Do you know if you want to stay on 30A or in Panama City or Destin? Since you know you want to go to Shell Island, then I would assume Destin is out. When my son was little it was just easier to stay in Destin or Panama City. We always rented from an agency that had a free round of golf for each night's stay, beach chair set up, and amusement park tickets as part of their amenities package. But to be honest, I have not stayed in Panama City Beach in about 6 years. So I really couldn't recommend any place and feel good about it. We used to stay at Largo Mar, Moonspinner,the Dunes or a family friend's beach house. (All of which are located on Thomas Drive[east]) If you stay on Thomas Drive in Panama City you will be close to where you get on the boat to go to Shell Island. For what you are willing to pay, you shouldn't have a problem finding something that is nice. It really just depends on what
your family likes to do.
(1) We have lousy shopping in my town, so I do like to shop on vacation.
(2) We don't have amusement parks and such around here, so after dinner it was a treat to take Tyler (my son) to the amusement parks for an hour. What I am trying to say is,
at the time it was just easier for us to stay in Destin or Panama City, although we did stay in Seagrove a couple of times. And now that my son has graduated from high school, it looks like mom and dad can head for 30A.:clap_1: Sorry, I didn't mean to write a book, but hey, I take vacations seriously.
