2015 Vacation: Breakfast at the Beach

This year we decided to take a little tour of some of the top breakfast joints in the area close to our condo in Laguna Beach. I love a good breakfast – especially at a local dive – so we hit up the best places we could find as listed by Trip Adviser and Zomato (formally UrbanSpoon).

DONUT HOLE

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First up was Donut Hole in Rosemary Beach. We loved Donut Hole in Destin, but I think we liked this new Donut Hole better. Probably because it was a much bigger restaurant and we had absolutely zero wait.

We actually almost didn't find the restaurant as it is so new that our GPS could not find it. It's not the same diner atmosphere as the Destin location, but it was still delicious food. Outside the restaurant were game areas including ping pong and a Donut Hole game (basically Corn Hole) so that you would have something to do if there was a wait.

I had a Seafood Omelet (which was fantastic), while Jack discovered the little jelly packets on the table and insisted on toast and pancakes at every breakfast place, and Daniel had a healthy Grilled Chicken Salad (it was noon after all). 

When we paid our bill we all chose donuts from the donut case. They were excellent. We are definitely fans of Donut Hole (#4 breakfast place in Panama City Beach on Trip Advisor).

FATTY PATTY'S

On Day Two of our trip, we went to Fatty Patty's for breakfast. The slogan for the restaurant is "For the little fatty patty in all of us." I thought the slogan was hilarious. 

Great coffee and excellent breakfast. I had the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes with Eggs and Bacon, Daniel had a Chocolate Chip Waffle and Jack stuck with his pancakes and toast. 

Our waitress told us to be sure to grab donuts at Thomas Donut & Snack Shop in Laguna Beach.

We all loved Fatty Patty's and would plan on going back if we were in the area (#3 breakfast place in Panama City Beach on Trip Advisor).

JESSE'S PLACE

On Day Three we tried Jesse's Place. It is a family-owned diner in Panama City Beach.  They serve breakfast and are also a meat-and-three, serving food until 2pm.

Our waiter was the son of the owners and he was great. We had wonderful service, the food was good and he kept gushing over our two boys. It's not often you have a young man gush over kiddos. 

Daniel had the Papa's Breakfast, I tried The Classic and we stuck with getting Jack toast. All of which was delicious. We were the last to leave the diner and they never hurried us. 

We are big fans of Jesse's Place and glad we made the stop there (#1 breakfast place in Panama City Beach on Trip Advisor).

THOMAS DONUT & SNACK SHOP

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Finally, on our last morning we grabbed a donut from Thomas Donut & Snack Shop as advised by our waitress at Fatty's Pattys. She suggested that we arrive early to get a good donut before they ran out.

Daniel took Jack and they got a donut with sprinkles for Jack (of course), a chocolate glazed one for Daniel and I had a Key-Lime Custard Filled donut. They weren't super fresh, but they were all delicious (#2 breakfast place in Panama City Beach on Trip Advisor).



We ended up trying the top 4 bakeries/breakast eateries in the Panama City Beach area and really liked all of them.

Gulfarium // Vacation Day 5

On day 5 of our vacation, we drove back to Fort Walton Beach to check out the Gulfarium. First we stopped at the Donut Hole Bakery and Cafe in Destin to grab breakfast.

We had driven by this cafe several times earlier in the week and there was always a long line that extended out into the parking lot. We hoped that a mid-week visit would mean not having to wait.

This ended up being another excellent suggestion by my sister's mother-in-law. Our mid week choice allowed us to get right in (that and the fact that Jack no longer sits in a high chair!). Daniel ordered the chocolate chip pancakes and I ordered the western omelette (we like to share our plates, so everyone gets a taste of everything). It was all really good. My only regret was that we didn't try a donut!

Our biggest dislike of this eatery was the process for paying the bill... you have to wait in line with everyone who is there to purchase donuts from the counter. Which means it takes forever to leave. But it was great food and worth the stop.

Visiting Gulfarium in the off season was another good decision. There were no lines to see the animals and we had great seats for both the dolphin and sea lion shows.

General admission is $19.95 for adults and $11.95 for age 3-12. Jack was under age 3 so he got in FREE. 

We stayed about 3 hours and really enjoyed the shows. I think it was worth the price. 

They also offer additional packages that allow you to have more interaction with the animals – you can swim with dolphins among other things. But Jack is too young for this type of experience. I think it would be fun to do some day.

We really liked that Gulfarium was on the small side and didn't feel overly commercialized. 

This probably has to do with the fact that it was built in the 1950s. 

We had a great time seeing all of the animals and I even picked up our souvenir Christmas ornament* in the gift shop.

The rest of our day was pretty low key. Jack crashed in the car on the way home. 

Thankfully we were able to transplant him directly to his pack-n-play... he must have been really worn out because he proceeded to sleep for over THREE hours!

After naps, we headed out to eat at Don Pedro's Cantina for supper. 

It was located a few blocks from our condo and had good ratings as a local Mexican restaurant. It was pretty good. Daniel wasn't that hungry so he just had a burrito while I ordered the Fish Tacos and a fruity margarita. I thought it was all tasty, but we both thought the chips were a bit stale.

After we ate we wandered over to the outlet mall where we picked up a few things for Jack. Another fun day in the books for the Moore's Florida vacation. 

*Harborwalk Village was the only other place in this area that we saw souvenir Christmas ornaments and they were pretty generic.

2013 Florida Vacation Recaps: Day 1 // Days 2-3 // Day 4 // Day 5 // Day 6