Nostalgia

this is for the people who miss their "home towns"- or maybe really don't mind not living there anymore but just remember the quirks about those towns that are so hard to describe to anyone who has never lived there....keep with me. These are about Panama City, but if you're not from there, take the time to remember those things about the place you spent your childhood-teenage years...like it or not, I do firmly believe we are built on those places....whether molded by friends (or our perceived influence they had) or by geography (my own personal demon- i went to mountains several times and almost suffocated- I need a coastline to see clearly) Remember your special moments and places and give them forgiveness and grace for making them a part of who you are today....

In PC...
my first feelings of freedom where of going down to Spyglass in the back of Steve Bailey's truck with Ricky and Paul (Hutch) with Marlene and Renee when we were so young....a walk down place to the water that was mild surf and no cops- unless you waited until around 11. We were not alone! There were always around half the high school there- drinking illegal wine coolers and Key stone Light ($5 a 12 pack maybe?) nasty.
Corams- anytime. I went there with my husband (before we were married) and laughed my butt off at some huge honey bear they had- we could not stop. but this wasn't just us- that mood was contagious.. going out dancing all night until 2 and then falling asleep with sand between your toes (from Salty's parking lot) and the next morning wanting to do it all over again.
BACK BEACH ROAD. now called Panama City Parkway or some BS. Look- when i was in school that was two laned, and then afterwards when I go there I keep expecting a deer to jump in front of my car for restitution. they deserve it! I went back on those old roads with my old Tercel climbing sand dunes so we could hang out with people who half my friends wanted to break up with about half and hour after arriving- girlfriends- they're great when they aren't mucking up your plans.
Alligator Point- a pretty point of land that at the time was undeveloped near Bay Point- during the 1990's close people (not family of course!) have gone there (offshore on their boat) and picked up several pieces of Indian pottery, etc but nothing valuable just really neat stuff. Now, we used to go there after games or just in boredom and meet up with friends until the cops came and followed us to the Bay Point Subway. But before cell phones were around it was all about the first phone of the night to your parents line and then- what the heck are we going to meet up with tonight??
King's Point- now I grew up in this hood- and woke up several times with random holiday crap in my yard which my Illinois -raised father yelling- where did this come from and put it back? There were Santas, real estate signs, alot of pumpkins and various toilet paper brands in our trees. what he didn't realize is that I was a part of a very specialized mafia- the girl tp group- who had bombed all the boys we knew with massive toilet paper rolls. like the kind you find at MccyD's- but I never did most of it.
One of the most personal moments I ever had in PC was of just driving to any place of water and loving the sun setting there...I would leave Bay High and drive to Beach Drive (in town) or quickly over the bridge to Thomas Drive. If you are there through Sept- Spring the light is very different- we lived for a while near St. Andrews and the city marina and loved how fair and high the light was during these times. The cool air is so nice around (dark thirty as I call it) 5-6 but is so worth it if you are sick of the heat. The sky is always to light blue and the water so calm and so clear- that is my favorite time of year to swim or fish. You can stand in a wave line on the beach and have stingrays swim in around you and never touch you! It's happened about 5 times and it's always awesome. Now- summer is great- hot hot hot. sticky I do take it for granted but damn it's so hot. Love the long nights for grilling, the beach is always good but sometimes too crowded... it's never enough is it???
There is so much more..of course. It's hard to generalize any of our lives in a few paragraphs or even try to catch some memories in an essay. Maybe another night. Good night friends... we loved Tarpon Springs today- great Greek village north of Clearwater where they dive for sponges still and have the best food, wine and coffee around. What more could anyone want :)