.38 Special to play at The Panama City Beach Seafood, Wine & Music Festival

THE PANAMA CITY BEACH SEAFOOD, WINE & MUSIC FESTIVAL, formerly the Indian Summer Festival, proudly announces a major addition to the event’s entertainment line-up.

Eventertainment Group, LLC., in cooperation with Neste Event Marketing of Nashville has secured .38 Special as the festival’s major headliner for the kickoff day of the event, Friday October 10, 2008. Show time T.B.A., advance discount tickets on sale soon.

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Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort Named “Best of the South”

Honor bestowed by Meetings South Magazine

Panama City Beach, Fla. (July 23, 2008) – Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort has recently been voted as one of the best meeting facilities in the Southern United States for 2008 by the readership of Meetings South magazine. This acclaimed distinction is regarded as a great achievement since the voting readers make up most of the top national meeting planners. The prestigious “Best of the South” awards will be published in the September issue of the trade’s premier magazine.

“We are thrilled to be recognized for our facilities, value and customer service with such an impressive award,” said Paul Wohlford, vice president of sales and marketing for The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach, which manages Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort. “Our 32,000-square-foot state-of-the-art conference facility offers meeting planners great flexibility as well as a beautiful backdrop for their groups to enjoy. In addition, I think our corporate climate of customer service and attitude towards excellence made favorable impressions with the meeting planners who voted, giving us an edge over our competitors.”

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Summertime Sunset Timelapse Video

Ahh, summertime at the beach. It really doesn’t get much better than this. Of all the joys in this world, it is hard to beat a beach sunset on Panama City Beach. People come here from all over and almost everyone believes our beaches really are amongst the finest in the world. White sand, emerald waters, beautiful skies. . .

Anyway, enough chatter, check the vid after the break.

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The Circus' Disappearing Act

The news is nothing new, the circus has left town, early. The tent is gone, their business office is vacated and none of the circus’ phones are being answered. Actually, nobody is answering their phones.

Everything started in the spring of 2008 with all the hype of FSU’s Flying High Circus coming to town. They have a great reputation and have performed for 60 years with their main summer act being at Callaway Gardens in the summer since 1960. Don Hamrick wanted to change all that. Don and his wife Brenda formed Flying High LLC, contracted with FSU to pay them $120,000 for use of the name, Flying High Circus, and hired their student circus staff for the summer paying the performers $10 an hour.

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Florida’s existing housing market shows improving conditions in June 2008

As reported by the FAR:

Many Florida Realtors® statewide noted positive movement in their local housing markets in June, with an upswing in the statewide median price reported for both existing home sales and condominium sales over May 2008, according to the latest housing statistics released by the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR).

The statewide existing-home median price in June was $205,500, up 1 percent from May’s median price of $203,300. The median price of an existing condo last month was $183,700, also up 1 percent from May’s figure of $181,800.

Nationally, existing home sales are expected to show some modest gains in the coming months, with a recovery predicted during the latter part of the year, according to the latest housing outlook from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). “Some markets have seen a doubling in home sales from a year ago, while others are seeing contract signings cut in half,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Price conditions vary tremendously, even within a locality.”

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Grand Lagoon National – Party Boat Tournament

The Grand Lagoon National, being held on August 20-24 has formed Party Boat rules to allow fishing enthusiasts to compete for cash awards during the tournament. Prizes will be awarded for party boats that surrender the heaviest Gag Grouper, Red Grouper, Trigger Fish, Vermilion Snapper or Amberjack.

The entry fee for the first day will be $100 and $75 for each additional day.

There will be two Classes of competition with both classes to be subject to the rules and regulations of the Party Boat Division. The first class is anglers that go on an 8 hour fishing trip and the second class is those that go on a fishing trip less than 8 hours.

