1 - The Sandpiper

Panama City Beach, Florida (1967 and 1968)

My family was pretty thrilled when we moved from Iowa to Florida in 1967.  We suddenly could play in white sand instead of white snow.  On a couple of rare occasions, our neighbors convinced our family to join theirs for a weekend at this beachside motel.  I think the only time the kids got out of the pool or ocean was to eat or sleep.  That many hours in the sun meant that most of the time our swimsuits were covered in long tee shirts.  Decent sunscreen hadn't been invented yet.

---

We spent hours playing Marco Polo and floating on air mattresses. I remember the corny beach décor in the lobby and a stone seahorse statue in the front. As I recall, my younger brother climbed that seahorse once and fell hard.  I think there were stitches involved, but I'm not sure. What I do not remember is anything about the rooms.  Very little time was spent inside.

---

Today?

The Sandpiper still exists, but it looks nothing like it once did.  It is a multi-level complex which caters to the beer drinking, spring break crowd.  Only the name and location is the same. This is what I found about 10 years ago, when I dared to stop by early morning, when the spring breakers were still sleeping.  Got to love that sea breeze... mixed with stale beer!