You have to love a town that embraces the title "Redneck Riviera".

Unlike the hip, slick and cool beach towns of south Florida, PCB beach is a laid back kind of place. A little threadbare maybe, a little past it's "sell by" date, but, hey so am I.

On the other hand, beach front rooms are cheap. And when I say beach front, I mean open the slider and you are in the sand. The beaches along this area are fabulous, the hotels are pet friendly, and the water is warm and calm. I spent many mornings, just soaking up the sun, and playing fetch with Harley.

A little to the south is an actual surfing beach - not much wave action for a California boy like me, but by Gulf of Mexico standards it is pretty good. There are several surf shops where you can rent a surfboard, or a boogieboard and get a little wave action.

There are several restaurant/bars along Front Beach and Thomas Streets, all of them, like the rest of the town, just on the edge of seedy looking. But they all seem to have good fresh seafood, the local oysters are great, and you will see things like frog legs, alligator and fried crawfish on the menu.

Also, the deep sea fishing is good to excellent along here, with several charters and party boats operating in the area.

So, for a laid back beach vacation, or maybe a few days' side trip to recover from Orlando, Panama City Beach is a great choice. For more information about this, or any of the TOP 10, check out www.daveholmantravel.com or email me at sales@daveholmantravel.com

Narrowboating in England

The Canals of England and Wales
Probably the most unique trip I ever took was narrowboating on the canals in the U.K.For those of you who don't know, England is criss-crossed with canals built before the invention of the steam engine, and subsequent development of railroad transport. The many locks on these canals are 8 feet wide. So, imagine a boat, 50, 60 or 70 feet long, and only 7 1/2 feet wide!Narrow boat indeed.

And seeing as how these canals predate the Industrial Revolution, the locks are manually operated. So, you pull up to the lock, someone hops out, makes sure there is no one in the lock, or waiting in the other direction, then cranks a handle to open the lock, letting the water in or out, then swings the gate open, then you pull the boat in, close that side, and crank open the other side to let the water in or out, open the gate and proceed on your way, as the crank turner hops back in. Sometimes there is 5 or more miles between locks, but one particular stretch we hit had 11 locks in less than 2 miles, as we descended into Stoke-on-Trent.What a morning that was!

There are many devoted narrowboaters in England, who own their own boats and hit the canals on weekends and holidays. Also (since the original canal boats were pulled by horses or mules) the towpaths that run alongside the canals are popular with hikers and campers. Since boats are limited to 3mph, you have time to exchange pleasantries with the walkers, and with other boats as you pass.

And aside from all that - what a fabulous way to see England. When the canals were built they were the "highways" and many old towns built up around the canals. Pubs, Palaces and Factories were built facing the canals. You can tie up and walk into a pub for lunch, or tour the Wedgewood Factory, or admire the gardens of the Earl of Litchfield, just a few feet from the dock. There are a few places where the canals are actually aqueducts bridging a valley, and subsequent motorways were constructed UNDER the bridge. Rather unique to be sitting in a boat watching cars and lorries pass below you.

Another stretch of canal (Harecastle Tunnel) goes several miles THROUGH a mountain. It is too narrow for two boats to pass, so the morning traffic goes one way and the afternoon the other, rather like the Suez Canal. For quite a time in the middle of the tunnel it is completely dark, with neither opening visible. And the ceiling is just inches above the pilots head (originally, boats were propelled through the tunnel by "tunnel walkers" who lay down on the roof of the boat and "walked" along the tunnel ceiling).Most importantly, most of the canals run through the small towns and countryside. If you have only ever been to London and such (nothing wrong with London, but, let's face it, big cities are big cities), this is a whole different England. The people are fabulous, warm and friendly, and the minute they catch your accent, you have made a friend for life.

So, if you are feeling adventurous, and up for an off-beat holiday, call me. I can arrange weekly or weekend rental of narrowboats on most of the canals in England, with reputable companies providing safe and reliable equipment. Just check us out at www.daveholmantravel.com

The Places I have been

It has been a bad week - building a new website for Dave Holman Travel Services. Check it out at http://www.daveholmantravel.com
I might get out of the travel business, and take up website development. I know way more now than I ever wanted to about html, gifs, footers, etc.
Which is also to say, I have nothing to write about. Maybe a travel life list would be good. Boring, but very "keyword rich" as we webheads say. LOL

So, my first travel was as a kid with driving vacations to Yellowstone National Park, Utah, and many times to Tucumcari, NM (where my mother is from), and all around the Southwest. Then, of course the move to Puerto Rico. During our time there we went to every city on the Island, like Ponce, Mayaguez, Fajardo, Aguadilla, etc. We also flew over to St. Croix a few times. My dad's boss owned an old sugar mill, built by Bluebeard for his mistress Judith.

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The sugar mill, and restored "castle" is gone, but Judith's Fancy is a seriously high dollar subdivision, now. I found this out in 1985 when I went back to St. Croix with my first wife. Also, during the Puerto Rico years were trips to Key West, Florida and a memorable trip to Havana, Cuba. Those of you who remember 1970 will recall that hijacking planes to Cuba was a pretty routine event. All we did was sit in the airport for 8 or 9 hours, eating Cubanos and drinking warm Coke, then we all got back on the plane (well, all but the two hijackers) and continued on to San Juan.

My next travel came as member of the U.S. Air Force. They sent me to San Antonio, Tx - Biloxi, Ms - and Victorville, Ca (where I live now). Also a few brief TDY's to Germany, England, and Okinawa. Then I discovered cruising. Starting in 1981 with Carnival to Mexico, followed by Carnival to the Caribbean twice, the Norway once, Crown Monarch Line once, and a couple of others. All told, cruising has taken me to Florida, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cancun/Cozumel, Belize, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, St. John, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Hilo, Honolulu, Kona, Maui and Kuaui. In between those cruises are multiple trips to Hawaii, many land based sojourns to Mexico and Canada, and trips to Tokyo, Taiwan, Vietnam, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Switzerland, Germany, Prague and Amsterdam. Then I bought a boat, and for 3 years or so Catalina and San Diego was the extent of my travels (my boat was in San Pedro).

Then, of course, I decided to hit the road for real, and in almost 5 years running a traveling sales company I hit 47 states. Somehow I missed North Dakota, and Hawaii and Alaska are both too far to drive. So, there you have it. The Places I have been.