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Firefly Restaurant Review

The Lighting of a New Era in Fine Dining

Nestled in the Shoppes at Edgewater, Firefly is Panama City Beach’s newest fine dining experience. From the moment I walked through the door I knew this was no ordinary beach eatery serving the usual beach fare. A beautiful waterfall adorning the wall behind the bar creates a “Wow Factor” upon entering the front lounge. An adjoining lounge with sofas and live music on Thursdays and Saturdays adds a tranquil and sumptuous feel to Firefly’s stylish environment. And keep walking…the biggest Wow Factor is yet to come: A huge oak tree – adorned with fireflies throughout – stands smack dab in the middle of the dining room. A description in words doesn’t do this vision justice…you just have to go there and see for yourself. Everything I sampled at Firefly was a notch above “really good.” Which is to say, simply, they got it right.

We began the journey with an aperitif of martinis. The Espresso Martini was thick and rich, cold, and not too sweet (which is a common mistake with martinis). The Pineapple Marini was refreshingly fruity and mellow. Our Tempura Fried Apalachicola Oysters were light and tender, served with a tangy cocktail sauce and an assembly of pickled parsnips, shallots, carrots, snap peas and red endive. The Tuna Nicoise, a scoop of sushi-grade rare tuna, was drizzled with basil oil and had a slightly savory, nutty finish. We sampled a bowl of smooth-as-silk Carrot Ginger Gazpacho swirled with a biting red pepper coulis, and garnished with a steak kabob. The vegetables and herbs that went into this cool concoction were so fresh the flavor spanked my taste buds, and the oversized white porcelain bowl added a cartoon-like whimsical flair to the presentation. Next came the Hydroponic Salad…butter lettuce underneath a confetti of strawberries and goat cheese, trickled with a warm brown butter pecan dressing.

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Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort Hosts Grand Lagoon National

Saltwater Fishing Enthusiasts Flock to Resort for Big Catch

Panama City Beach, Fla. (July 23, 2008) – Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort is the official host resort for the 2008 Grand Lagoon National, scheduled for August 20-24. The tournament, billed as “America’s Saltwater Fishing Tournament,” consists of eight separate tournaments appealing to every kind of saltwater fishing enthusiast.

“We are pleased to host the Grand Lagoon National fishing tournament,” said Paul Wohlford, vice president of sales and marketing for The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach, which manages Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort. “The event is a great opportunity to showcase our beautiful resort and amenities to fishing enthusiasts and their families.”

The $1 million purse is enough to attract more than one thousand anglers, hundreds of boats and healthy onshore crowds.

As official sponsor and host, Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort will offer two VIP packages starting at $99 per night to include deluxe accommodations in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums complete with fully-equipped kitchens, and washers and dryers. For more information on the Angler VIP package and the Spectator VIP package, call (800) 874-8686.

Q2 Condo and Home Sales Numbers for the Beach and Bay County

According to the Panama City MLS 209 condos sold Quarter 2 on Panama City Beach, that is 42% of 2006’s numbers from the same period. Of course, one has to note that in 2006, most of the sales were from pre-construction closings and most of the numbers from 2008, if not all, are from Realtors beating the streets without quarter million dollar marketing campaigns behind them- not too shabby, not too shabby at all.

In Q2 2008, there were 107 single family homes sold on the beach with exactly 350 single family homes sold in all of Bay County. In Q2 2006, there were 497 condos and 127 homes sold on the beach with 514 homes sold in all of Bay County. The first two months of Q2 2006 condo sales held 403 of the 497 total sales during that period. During the same period in 2007, there were 237 condos sold on the beach, 245 condos sold in all of Bay County, 126 homes sold on the beach and 486 homes sold in all of Bay County.

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Tropical Storm Dolly Update

From Weather.com:

As of 8pm EDT, Tropical Storm Dolly was located about 405 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, Texas with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph. It is moving to the west at 16 mph.

Tropical Storm Dolly has spent the majority of the day over the very warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico but it struggled mightily to organize and intensify.

Be Prepared

With a favorable atmospheric environment in place and Gulf of Mexico water temperatures near 85 degrees, Dolly was expected to strengthen throughout the day. That being said, this evening, satellite images show Dolly is finally getting its act together and thunderstorms are developing around the center of circulation.

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