Dick’s Last Resort Replaces Guy Harvey’s in Pier Park

There has been quite a bit of commotion at Pier Park this week. Monday, Guy Harvey’s Island Grill closed down and it was announced that Dick’s Last Resort was coming in this off-season. Guy Harvey’s has been a tenant almost since the beginning, located at the corner of S Pier Park Drive and Front Beach Road next to Reggae J’s. Their menu consisted of fresh gulf seafood short of a few select species that Harvey deemed depleted. The entrance was a gift shop that hosted shirts, art, belts, and many other varieties of schwag.

I’m not even going to get into speculation as to what happened.

Dick’s Last Resort

Dick’s last resort is known for its “outrageous, surly and energetic wait staff and tasty comfort food.” They have locations in Nashville, Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach, Dallas, Baltimore, San Antonio, San Diego, Chicago, Boston and Vegas. And looking at that location lineup, that puts Panama City Beach up there with the big dogs.

“At Dick’s Last Resort, we’re known for having a good time, but we’re very selective about where we do business,” said CEO Ted Moats. “Pier Park and Panama City Beach are a natural fit for the fun, energetic atmosphere we offer, and we are very excited to open our doors and meet the local community and visitors.”

“Dick’s Last Resort is a perfect fit for the Panama City Beach market,” said Felicia Cook, Pier Park’s Director of Marketing & Business Development. “With so many of their locations open in top tier tourist destinations, we’re thrilled that they’ve decided to open in Pier Park.”

Dick’s should open sometime this winter.

City Considers Closure of Portion of Pier Park Drive

The City of Panama City Beach is considering closing two blocks of the “main drag” in Pier Park in an effort to make it more pedestrian friendly. The blocks proposed to close are from the round-about by the Grand to the intersection that hosts Hofbrau Beer Garden and Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. Traffic would still be able to pull into Pier Park from Front Beach Road, but they’d have to turn right or left at Hofbrau or Tootsies. Same with the round-about – visitors would still be able to circumnavigate it, the Pier Park Drive South turnoff would just be blocked off.

These two blocks are the same two blocks that are often closed for special events, such as the July 4th Star Spangled Spectacular and the New Year’s Eve Beach Ball Drop, the latter typcially closing the roads all the way to Front Beach Road.

Closure during summer months.

Panama City Beach Police Chief Robert Harding is proposing the closure occur one of two ways, both to begin from Memorial Day and end after Labor Day each year.

Close the two blocks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Close the two blocks 7 days a week during that entire summer period

Benefits of the closure.

Currently there is already some disconnect as to the nature of the southern portion of Pier Park Drive. During almost any summer day, there is so much foot traffic, mixed with cars, it’s actually quite a hazard. There are designated walk-across areas, but with all the activity, it’s not uncommon for pedestrians to cross where they want. Safety is a concern, and a clear benefit to the closure.

In addition to safety, the closure would allow more room for Pier Park visitors to freely move about from shop to shop during a time when there are literally tens of thousands coming through each day. It would open the venue up dramatically.

Traffic ingress and egress would be minimally impacted as routes behind the shop’s buildings would still be accessible, through the parking areas.

What do you think?

What are your thoughts on this potential traffic road closure? Do you think it would help pedestrian safety? Do you think it would enhance Pier Park?

IMAX Theater Open in Pier Park

With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Grand Theatre in Pier Park opened their IMAX screen, which has been in the works for a couple months. If you’ve not seen a movie in IMAX, you have to try it – it truly takes you into the movie.

Dubbed, “the world’s most immersive movie experience,” IMAX touts 12,000 watts of digital surround sound, crystal clear images, the world’s largest movie screens. This sounds fascinating and fun, but how does it do this?

How IMAX works.

IMAX combines a huge screen with a state-of-the-art projection system and a very advanced sound system. The typical IMAX screen is 52′ x 72′ – which is the size of The Grand’s. In addition to the huge size, the screen has a curvature to it that helps to “bring the viewer into the movie.” What really makes the magic happen is the two projectors that push the imagery onto the screen and the rumbling sound that you feel in your gut. The projector uses xenon short-arc lamps that fire a light so bright, the video on the screen is crisp and clear. The sound system is a complex array of surround sound speakers that offers a crystal clear listening experience and seat-shaking bass. You hear every crackle, pop, and whisper with complete accuracy.

What’s showing and the price.

Currently Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is playing IMAX at the Grand. And let me tell you, it’s simply amazing. They only have one IMAX theater, so only one feature film will be playing at a time. Harry Potter is expected to play until August 4th at which point Sector 7: An IMAX 3D Experience is expected to play until the 9th when Cowboy’s Vs. Aliens comes out.

The ticket price is as follows:

$12 on Tuesdays
$12.50 for matinee
Evenings are $15.25 for adults and $12.50 for kids

At this time, an additional IMAX theater is not being planed for for The Grand, but there is another theater room that would be suitable for the upgrade, should the demand arise.

Have you been to our IMAX or another one? What were your thoughts on it?

Borders at Pier Park to Close

Borders announced this week they’ll be closing all 399 of their stores, including their Panama City Beach store in Pier Park. At their peak, they had over 1200 stores, including their Walden Books chain, but over the years, they’ve slowly worked their way down. In February, when they filed for bankruptcy, they had just under 650 stores.

Currently Borders employs just under 11,000 Americans, all of which will be laid off when the shutting down of Border’s is final.

The Pier Park store is expecting to begin liquidation on Friday of this week, but they expect to be around until the end of September, reported Amy Hernandez, manager. “We’ll know more about our closing timeline as we move through liquidation,” said Hernandez, “we employ 30 locals and appreciate all the community support we’ve received.”

