And so it begins ... Panama City

Statue honoring peace and brotherhood somewhere on the Amador Causeway

And so the "I Can't Drive 55" birthday celebration vacation extravaganza adventure begins.  In Panama City. The real Panama City. The one in Panama. Which means it is the one to be logically named. Why some random beach town on the Redneck Riviera that is the Florida Panhandle shares the name with the appropriately named capital of the Republic of Panama, I do not know. Perhaps the Florida beach town was founded by Joe Panama.

I arrived in Panama dog tired.

Did someone say "dog"?

Norm The Dog. Now vacationing at the A-VIP Pet Resort while I vacation farther south.

No. Norm The Dog is not vacationing with me. But anyway, I was ten kinds of exhausted, mostly because of (a) the pre-vacation rush to get a ton of things done both work-wise and around the home, and (b) the flight to Panama City left at 6:00 a.m., which would have meant waking up at 3:30 a.m., except for the fact that I didn't really sleep because I was nervous about getting up in time to be at the airport at 4:00 a.m.-ish.

Luckily, I was able to take a cat nap on the plane.

Did someone say "cat"?

Portrait of the artist taking a portrait of Simone The Cat

And, again, no. Simone The Cat is not vacationing with me. Someone had to stay home and guard the house while I was away. So to all you would-be cat burglars (Yes. I went there. And I bought the souvenir program.): break in at your own risk. Mi casa is being guarded by angry feline,

The purpose of this vacation is to turn 55 someplace that will make turning 55 a little less 55-ish. So I am headed for Colombia. No. No. No. No. I am not going to have a coke-fueled orgy for my 55th. At my age, I couldn't even handle a diet Coke fueled one. But, when heading down to South America via Copa Airlines, it is fun to spend a few days in Panama City en route. I am scheduled to take a half-day boat cruise through the Panama Canal on my one full day here in Panama.

So I am staying -- again! -- at the lovely but fraying Country Inn & Suites on the Amador Causeway, just below the Bridge of the Americas. This time, however, I do not have a bridge view.

Country Inn & Suites by Carlson. The "by Carlson" is added to distinguish it from other Country Inns, apparently.

I took a stroll down the Amador Causeway to find a place to eat dinner.

Those red roofs straight ahead are part of the Frank Gehry designed Biodiversity Museum

It wasn't raining too hard at that point. But I was so tired I forgot to take pictures of my food.