Panama City Beach

 

Panama City

     It was the start of my college spring break and my friends from Kennesaw State, and I decided to take a trip to Panama City Beach. I was excited because this would've been my first time traveling there with friends. It had been the six of us and out of all of us, two had already been to Panama City Beach. I had asked my good friend Nina what it was like when she first went, and she had said "It was super fun! I had gone with my family, and we all enjoyed the beach" When she told me that, my excitement for going went through the roof. After getting our Airbnb, we all decided to drive to the place. The drive was from Marietta, Georgia to Panama City Beach, Florida which took about five hours and twelve minutes. The drive was fun and short especially when traveling with close friends. As we reached Florida, it was full of beautiful tropical colors. From teal gas stations to coral restaurants, it was truly a beautiful sight to see.  

Panama is a beautiful coastal city and is popular for their great beaches, activities, and beautiful scenery they have. The city is located along the Gulf of Mexico located in the Florida Panhandle. They even have an airport called Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, which is located not too far from Panama City Beach. Panama City Beach wasn't always a popular place to go on vacation at. This city became known as "Panama City Beach" back in 1906. Filled with vibrant colors, it brings so many people from all over the world, even young people that are on their spring break. The attractions they have are one of the other things that make Panama City Beach so popular. They have boat rides where you can go sightseeing for dolphins, paragliding in the air, and even jet skiing. 

The Gulf of Mexico

     Panama City Beach is a great place to vacation for several reasons. First, the city is known for its beautiful beaches, which are some of the cleanest in the United States. If you enjoy swimming, sunbathing, or even walking on the sand, there are so many things to do for everyone, including all ages in Panama City Beach. When we first arrived, we headed straight for the beach. They had provided beach chairs, so the hassle of bringing one down was a thing that was not necessary. Panama City Beach is known for its clean beaches that offer travelers the perfect spot to sit in the sun, swim in the clear waters, and enjoy a vast amount of water activities. They had banana boat rides, regular boat rides, and even jet skiing. As a group, we all decided to do the jet skiing activity. Since it was my first time, I was a little nervous. The waves were aggressive that day, so it made my skin crawl with chills. Once I got on the water though, my friend's energy made me enjoy the ride. It was such a great experience in the end, so I had no regrets, especially since everyone enjoyed themselves. The beach in Panama City is ranked one of the best beaches in the United States. It's understandable since that is the main attraction when it comes to this location. Put together the beach is about 27 miles long going down the strip. People that come to visit can locate a perfect spot to sit, relax, and enjoy the beautiful sight it has. To add to the wonderful sight, the beaches are filled with so many beautiful marine animals. That's including dolphins and sea turtles, which is one of the popular activities people love to do.

   On our third day in Panama City, we all decided to go on a boat ride and go sightseeing for dolphins. When we got to the boat place, we were all led down the dock to a small boat. The whole tour was about two hours long. As we were on the water, we saw other boats in the water sightseeing as well. As we were traveling towards the Gulf of Mexico, we saw some dolphins peeking. It took them a while to pop out though because the tourist had said they might be a little shy. After about an hour, we made it to this area where there had been a path on the dock and another path that had been sand. The tourist had told us if we were to walk on the dock wed be able to see the Gulf of Mexico. We all walked over, and it was such a beautiful sight. The sand was soft and had a soft white color to it, and the water was as blue and clear as the sky. There was no one there but us and the sun had just started to set. We took our pictures and decided to head back to the boat. I had asked the driver "How often do you drive your boat out here?" He had told me "I like to come here often, even by myself. The waves sound nice at night." This tour was the greatest I've ever experienced yet. Everything was well described, and the weather was amazing. 

