Check out the latest outdoor gear and put it to the test for free at the Joe Dodge Lodge in Pinkham Notch, at the base of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. The lodge, run by the Appalachian Mountain Club, just opened an outdoor gear demo center for lodge guests, enabling them to try out Lowa boots, Leki hiking poles, Osprey backpacks, and Hillsound traction devices, which fit over boots and help keep you upright on slick trails. Equipment is available in all adult sizes, and in children’s sizes for boots and poles. Find something you like and you can get a discount to purchase the same or similar items at the AMC’s Pinkham Notch visitors center. Demo gear is available on a first-come, first-served basis. 603-466-2727, www.outdoors.org/pinkham

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Come to Panama City Beach in the northern Florida Panhandle and you’ll soon find, by dialect and design, a place apart from what you might usually think of as Florida.

South Florida, arguably from the midpoint of the state on down, is a place where everyone seems to be from someplace else, where you’re far more likely to hear a New York or other accent than a southern one.

Not so in Panama City Beach, in the belly of the deep South, rooted below Alabama and Georgia, not far from Louisiana. Here, when locals saying they’re going anywhere, they’re likely to say in a rich, lovely drawl, “I’m fixin’ to go to…..,” a place where grits in all marvelous manner of incarnations are as common in trendy restaurants as they are in strip-mall eateries.

This beachside community is small but gets big-visitor numbers, with a year-round population of about 7,500 and tourists numbering six million a year. And given its northern Florida location buffeted by Gulf of Mexico breezes, it doesn’t get as oppressively steamy as southern Florida, even in summer.

We visited over New Year’s weekend, never having been before, and found a eclectic place of business, a mix of tattoo parlors, tchotchke stores, dive shops, go-cart tracks, and, I kid you not, the “Condom Knowledge Novelty Shop,” side by side in an area with upscale restaurants, shops, family attractions and high-rise condos..

Panama City Beach is righteously most famous for its beach, a 27-mile stretch of sugary sand so white, at first glance you’d swear it was snow, the result of quartz crystals washing down from the Appalachian Mountains centuries ago and being ground, smoothed and polished until the surf of the Gulf of Mexico deposited billions of grains of sand on the shoreline. Along its coast, Panama City Beach is dotted by mostly high-rise condos for rent, and only a couple of hotels, about 21,000 housing units in all, most with smashing ocean views and riveting sunsets.

A year ago, the city finished up a three-month, $16-million beach re-nourishment project working with the U.S. Corps of Engineers, pumping 1.4-million cubic yards of sand to about seven and a half miles of beach, extending the shoreline by 100 feet in some locations. It was the third major beach replenishment in the last dozen years.

One of the city’s crown recreational jewels is St. Andrews State Park with a stunning beach that was named the second-best in America by TripAdvisor. The 1,260-acre park has forest, snow-white sand dunes covered with sea oats, fresh and saltwater marshes, a lagoon swimming area, fishing jetties, hiking trails, a mile and a half of beach and two campgrounds. It is also home to many white-tailed deer, hundreds of bird species, and the occasional alligator. It opened in 1951, and had been the site of a World War II military reservation. There is also the newly opened 2,900-acre Panama City Beach Conservation Park, created to rehydrate thousands of acres of protected wetlands, which consists of a system of boardwalks and 24 miles of dirt trails.
 
Panama City Beach has a lot of the old-Florida feel, but it’s a city on the rise, a low-key, down-home kind of place with a central touristy core in Pier Park, a five-year-old retail strip by the water with more than a million square feet of shopping and eating, with entities like Margaritaville (try the El Diablo, a true burger in paradise, topped with poblano peppers), French Charmed, Francesca’s Collection and an IMAX theater. For families, there’s a great playground there, with some of the original rides from the iconic Miracle Strip Amusement Park that closed a few years ago. Other family favorites in the city include Shipwreck Island Water Park, Gulf World Marine Park, Emerald Coast Mirror Maze and Grand Maze at Coconut Creek.
 
It’s also gotten easier to get there; in 2010, Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport opened, the first international airport in the country to open since the terrorist attacks of 2001, served by just two airlines so far, Southwest and Delta. It’s a place so new it’s not surrounded by the usual glut of airport hotels, restaurants and stores, a virtual stand-alone entity in the middle of a forest, a place with a welcoming, unhurried feel, not to mention unusually cheap airport parking: The long-term lot charge is $9 a day.

