing blackened chicken.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0Sometime in the miles of extravagance, we reached the seriously way over the top<\/em> neighborhood of Alys Beach.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0A fairly new development with homes\"\"<\/a> starting in the multi-million dollar range.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Forty six miles from our start this morning, we saw the first normal<\/em> commercialization, as we turned toward the beaches of Panama City.\"\"<\/a>Emerald water still glistened, \"\"<\/a>beachfront homes\"\"<\/a> were incredible diversified\"\"<\/a> and empty foundations\"\"<\/a> spoke of destructive storms. \u00a0Red flags began to appear on the beaches,\"\"<\/a> warning of rough waters. \u00a0As we were reaching the end of the day, the southeast wind began to pick up; couldn’t wait to duck behind the hotel doors for relief. \u00a0Dinner was just down the street; food as delicious\"\"<\/a> and the decor was fun.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Overloading the pictures, because sadly, today was our last day of the tour. \u00a0A tropical depression\u00a0is heading our way!\"\"<\/a>\u00a0With the threat of lightening and four days of rain, we are pulling the plug on the trip and heading home. \u00a0In actuality, we are only a week short of our intended stop, but better safe than sorry. \u00a0As always, thank Everyone<\/em> for joining us this trip. \u00a0We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, and we sincerely hope we see you sometime in the future.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for the follow-up of this trip.<\/p>\n\n\t\t