February 21, 2009: Panama City, FL

We took the short cruise this morning to Panama City. We disturbed a flock of pelicans as we left Pearl Bayou and we got to see them fly off of the water.

We passed by the International Paper Mill which was built in 1931. The Army Corp of Engineers created the New Pass into St. Andrew Bay in 1934, providing ships a more stable way of reaching the paper mill and Panama City. We saw a tug boat pushing four long barges of wood chips to the mill. As we pulled into the marina, we tied up next to a blue and white shrimp boat, Deep South, drying her nets. It reminded me of home.

This afternoon we took our bikes for a ride around the town. The streets were lined with huge live oaks with massive trunks and twisted branches. Spanish moss gently swayed in the wind from their branches. We passed the Bay County Court house built in 1914 and stopped to see the historical marker about the Gideon versus Wainwright case tried here. This was a landmark case in United States Supreme Court history. In the case, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants unable to afford their own attorneys or lawyers.

There were also palm and palmetto trees along the way to the grocery store which was part of the purpose for our trip. We found the First Baptist Church where we will attend tomorrow, and also saw a beautiful bride in her white wedding dress standing in front of the First Presbyterian church.

We rode the bike route along the water front.

There are beautiful views

of the water along the way.