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.

Farewell to Panama

Big ass cargo ship passing under the Puente de las Americas

Today is the last day for the Panama leg of Vacation 2013.  Panama was a great place to visit.  I went here with zero expectations.  Spending two days here and seeing the canal I thought would be a great way to break up the really long flight deep into the southern hemisphere to Uruguay.  And it was.  But I'm wishing I had set aside a couple more days to see more.

I definitely will spend a few more days in Panama next time I fly Copa to Latin America.  (Unfortunately, for next year's World Cup Brasil trip, I'll be routing through Atlanta on Delta.)  I'm not sure if I'll do the Country Inn in the old U.S. Canal Zone.  It was a great hotel.  Next time, though, I think I'll stay in downtown where all the action is.  Maybe the Hard Rock Hotel, which is a skyscraper in Panama City, since I'm a hipster happenin' now kind of dude.

But enough about my "next" trip to Panama.  This trip.  It was (get this) overcast morning, lightly drizzling.  I decided to go for a walk anyway.  I should've taken my umbrella, since I packed one.  Or even wore a cap, since I packed one.  But I had faith.  So I walked out of the Country Inn.

The Country Inn & Suites Panama Canal. I shall miss you.

And I decided to stroll down the Amador Causeway and snap some photos of the Frank Gehry building they're building about a mile south of the Country Inn.  There's a park of some sort next to my hotel, with this weird pyramid-gazebo structure thing.

Weird pyramid-gazebo structure thing.

I don't know what it is.  I don't know where it came from.  But it's more interesting than most Frank Gehry designed view-killing ugly monstrosities.  (See, e.g., the Lou Ruvo Brain Building in downtown Las Vegas.)  Lots of construction in my neighborhood.  Most of it seems to be refurbishing/renovating old Canal Zone era buildings, such as this:

Random interesting building

Around this time the rain starts coming down much harder.  It is really pouring by the time I happen upon the Bio Museum, the Frank Gehry "signature" building they're building.

Frank Gehry's Bio Museum

I've heard that Panama is proud that it is getting a Frank Gehry.  They think it'll be a "signature" building.  But Panama City already has a very interesting, very unique "signature" building that really does compliment its skyline:  The Revolution Tower.  Which is awesome to behold.  The Frank Gehry Bio Museum?  Eh.

Panama's own Frank Gehry building

The best one can say about this is that it is not nearly the train wreck that other Frank Gehry buildings are.  As it's set off by itself, on a narrow causeway, it doesn't ruin its surroundings, like putting Tabasco on Lemon Meringue Pie, which is what Frank Gehry stuff normally does to a town.

Anyway, I got my pictures.  The rain continued to pour.

View of the downtown skyline from the Amador Causeway.  This time in the pouring rain.

The Amador Causeway is an interesting part of the Greater Panama City area.  Lots of good restaurants, albeit focused on us turistas.  Lots to see, like this statue in the middle of the causeway.

Statues surrounding a flagpole

It looked interesting.  What is it supposed to represent?  I don't know.  It was pouring hard at this point.  And I had to get back to the hotel, get out of my wet clothes, and get ready for the raison d'etre for this whole trip:  my flight to Montevideo.  Good-bye Panama.  Hasta pronto.

Vacation 2013: It Came From The Cookie Jar

 

The view of Casco Antiguo, Panama City, Panama, from the Amador Causeway. At dusk.

Vacation 2013. Literally, it did come from the cookie jar. Or, to be more accurate, it was what was left over after 29 other vacations were pulled from the cookie jar. From Capadoccia, Turkey, to Sarajevo, Bosnia, to the Loop Road around Iceland, to, finally, Nashville, Tennessee USA, the survivor in the Cookie Jar o' Potential Vacation Destinations was:
Montevideo, Uruguay.

So what am I doing sitting in my room in a Country Inn & Suites in Panama City? (The real one.  The one in Panama.  Not Florida.)

Country Inn & Suites in Panama City. It looks just like the Country Inns in Wisconsin!

Because the Country Inn & Suites in Panama City doesn't just look like the Country Inns & Suites in Wisconsin.  The Panama City Country Inn & Suites is right alongside the world-famous (you may have heard of it) Panama Canal.  That's the view from my room.  Like it?

Puente de las Americas: the Bridge Over The Pacific Entrance Into the Panama Canal

Here's the same view, from the same room, now with ships!

Same Puente de las Americas: Now with Ships!

Anyway, I decided to stop in Panama to break up the long long flight down to Montevideo.  I'm flying Copa, the Panamanian national carrier, which hubs out of Panama City.  I would've had to change planes here, and I will on the return leg, so I figured why not see the canal that everyone's been talking about.

The flight was uneventful.  Which, to me, in the modern air of jet transportation is just about "best case scenario."  The flight left at 5:00AM.  Which meant that I had to be at the airport at 3:00AM.  Which meant that it was easier to just stay up all night until boarding time and try to catch some winks of the flight.  (Or at least it seemed like a good idea when I committed to it the evening before.)  (It got less good as ideas go when the clock got to 1:00AM.)  (It seemed like a very very bad idea by about 2:00AM.)

The good thing about flying out of the new Terminal 3 at 3:00AM is: absolutely no security line.  I could leisurely take off my shoes and belt without anyone huffing behind me.  I didn't even feel nervous about sending my money supply through the X-ray machine.

I slept some.  But when morning light broke, the flight crew did something I've never seen a flight crew do early in the morning.  They broke out the booze and toddled down the center aisle serving up free cocktails at the breakfast hour.  I needed some coffee to prevent a major caffeine headache from brewing and, weirdly enough, they had no coffee.  Whiskey?  Yes.  Rum?  De claro.  Coffee?  Nada.

Just an old tree I thought looked cool on the grounds of the Country Inn