Amid online competition and digital book sales, the big-box book store concept is struggling. Borders was second in size only to Barnes and Noble.

Russell Fields Pier adds 4 “Convenience” Booths

If you’ve driven by the Russell Field’s Pier in the last couple weeks you’ve probably noticed the four new huts that have gone up at the foot of the pier. The original vision of the Russell Field’s included having a sprawling amenity area, a gather place for visitors to hang out, a place where you can enjoy the sunset and the warm summer breeze. These new huts just add to the convenience of your beachy good times and help make your visit to the pier a little more enjoyable.

Beach Photos

The beach photo hut comes stocked with props and professional photographers that can escort you down to the beach for that perfect beach family portrait. What better way to capture the moment then by posing in front of a high-resolution lens and saying cheese. They have everything you need right there and when you’re done, they hand over a disc with your photos on it. Easy.

They do one photo for $10 and each additional photo is $8.

Convenience Store

Left the sunscreen at home? Need a new hat? They’ve got you covered. Here are some of the items you can find here.

Hair braids and wraps
Hemp necklaces and other beach jewelry
Lip balm
Sun screen
Shades – even those new HD ones
Tons of different hats – sun hats, ball caps, safari hats
Skim boards and boogie boards
Floaties – tubes, rafts, etc.
Beach toys – paddle ball, shovels, buckets, sand-molds, frisbees, etc.
Volley balls and footballs
Beach clothing – sarongs, cover-ups
Beach towels and umbrellas
Batteries
Snacks
Over the counter pain reliever

Airbrush Booth

Seriously, one of the best souvenirs to take home from your beach vacation is an airbrush t-shirt. Airbrush shirts and Panama City Beach have been going hand in hand since the 70’s.

At the Airbrush Station at the foot of Russell Fields Pier they have tons of designs ready to be put on your shirt. Or, if you’re feeling saucy, you can have a custom design commissioned just for you.

Shirts are $7 and the ready-made designs start at $10.

But, shirts are not the only thing they can airbrush. There are tons of other options: hats, shells, license plates, bags, and even baby bibs!

Snack Shack

Not to compete with Hook’d, the Snack Shack has all the little things you wouldn’t expect to find in a restaurant:

Snowcones
Hot dogs (hot diggity dog, salty dog, slaw dog, surf dog)
Boiled peanuts
Cookies
Chips
Sodas
Ice cream
Pretzels

Pier Park Summer Concert Series Starts TONIGHT

Every summer you look forward to it: chillin’ with friends, fresh salty breeze on your face, kids laughing and smooth tunes emanate from the amphitheater. The 11 week summer Pier Park Concerts in the Park series begins tonight with Beach Mice.

The summer concert series is on Thursday evenings and starts at 7 pm. They usually break about 8 pm for prizes and giveaways, the resume playing until around 9 pm. In the past, they’ve rarely cancelled a show.

The series is located at the Aaron Bessant Park amphitheater. Aaron Bessant park is adjacent to Pier Park – on the west side of the property. Just follow the cars, music and people.

Summer Concert Schedule

June 2 – Beach Mice

June 9 – Rollin in the Hay

June 16 – Suite Caroline

June 23 – Boukou Groove

June 30 – Lee Griffin Band

July 7 – Heritage

July 14 – Heartbeat City

July 21 – Kevin Jacobs Band with Terry Brock

July 28 – Eric Lindell

August 4 – Bonerama

August 11 – Eric Heatherly

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Pier Park Mardi Gras- A Festive Success!

This is an old article, please go here to see new information

The weekend has left us, but in its wake remain a million great memories and countless beads.

The 3rd Annual Pier Park Mardi Gras, hosted by the Krewe of Dominique Youx has outdone itself again.

Hundreds of people swarmed Pier Park, vying for parking and hot spots along the parade route. Even the gloomy weather couldn’t damper the crowd’s spirited merry-making despite its best attempts. Everywhere you looked, there were hordes of people celebrating the event, armed with Funnel Cake or assorted goodies from the accompanying vendors.

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Weekend Events- Bay County in Full Swing

Looking for Panama City Beach events? Bookmark our Events section!

Wow. A little sunshine and the whole town sets their activity volume to Eleven.

Due to the sheer volume of events, we listed a variety of options starting from Friday, March 4 through Tuesday, March 8.

Things To Do

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Panama City Beach Mardi Gras in Pier Park!

This is an old article, please go here to see new information

Panama City Beach Mardi Gras in Pier Park on Friday & Saturday, March 4-5.

“Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!” (Let the good times roll)

This family-friendly festival is a terrific alternative for travelers hoping to experience the culture and celebration of Mardi Gras, while enjoying a seaside vacation at one of the hottest beach destinations around.

Schedule Below

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3 NEW Attractions Come to Miracle Strip in Pier Park

It all started with wanting to put a carousel in Pier Park.

Jenny and Teddy Meeks started their search a couple years ago wanting to erect a carousel in Pier Park. Their search led them far and wide, through ride brokers and agents leading them, eventually, to the perfect candidate. After numerous road trips, confusing emails and phone calls, they finally found the location of this perfect carousel they’d only seen in pictures. It was in storage right here, in Panama City Beach, at Miracle Strip Amusement Park.

This ride opened with tons of fanfare and excitement just a couple short years ago. Popularity grew quickly and their Facebook page’s fan number skyrocketed. They knew immediately that their next logical step was to resurrect more rides from this place of childhood memories.

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