Panama City Beach’s food scene is significant, with the fare of most places focusing on seafood, in places upscale and down-home. In the middle are places like The Boatyard on Grand Lagoon, accessible by land and sea, known for killer views and terrific seafood, including oysters, fish tacos and sushi. On the smaller side are places like the gourmet sandwich shop, Liza’s Kitchen, where the Nassau grits have a nice kick, and is famous for its “Hippie Chick” and Portobello grill sandwiches and its cutesy, kid-made polka-dot placemats bearing how-they-see-it recipes, such as one for cake calling for four cups of oil and five teaspoons of salt baked at 49 degrees for seven hours.

More upscale and trendy are places like Firefly, where the signature dishes are the silky smooth she-crab soup and the espresso-rubbed and tomato-braised free-range Texas boar shank, succulent, sweet and so tender, it falls off the bone. They also create a mean John Daly, named after the pro golfer, a concoction of vodka, lemonade and ice tea that is disarmingly easy to consume. Chef Paul Stellato creates the menu, and is used to pressure, having cooked for Team USA athletes at last year’s summer Olympics. But he faced pressure of another kind in 2010, when President Obama and his family dined there and the president had the N.Y strip steak and his wife the fried lobster – with the Secret Service watching every move of preparation. For the record, he paid with his personal credit card, with agents taking all records of the transaction with them.

Other notable eateries are Boar’s Head Restaurant, which mixes it up nicely with seafood and meat, from its signature fried lobster to whopping prime rib and good game offerings, such as quail, venison and duck; Mike’s Café and Oyster Bar, very hot with the locals offering things like black-eyed peas, collard greens and my favorite, shrimp and grits for breakfast; and Andy’s Flour Power Café and Bakery, where you get a huge and hugely decadent “Café Skillet,” seared potatoes, onions and peppers topped with eggs, ham, tomato and melted sharp cheddar for breakfast, negating the need for lunch.

Panama City Beach was largely spared damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the gulf oil spill in 2010, remaining a steady, reliable and temperate choice for tourists, drawing mainly from the southern states. If you’re from father away and fixin’ to check out the real Florida as it used to be and still is in the panhandle, Panama City Beach is a pretty good choice..

For information on the destination, visit www.visitpanamacitybeach.com

(Top photo, St. Andrews Park, courtesy of Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau; second and third photos, St. Andrews Park, and bottom photo, Firefly restaurant, all by Paul E. Kandarian)



 

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Biggest losers? Hardly. Jackie and Dan Evans, mother-and-son contestants in 2008 on the popular “Biggest Loser” TV series where large people shed weight on screen, lost 89 and 136 pounds respectively that season in the televised boot-camp style weight-loss program. They didn’t win the contest but are now touring the country hosting “The Biggest Loser Half Marathon and 5K RunWalk” events, touting the benefits of exercising and healthy eating.

We met up with Jackie and Dan in Panama City Beach, Florida, over the New Year’s weekend, where they were hosting the inaugural event, one of many they’ll do in the coming year, from Florida to Oregon and a bunch of places in between, licensed through the NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group and Shine America. They also do “Off Road Challenge”events and a “Get Fit, Get Ready” race series.

We had dinner with them one night at The Boatyard in Panama City Beach, one of the destination’s most popular restaurants, and where they looked like they’d kept their weight off. And for good reason: In 2011 alone, they did more than 20 half marathons, and have embraced a healthier lifestyle. For the record, at the Boatyard they ate fish and didn’t finish, taking their leftovers back to their hotel.

“I’m not saying I couldn’t eat that whole thing,” laughed Dan Evans,24, when I pointed to a giant bowl of insanely good crab dip. “I’m just saying I won’t.”

And this is a guy who for much of his life was a frequent fast-food flyer by day, gorging himself at all-you-can-eat buffets by night. He was working as a director at his family’s summer camp in Illinois when the idea came to his mother to try out for the show. She was a big fan.

“I’d watch with a huge bowl of popcorn coated with about a stick of melted butter,” she said with a rueful laugh.

Dan Evans, a young man blessed with an abundance of personality, tried out and got the nod, and then the producers thought a mother-son angle would work well. They did almost six months of grueling exercise and dieting, with cameras watching every single move, recording every bit of drama and infighting among contestants. Dan Evans said one of the guys on their team was a former college football player who claimed his gridiron workouts were nothing like those on “The Biggest Loser.”

Along the way they became fast friends with others on their team and their team’s coach,  Bob Harper, with whom they remain friends. The support they got, in what they termed the family feeling of the show, got them through. But then when it was over, it was a cold slap in the face.

