Bike Week on Panama City Beach, Day 3

Me? I’m great, other than my legs feel like they are about to fall off and I’m totally and completely wiped out. But, I had fun.

What many may argue as the first day of Bike Week on Panama City Beach, today was awesome. Technically the festivities started Wednesday. Some of the venues were open, some bikers had come in town, but for the most part, many of us were worried about the turnout for this rally. Things started picking up yesterday, but today, man o’ man, the bikers rolled in.

Talking around, the numbers still seemed down from this time last year, and I think most agree the current state of the economy and gas prices are to blame. However, overall the vendors I talked to seem to be pretty pleased.

The Apollo Chopper guys were ecstatic having sold 6 bikes between today and yesterday. Merchandise sales seemed to be going very well all around, and at 10 o’ clock tonight, Club La Vela and Ms. Newby’s seemed to be the only party in town. People were almost fighting for a parking spot at La Vela, bikers and cars alike.

I rode all day, and went pretty much everywhere; so did everyone else. There were bikers everywhere – from Back Beach Road, to Pier Park, all up and down Front Beach Road, at all the gas stations, condos, hotels. They were packed in groups on the side of the road, talking, hanging out.

Tomorrow should be fun.

Bike Week on Panama City Beach

Get your ears ready, because this weekend is going to be a loud one. Starting today, we’ll begin to see bikers from around the country roar in on a variety of types of motorcycles, but mostly Harleys. Some are quite, but most are very loud. At one point, I couldn’t stand the noise, or all the bikers swarming our little town, but having joined the ranks as a “rider”, it is a little easier for me to cope with. Of course, the huge impact it has on our tourism is a huge plus too!

I won’t mention the big name that is behind the event this weekend as they are threatening a lawsuit to everyone that uses their name without permission (if you know Kelly and The Healers, just ask Kelly), but I’m sure you will have no problem finding information about their venues as they’ve actually done a pretty good job circulating information and have a good web site.

I will say that I’m a part of a group that is running a promotion of the Bike Week called Tropic Thunder Events. We are working with venues and vendors that did not qualify to participate in the past with the other un-named promoter, and we are very proud to be part in this growing boost to our local tourism community.

There will be tons to do for locals and tourist, bikers and non-bikers alike. It will be a fun week and as usual, you can find updates as to what is happening here at pcbdaily all week long.

Don’t forget to join our Twitter page to get live updates as they happen!

Bike Week on Panama City Beach

Many of you know already, but some friends of mine started a full-fledged events planning company and invited me along. Tropic Thunder Events consists of experts from many fields combined with one love – to boost tourism in Panama City Beach by providing awesome things to do.

With myriad events in the works including a classic car show, classic car auction, BBQ Cook-Off and a motorcycle event that will happen in 2 short weeks, we are looking forward to doing our part to boost tourism on Panama City Beach.

Ok, so about the Bike Week. Others in the area have done a phenomenal job in the past of bringing tens of thousands of people to the beach during some of the slowest weekends of the season. Tropic Thunder Events’ goal is to help encourage even more people to come to the World’s Most Beautiful Beaches on some of these slow weekends by hosting events that will attract people to our area. Bike Week has traditionally been one of those events. This year, Tropic Thunder Events introduces its own Bike Week during the week of September 25-28. With the addition of five Unofficial Tropic Thunder Events Venues including Club La Vela, Mellow Mushroom, Dirty Dicks Crab House, and all of the Ms. Newby’s locations, the biker party is sure to be enormous. With our increased marketing efforts, this year’s Bike Week will be the biggest Panama City Beach has ever seen.

Click here for a schedule of events at all our venues!

In October, Tropic Thunder will host the Southeastern BBQ Fest Cook-Off Competition. This will be a professionally sanctioned and judged event of the Florida Barbecue Association. This event is one of only 18 annual competitions sanctioned by the Florida Barbeque Association in the USA. The event will take place at Frank Brown Park on October 24-26, 2008.

Tropic Thunder Events has teamed up with the Emerald Coast Cruizin group to bring the second annual Big Boys Toys Classic Car Auction at Frank Brown Park. The auction will be the same weekend as the colossal Emerald Coast Cruizin Classic Car Show, that Tropic Thunder, of course, will also be promoting. The 2007 Car Auction was a huge success with hundreds of cars sold and thousands in attendance.

Emerald Coast Cruizin’s Classic Car Show, to take place at Frank Brown Park, will feature thousands of classic hot rods from all over the US and Canada. With over 100 top-name vendors, there is sure to be plenty to see and buy. Scheduled is a 30 mile “Beach Cruise”, events ranging from live music to a parade, and much, much more. For details, visit www.EmeraldCoastCruizin.com.

For more information about Tropic Thunder Events, visit www.TropicThunderEvents.com. Also, if you are a vendor, we still have vendor positions available, give us a call at 877-448-7674 to secure your position!

Oh yea, and the legalese, in case you haven’t figured this out yet:

Tropic Thunder Events, Inc. is not affiliated in any way with Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally.