Memorial Day weekend in Panama

Memorial Day Weekend

With only a year left in Costa Rica, we decided it was about time we traveled to another CA country. So we pack our bags and took off on a one hour plane ride to Panama City. People refer to Panama City as the Miami of Central America and from our first look you could tell why! Lots of tall condo building overlooking the water, very clean streets, and shopping oh glorious shopping. Of course this is all within the context that this is Central America and not southern Florida... The mall was Libby's favorite part of the entire trip. She loved the Hello Kitty store, the carousel and the Pink store (which sells make up and hair product for kids...not the Victoria's secrets version:)

Our first adventure took us across Panama to the Caribbean side to visit Portobelo. A very old seaport discovered by Christopher Columbus on his last journey across the Atlantic.

It was very, very hot that day... but the girls were great. Providence enjoyed learning about the history and Libby decided she did not like Portobelo as "it's all broken." You can blame the dread pirate Henry Morgan for that.

The next day we went to the Panama Canal. Very cool for adults, not so exciting for kids.... We watched several ships come through the Miraflores Locks before watching a movie about the canal and heading into the museum. We also met up with our friends, the Bailey Family and had some lunch. FYI - The Miraflores locks are the first set of locks a ship goes through on their way into the canal from the Pacific Ocean or they are the last set of locks they come through on their way out of the canal into the Pacific Ocean.

That afternoon we went to Panama Viejo, the old Panama City which was also destroyed by the dread pirate Henry Morgan. The girls had a lot more fun here climbing the tower and running around in the grass.

Lastly, we spent our final morning in an area called Casco Viejo. We really enjoyed this area as it reminded us, or at least me, of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Here you can see the Teatro Nacional, the Presidential Palace and great views from Plaza de Francia. You can see ships heading into the canal and also a great view of the city.























As you can see, we had a great vacation in Panama. I especially liked the buses. The TV show, "Pimp my Ride" ought to come to Panama and do a special on these buses. Some of them have chrome wheels, and gigantic shiny pipes going up the back. The drivers fly down the streets of Panama!!! Unfortunately, I did not get a great picture, but at least you can get the general idea!