ThunderBeach - Bike Week at PCB
This year I decided to go visit my brother and stick around for bike week in Panama City Beach. Since I have a place to stay (and a nice one at that), why not stay an extra week and see what this bike week is all about.
Luckily for me, my job allows me to work remote if needed. My brother owns a home directly on the beach and setting up a temporary office with these kind of views is quite extraordinary.
This year, bike week was from May 1st - May 5th. Bike week here is a bit scattered. There are events located on Thomas Drive, Front Beach Road, and Panama City Beach Parkway. These are all relatively close to each other but with the volume of people, a mile down the road can take a very long time. Also, with all the construction, road travel could really suck at times.
Also this year, the usual Concert Series was cancelled (there was live music at many of the local venues). Why no concerts? From what I understand, the promoter for 2023 is now behind bars due to the writing of over $500,000 of worthless checks. I guess bands want to be paid. Its too bad as they used to pull in some fantastic bands AND that was one of the main reasons for coming down. Oh well, there was still a lot to offer.
Now I did know about the concert series being cancelled before coming down. I also knew that there was going to be an outstanding air show as well. Plus all the vendors, bikes, and local bars with live music. All in all, still going to be fun.
I ventured out early on Thursday (some of us still work) and headed over to Frank Brown Park are. This is one of the central hubs for bike week (this is where the concert series was held). Lots of vendors. Most everything is Harley Davidson related which I would expect but still some very interesting booths. Also, TONS of bikes. I think I spent most of my time looking a bikes than visiting the vendors or bars. They were everywhere. Since it was Thursday, it was not wall to wall with people (yet). It was a good day to get out since traffic was not that bad either.
I also am lucky that another hot spot was just down the street at Ms Newbys. Again, booths, bikes, babes, and beer. And it was only about a mile away. I spent some time of Friday here.
On Saturday, it was the airshow. The show started about 10:30. You should have seen ALL the boats going over to the Pier Park area. The house is in-between the bay and Pier Park so we got to see all the boats coming. And there were a lot, big and small. We even saw the Navy Hovercraft come driving by.
The air show was quite a sight. Lots of miliary planes since Tyndall Air Force base is just down the road. Also, the Thunderbirds performed (think Blue Angels but Air Force not Navy). Very cool show as well. I know, not motorcycle related except they performed at bike week.
That was all I was able to attend. Overall it was so cool to see SO many bikes here. I have been to Panama City Beach MANY time but not around bike week. Everywhere you go, bikes coming and going. From what I could tell, about 90%+ were Harley Davidson. I saw a few other models but not that many. My Triumph was definitely the odd man out. Although I never heard any negative comments about NOT having Harley.
At PCB, they have two bike shows a year, Spring and Fall. Not sure if I will attend the Fall show since I tend to travel a lot then. I will wait and see on next Spring. What is nice about coming down here is that I have a place to stay, get to spend time with brother, and go to Bike Week. Pretty good combination. I know I will drive back down but not sure if I will stay through bike week unless they have a good concert series.