Pier Park Entrance

     Another reason why Panama City is a great place to vacation is because of how affordable it is. It has a wide range of motels, hotels, and vacation rentals. This allows people who want to travel here and choose a place that fits their budget. They also have affordable places to dine, from fast food restaurants to fancy restaurants. Panama City Beach has a great tourism industry. They had a strip called Pier Park which is full of bars, restaurants, and every souvenir shop you could imagine. As we were walking through the street, you could see people outside showing off their unique cars. Some businesses offer discounts and deals to attract their customers. When we visited this gift shop, they gave my friends and I free appetizer cards for the restaurant that had been located down the strip called Dick's Last Resort. It's a restaurant where the servers and employees are sarcastic and mean to you on purpose. Since it was my first time going, it had caught me off guard, but it was such a funny experience. The food was also definitely worth it. When given deals like this, people that are visiting can take advantage and save some of their money. For a group of college students, that made us want to go back.  

      In conclusion, Panama City Beach is one of the ideal vacation destinations for anyone. If you're looking for a place to come to relax, have some fun, and enjoy the beautiful beaches that are around the Florida Panhandle. Panama City offers something for all ages, from college students that want to take a spring break trip, to a family with young children and even elders who deserve a relaxation. It's very affordable and has such great amazing food place with great service. The people are patient and willing to give you any information on what to do for fun. So, if you're having a hard time wondering where your next trip should be, take a trip down to Panama City. This is one of the places that you'd definitely want to talk about and travel to again.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:  

https://www.vacationsperfected.com/panama-city-beach-info/the-history-of-panama-city-beach/ 

https://nationalpost.com/life/jane-macdougall-after-spring-break-summers-go-mild-at-panama-city-beach 

The Westhill Riot

 Westhill high school

    It was the weekend of spring break near the end of my high school sophomore year. In April 2019, there had been a food fight announced on social media from kids in our school and it was spreading like wildfire. Everyone that went to Westhill High School knew about it in two days. We all wanted to do something big as students, so we planned to go out with this before break started. The day that we had planned was on a Friday and it had arrived. Everyone at six in the morning on the bus talking about this big event that was happening. Kids were even bringing food from home to throw in this food fight. I didn't because I didn't have that fire in me. Once everyone was in their first period, they had done the regular morning announcements. We sang the national anthem, gave birthday shoutouts, and the school events that were to come. Once all was said and done, we heard our principal start to speak on the intercom. The way he had been talking to us, his tone had sounded very stern. Everyone in my classroom was sitting silently, so silent you could hear a drop. He then announced that he had heard about the food fight and that we were to not let it start. He even told us that there will be consequences if it were to even happen. The rest of the morning students were walking around and whispering about his announcement.

    When lunch had come around it was my best friend and I sitting, eating, and talking just like we always do. Time had passed, and I noticed the cafeteria wasn’t as packed as usual, especially on a Friday. I asked my best friend and said “Hey, do you notice how empty it looks” she had responded and said “Yea, maybe people are just skipping.” I sat back and started to think how weird it was and then it hit me. I said to myself that they must be doing the food fight still. I then jumped up and said to my best friend how I think the event might still be going on When I told her I could see the disappointed reaction she had on her face. I begged her to come with me to look and see where it was taking place. My best friend is the quiet type and an "out the mix" type of person. I knew she'd feel some type of way but i still wanted her to experience. At least to just see for a short about of time because I knew she would probably regret missing a moment like this. I then rushed downstairs to the courtyard with my best friend behind me and saw the whole school gathered. Everyone was just gathered in a huge circle looking around and talking to each other. I started to move around so I could get a better look at what was going on. I then saw an egg fly from the air and landed in front of a student's foot. I quickly looked around to see where the egg had come from. I had seen an old friend of mine digging in his book bag and holding an egg in his hand. I ran to my best friend, pushing through the large crowd. I told her about the flying egg that came from a friend we knew. As I was describing to my best friend what I had seen, you could see the anxiety that had started to build based on her facial expressions.

