gracie

Oh, and I can't type very well and my use of spell check is limited.

noodlemom

I have been checking WEAR 3...I don't get what people are saying about being a first time poster..I'm just friendly chatting. Weird. Anyway, thanks to all of those who have been willing to help me plan my vacation. We are very excited and looking at the pictures daily to get us motivated as opposed to worrying. Like I said I have options in St. Augustine which looks pretty...we are going to have fun, I'm determined. Everyone have a nice day and think the best of people. It's the way you would want to be treated. Thanks!

gracie

Noodlemom -- I understand you are going to Seagrove. Panama City Beach is only about 12 miles east of Seagrove Beach. Pensacola is more than 60 miles west of Seagrove. You would be better off checking news from the Panama City News Herald, WJHG or WMBB. WJHG is located in Panama City Beach and WMBB is located in Panama City (two separate towns) and cover news in Walton County, where Seagrove is.

volcanogirl

noodle, if you click on your name, it says when you joined. That's what they're referring to.

Floridafran

noodlemom,

I agree with gracie that you'd get more news about the Seagrove area by checking either the PCB or PC stations/paper as they are closer than either WEAR or PNJ.

Still nothing coming ashore here at Pensacola Beach. Winds are still from a favorable (for us) direction.

I may not have a chance to post updates tomorrow, or Sunday, as we're showing at a local arts festival. But if I hear of any real change - like tarballs coming ashore - I'll do my best to at least post that.

And please, let's all play nice.

MykeSaysSold

I was at Henderson Beach in Destin yesterday, and the water was beautiful and the beaches were white as always. No sign of oil, oil booms, or catastrophe. Not that those of us who live here are not concerned about the future, but for now we are offering you the same beautiful vacation destination that we always have offered. If you want Destin to stay the vibrant wonderful vacation spot that you already are familiar with, don't change your plans, or it will be a self fulfilling prophecy to destroy the economy of the area. There are charter boats, beaches, and fantastic restaurants just waiting to make your vacation an outstanding adventure
!!

bkluvsNola

noodlemom, when I click on your name it says you joined Fodor's in May 2010 and this is your first thread. Please prove me wrong by posting other topics or responding to other topics and getting active in Fodor's.

noodlemom

I am new to this-I see now. I am only going to respond to adult-like and kind remarks here, not going to waste my time trying to prove something to anyone. Thank you to those of you who care to help me plan our trip. I do not plan to change our plans unless I need to. It looks like it will be fine. Thanks again for those of you who live there and have been helpful.

MAP

Hi Floridafan,
Glad to hear you are back at your post! We returned Sat. from Seagrove Beach where we spent May 8-15 in a situation as close to Heaven as it gets! No oil, no rain, no bugs, no scorching heat. The area was fabulous and pristine and I really don't think the oil arrival is imminent.

A few tips for those who are going soon: try lunch at George's near Rosemary Beach (actually Alys Beach) The grouper basket with slaw, hush puppies, and fries followed by the best key lime pie was a dream come true. Also had great grouper basket at Smiling Fish in Santa Rosa Beach on 30A. Lovely big patio in quaint little shopping area just across from the ocean.

I fixed fresh jumbo shrimp purchased at Goat Feathers on 30A for dinner one night and it couldn't have been more delicious. The grouper in the case was $18.00 a pound but looked so fresh, I know it would be delectable.

We already reserved for next May and Seagrove remains one of our favorite destinations.

noodlemom

tell me where to go for a good breakfast one morning, if anyone has any ideas...THANKS!

JD_TN

Been keeping an eye on this tread and happy to see the oil is staying clear of the pan-handle for now, hope it stays that way.
We've been Destin area vacationers for many years and we will return again this SAT May 22 2010.

Our family of 4 said we'll still go down and support the NWFL area. If the oil show up, we can always help with the clean-up and try save our fav beaches!! I'm sure every helping hand will be welcomed.

I like to take my boy out fishing when we get down there, so if the gulf is off limits when we get there we'll do the bay.

Those captain's depend on our support and fishing is fishing

gracie

We had other commitments so we did not get out in our boat this weekend. However, I did see the Gulf from a distance and it was fine. I walked down to the edge of the water on St Andrew Bay and it, too, was fine. No signs of any damage in the Panama City area, yet.

MAP

Noodlemom, we ate at the original Donut hole in Destin years ago, and there is now one at the corner of HWY 98 and 30A. There is also a little place called the Broken Egg on the south side of 30A in a little shopping area around Grayton Beach. We usually cook breakfast in our condo and go out for lunch.Just about 1 1/2 miles from Seaside is a little place called Flip Flops which serves breakfast..on the north side of 30A near a shop called La Botana.

We did not like the breakfast place in Seaside. Ugh. Expensive and not good. Too bad because we love Seaside...esp. the Modica Market. Be sure to stop there and buy all sorts of great pre-prepared food, wonderful desserts, and prime beef.

Reneecullum

Thanks for everyone for continuing to post...As of right now we are still planning on coming to Pensacola Beach on Monday the 24th. In looking on the web I found this webcam of the beach--everything---like you say looks good right now.
http://www.islandempress.com/webcam/index.html

Any suggestions on good places to eat??
Also I thought about taking a drive down the coast from Mobile to Pensacola--would that be 98?

bkluvsNola

It looks like the oil slick will miss the Panhandle for now. However, it has already gotten into the loop current and tarballs have started washing up in Key West of all places!

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-sp...ey_west_f.html

Floridafran

Renee,

Where are you coming in from? The "coastal" drive from Mobile to Pensacola Beach isn't all that attractive nor truly coastal for much of the way.

bkluvsNola,

Once it got into that loop - and around here the consensus was pretty much a given that it would at some point - it was just a matter of time until the tarballs would begin to wash in. My greatest fear is for the mangroves and the coral reef areas. Tarballs can be removed from the beaches, even Key West's non-sandy ones, not so much from mangrove roots and coral heads.

Most of our local scientists, who have been studying the Gulf and barrier islands for decades, say we need to be far more concerned with what's floating around below the surface than with what we see on top of the water. Tarballs are the least of our worries in the long-term.

321go

Floridafran, I agree that what's below the surface is just as dangerous, if not more so than tarballs. I worry about the effects of this oil spill on the endangered sea turtles that nest on our Florida east coast beaches, especially since so many died during this winter's extreme cold.

treemills

This is my first post, and I'm glad to have found this forum. This will be our 4th year at Jetty East in Destin, and we will come no matter what the condition of the beach. (Actually, there is very little beach left on that property anyway--we've watched it shrink every year, and now the building we stay in is lapped by the waves at high tide.)

Even though we will make our trip anyway, we are still interested in keeping abreast of the beach conditions, so I really appreciate the reports here. Keep them coming, please!

gracie

I do not care for the Donut Hole at all. I have heard others rave, but I was very disappointed in the one on Hwy 98.

Reneecullum

Floridafran, We will be coming in from Arkansas through Mobile.