“When you’re done, you’re done, that’s it,” Dan Evans said. “The night I lost, they had a car waiting with all my stuff in it. And a psychologist to talk to, to make sure I was OK.”

The hard part, he said, “was leaving the daily ritual and going home to television, the internet, friends and family, all the things denied to you for months while you’re on the show. Getting back to normal isn’t easy.”

Some  relapse and go back to their old bad-eating ways. The Evans did not. They’ve got this gig going now, and Dan Evans, a lifelong musician, cut a record soon after the show, “Going All Out,” which he said made it to number seven on the country-music charts that year.

“The one thing you learn is you can overcome struggle,” Jackie Evans said of their time on the hit show. “We were convinced early on we couldn’t do it, that we’d fail. But then we realized we could, we did have the willpower. You can make excuses, that your weight is genetic, that you’re predisposed to being fat, and maybe that’s true. But then you realize it’s all on you, it’s up to you and that you can do it. They taught me that you can choose, you have the ability to do it.”

On Dec. 30, on an unusually cold Florida morning with temperatures near freezing just after dawn, thousands of participants lined up at Pier Park in Panama City Beach, waiting for the race to start. On stage, bedecked in Biggest Loser gear, Dan and Jackie Evans screamed into microphones, exhorting the waiting athletes to do their best, commending them for taking literal steps to a healthier lifestyle. And when it was over, they were there, shouting encouragement, shaking hands, hugging racers and doing all they could to keep the feeling going. All manner of people took part, from seasoned runners to newbies.

“Any of us can overcome whatever it is that makes us feel guilty about ourselves, our weight, our addiction to cigarettes or drugs or alcohol, whatever it is we’re doing to hurt ourselves,” Dan Evans said. “It can be done. It’s not easy, but it can be done.”

With 225 pounds lost between them, Dan and Jackie Evans may not have been the biggest losers that season but they’re now coming across as pretty big winners.

For more information on the Evans and the events they’re running, visit www.biggestloserrunwalk.com For more on Panama City Beach, visit www.visitpanamacitybeach.com

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

The Maine town of Rockland, dubbed “Pie Town USA” by the Food Network, is hosting the ninth annual pie-a-thon to celebrate National Pie Day (yes, there is one, it’s Jan. 23). The town is celebrating the event Jan. 27 from 1-5 p.m. when the Historic Inns of Rockland join town businesses and restaurants for “Pies on Parade,” where visitors can sample more than 40 different pies throughout the community, take tours of the town and some guest rooms at the inns, and participate in silent auctions featuring pies, local gift certificates and a chance to win an inclusive two-night stay.

All proceeds from Pies on Parade benefit the Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry & Fuel Assistance Program. Over the past eight years, more than $50,000 has been donated to the pantry. Lodging packages can be found at www.historicinnsofrockland.com, or by calling 877-762-4667.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Most wine festivals run a weekend, or maybe a full week. The Boston Harbor Hotel’s 24th Annual Boston Wine Festival, which kicks off Jan. 11, is a full 12 weeks long, with 39 evening events of wine and three themed brunches, ending March 29 with a final reception. The kickoff Jan. 11 is a grand-opening reception in the Boston Harbor Hotel’s Wharf Room. Over the lifetime of the event, which is called the country’s longest-running wine festival more than 90,000 bottles of wine have been opened.

The lineup also includes exclusive dinners, seminars, receptions and brunches hosted by world-wide winemakers, each selected and invited by Chef Daniel Bruce, Harbor Hotel’s chef, who over the years of the event, has created more than 4,000 original dishes (and he’s never repeated a menu), each paired with wines that he said enhances the flavor of the food. Some of the food and wine stars participating this year include Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery; Domenico Clerico Winery; Opus One; Peter Michael; Frog’s Leap, Diamond Creek; Chateauneuf-du-Pape; and Cakebread Cellars. This year’s festival will also see the return of popular themed dinners, including the "Battle of the Cabernets" and "Meritage Madness," and the introduction of a new one, "Pinots: Old World, New World."

To complement the experience, the Spa at Rowes Wharf will feature signature vino-based treatments in conjunction with the wine festival. In addition, Boston Harbor Hotel is offering festival ticket holders a special rate of $220 a night. For information, reservations and ticket prices, visit  www.bostonwinefestival.net.

Think you just scored two free tickets, courtesy of a Southwest Airlines promotion on Facebook? Um, no.

