A Little More Florida Nostalgia

I took the photograph above of my father Nelson in Panama City Beach, Florida, back in April of 1975. We were taking a roundabout route to Stuart, Florida, where my Uncle Bill (my mother Mary's brother) and Aunt Elsie lived, to see if my parents might want to retire there, too.  We visited Biloxi, Mississippi first (long before gambling was legalized there), and then drove along the Gulf of Mexico, stopping in Panama City Beach, Florida for the night.  Panama City is a summer resort (the area was often called the Redneck Rivera), and so we had the place to ourselves in mid-April.  This was also before the place became a popular spring break destination. As I recall, we were the only people dining in the restaurant that night, and as far as we could tell, the only guests at the motel.  The next day we drove on to Stuart, which my parents loved and moved to the following year.  And as regular Blog readers know, my sister and I still own the condo they bought there, although it is currently rented, and so we can't go down there to escape the cold Denver weather.  I think our tenants would not be happy to see us at their front door with our suitcases.  But I could be wrong.  And often am.