    We then started discussing where we were going and if we were going to stay or not. I explained to her that I wanted to stay and watch the food fight and see how it ends. As we were having this conversation, a drink was thrown in our direction but barely missed us. I looked around so fast trying to make out what had been thrown. Turns out it was some coffee from a bottle, and some of it had landed on my best friend's book bag and her arm. She was in shock, as I looked her in the face, she said she was going to go to class and that she would text me. As I watched her walk off, I started hearing commotion coming from behind me. I shot my head towards the direction it was coming from and pulled out my phone to record, I just couldn’t miss a moment like this. The adrenaline was rushing through my body from this epic moment that was about to occur. You could tell other students were getting riled up as well based on the way they were jumping, yelling, and instigating. Things had started to get so crazy and violent between everyone. Security guards and staff had to come outside to try and break up fights that were breaking out. At one point, students would start running in crowds towards no commotion because people were just following where the crowd had gone. Funny to say they were the commotion. A couple of minutes had gone by it had just gotten more out of hand. Some students were getting furious because food and drinks were being thrown on them. As in that moment, they needed more than just the school staff to break up this food fight that had turned into a food brawl.

    As the riot carried on for a while longer, I looked in the distance from the courtyard and noticed three police cars sitting outside the front of the school. I was standing in the middle of the chaos lost, I was panicking and searching for my other friends or any familiar faces. As I picked up my phone to locate anyone, I turned to the right of me to see a classmate I had English with get tackled to the ground by three police officers. I stood there frozen and stuck, scared for my life. People were yelling at the officers to release her but obviously they were not listening. The animosity the students had towards the police was already there because of what was happening with police all over the country. Students started to get more riled up because they had shown up at the school. As I was walking away, a crowd rushed past me, I saw a school teacher fall and had got trampled by the crowd of students. Items were still being thrown around the courtyard, a split can have flown and hit our school police officer right on her head and had slit her forehead. At this point I did not know what to do. I was just standing there, feet rooted to the grass patch watching everything go down. I then got a phone call from my friend that I had lost, and we agreed to meet in front of the class she had. As I was walking to meet with her, I was stuck in my thoughts just could not process what had just happened. When I saw my friend, she asked if I had gotten any videos and we just stood there sharing the footage we got from this entire commotion. After that, we all went our separate ways and went to the rest of our classes. I had texted my best friend to make sure she was alright and had told her how escalated it got.

Cops rush to the scene

    I was in my last class and students were whispering about the tragic incident. I was a little scared because I didn’t know what my mom would think. Knowing her, she would want me to mind my business and focus on school. Apart of me, I regret not listening to her because this is exactly what she was talking about. I just kept thinking, “What if that was me getting put in handcuffs?” My thoughts would just not stop running. The intercom had beeped, and all the students looked up. The principal announced all the terrible things that happened and how we lost some events for our consequences. I had gone home later that day and as I left the school on the bus, I saw a news reporter standing across from our school. I jumped up and wondered if the news would allow this situation to be broadcasted. When I got home and saw my mom, I told her what had happened. I was a little nervous because I didn’t know how she would react. She was a little upset but not as much because I feel like she understood, just because we were so young and got carried away. We were sitting in the living room watching the news to see if they would talk about it, which they did. I didn’t know if I should be feeling happy that we were on tv or upset that we were seen as the school with the “wild students.” The entire school board had a say in it as well. One of the people that worked for the school board had quit after the situation had happened. Students were contemplating if it was because of what happened or if it was just a coincidence. Now at this point, I really thought this was going to make us look bad. The students that drove staff away were something I didn’t want our school to have labeled.

    Ten students were arrested that day, for assaulting someone or starting the actual food fight. I opened my phone and saw everyone from my school posting different
things that happened. People posting their reactions, videos from different angles, and information about the students that were taken. Some students thought it was funny, some were even mad because of the events that were taken from them. Never in a million years did I think something like this would happen to someone like me. This whole thing became an entire article meaning its marked in history for forever. Till this day, being a part of something like that is still crazy to me just because it's something that i would not expect to happen. If you were to hear the phrase “food fight” you would think of a typical movie from Disney or something. I think we were all excited because we thought it would be just like that. Students were defiantly spooked after experiencing something as crazy as that. This just shows how things aren't how they appear on TV.