The latest trick to hit the social media site popped up this week, when Facebook users urged their friends to click on a link inside the comments section to score a pair of free flights. Since it seemed too good to be true, it likely was. And it is.

“It is a scam,” Southwest spokesperson Brooks Thomas said, noting that the offers pop up from time to time, in which case the airline gets in touch with its legal, and any other third party that may be involved. “Hopefully it will go away really soon.”

So, no, you’re not going to the Bahamas. Well, maybe you will, but unfortunately, it’s on your dime.

By Necee Regis, Globe Correspondent

Preparing a bottle on the go to calm your baby is not an easy task, especially if your little one is used to naturally warm breast milk or heated formula. Now a new technology allows you to heat a bottle without needing electricity, hot water, or a car outlet charger. The WarmZe (formerly On The Fly) portable bottle warmer system uses air-activated warming wraps to evenly heat your baby’s bottle. Simply stick a warming wrap to your WarmZe Bottle-Soc, slide it on your bottle, and in 30 minutes you will have a perfectly tepid bottle. Available in stores and online. Starter kits $16.95, Warmer packs $10.59. 877-693-5922, www.warmze.com

By Necee Regis, Globe Correspondent

Canyons Resort in Utah is introducing, in conjunction with former US ski team coach Phil McNichol, an elite winter sports series: the Ultimate Mountain Experience. Adventures include signature fantasy camps and customizable winter sports programs led by world-class athletes who will guide fantasy camp weekends Jan. 11-13 and March 8-10. Itineraries may include Erik Schlopy’s “Power Turn Experience,” Holly Flanders’s “Women-Only Workshops,” and McNichol’s “Discover Your Potential Weekend.” $1,275 per person. Accommodations available at five Canyon Resorts properties, from $265. 4000 Canyons Resort Drive, 888-CANYONS, www.canyonsresort.com/ski_school_ultimatemtn_hp.html

By Kari Bodnarchuk, Globe Correspondent

Let’s hope you don’t get stuck at an airport over the holidays. But if you do, let’s hope you are at Los Angeles International Airport. The Four Points by Sheraton at LAX just launched new day rooms for delayed or stranded travelers. The rooms offer free Wi-Fi, room service, and access to a fitness center and a restaurant that features California coastal cuisine. Between May and October, you can also use the outdoor pool, which has a bar serving local brews. The rooms are available Monday through Friday for check-in after 8 a.m. and checkout before 5 p.m. Rate: $89 per day; ask for rate plan DY when booking by phone. 866-716-8133, www.fourpointslax.com/day-room-rental

By Kari Bodnarchuk, Globe Correspondent

Next time you visit Logan International Airport’s Terminal E don’t miss “Getting There: Design for Travel in the Modern Age,” a new exhibit that explores how design shapes and transforms the experience of traveling by plane, train, and ship. Created by Design Museum Boston in partnership with Logan and Grand Circle Gallery, it showcases vintage travel posters, portrays how train interiors have evolved over the years, and highlights the design evolution of travel accessories, from noise-canceling headphones to airplane seats. Wander through the show in a pre-security area 24/7 until November 2013. Free. 617-600-8204, www.designmuseumboston.org

By Kari Bodnarchuk, Globe Correspondent

Slip on your favorite ball gown or double-breasted blazer and vest and head to The Essex Resort & Spa in Essex, Vt., the weekend of Jan. 5 and 6, to celebrate a new season of the TV hit “Downton Abbey,” which takes place during the Roaring Twenties. This culinary, cultural, and social event features a reception and an advance public screening of the Season 3 premiere. Some packages include accommodations, a period-style six-course dinner, and a customized pair of Simon Pearce’s Royalton optic flutes. Most also include access to a “Downton”-era arcade featuring etiquette and table-setting games, live music, ballroom dancing, and access to a green-screen photo studio. A portion of the proceeds benefits Vermont Public Television. Prices start at $225 for two people. 802-654-3663, www.vpt.org/daexp

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

A couple of interesting ways to ring in the new year can be had in Spain and Thailand. In spain, when the clock clangs midnight, the tradition is to eat 12 grapes, one with every bell toll, to bring luck for the 12 months ahead. At Hotel Arts Barcelona on New Year's Eve, they're honoring the tradition and hosting a dinner in Arts 41, overlooking the Mediterranean. Recently rated two-Michelin starred Enoteca restaurant, led by Chef Paco Perez, will transports its cuisine to the 41st floor. In addition to exclusive champagnes and wines, at the end, bottles of valuable Finca Dofi 2007 will be served for guests to dip their celebratory grapes in and wish each other a happy new year. For information, visit www.hotelartsbarcelona.com

In Thailand, when the clock strikes 12, lanterns and lights are cast off into the sky, a Thai tradition for good luck that is a symbol of worries being tossed away. The Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, is doing the tradition in a place overlooking the Andaman Sea. The midnight countdown is accompanied by fire fusion belly dancers combined with fire eating and traditional Thai tribal attire. Check it out at www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Reserve/Default.htm

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

If you want to give something otherworldly, and downright expensive for the holidays, consider forking over $100,000 for a Founding 100 Astronaut Program, from the Space Expedition Corporation in Amsterdam. The program offers 100 travelers the chance to be part of its inaugural flight to space in 2014 and become an official astronaut.

But hurry, the program has 75 sign-ups already, including Victoria's Secret supermodel Doutzen Kroes and DJ Armin van Buren. For your hundred grand you get free mission training, invitation to events and trips such as, what else, launch parties, test-flight attendance, the Solar Eclipse Australia Festival and more, such as a three-night stay in Curacao, where one of the launch centers is located.

Once all seats are booked, SXC will host an event with raffle to determine which of the 100 will be the first to travel into space. The remaining order for flights will also be determined at the event.

If you go, you'll sit in the cockpit side by side with the pilot/astronaut in the XCOR Aerospace Lynx suborbital spaceplane, a specially designed aircraft that carries two people. When it crosses the official boundary to space, 62.1 miles up, to be precise, participants become official astronauts. At this height, you'll experience what only 525 have previously, the view of Earth from the thin, blue mantel of our atmosphere.

Flights launch from a spaceport in Curacao and the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California. There is no mention if inflight refreshments will be served. Visit www.spacexc.com for info.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

There are a lot more than this, but 25 places in the world - from Albuquerque to Walt Disney World - are on the Fodor's Travel 2013 Go List of the top 25 to hit in the new year. The third-annual list covers rising destinations and hot cities to significant events and great values. The Fodor's senior editorial team started out with a list of 75 and narrowed them to 25. For the record, Boston isn't in the mix. The closets is Brooklyn, which Fodor's dubs as "the new Manhattan," for its constant openings of restaurants and chic hotels. Check them all out and make your choices at www.fodors.com/go-list/2013
 
 

By Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

Now here's an idea that we wish Massport would adopt at Logan: Travelers flying from Germany's Frankfurt Airport over the holidays don't have to lug their heavy winter coats to warmer climes. The airport will check coats for only 50 euro cents a day (about 67 US cents). The deal is good for travelers departing any day from December 20, 2012, to January 13, 2013. Return date does not matter (except that the meter keeps running). Coat storage is part of the airport's ''Great to have you here!'' program designed to make air travel in and out of Frankfurt more comfortable and convenient. Is anyone at Logan listening?

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

By Necee Regis

If your suitcase is your traveling closet, the new Rise & Hang Travel Gear’s bags might be the perfect alternative to an unorganized mess. Available in two sizes, these luggage inserts are basically collapsible shelving systems that can either fit inside your existing rolling luggage or be used as a carry-on with shoulder strap. To keep clothes folded and organized, just unzip the bag, lift, and hang. Made in North America with lightweight, flexible materials, each bag features a larger compartment under the shelves for laundry items. Luggage insert and carry-on $54, weekender duffel bag $99. 888-929-1329, www.riseandhang.com

By Necee Regis

Step inside the famous wizard’s magical world with Harry Potter: The Exhibition, recently returned to New York’s Discovery Times Square with  updated artifacts from the film series, including the final film. In this 14,000-square-foot experiential   exhibition, see hundreds of original props and costumes from the Harry Potter films, including a new vignette dedicated to the epic battle of Hogwarts. Open seven days a week, including Christmas and New Year’s Day, through April 7. Adults $27, children ages 4-12 $19.50, 65 and over $23.50.  226 West 44th St., 866-987-9692, www.discoverytsx.com

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Ink48, in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, is running a "Giving Your Shopping Bags a Lift" this holiday season, with a selection of services and offerings. In addition, the 11th Avenue hotel, in the Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants chain. has developed shopping guides for guests checking in, created by the hotel's "Retail Therapist."

Through Dec. 24, guests get $10 towards a taxi ride for a day of shopping; a $10 gift card for either Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts; a welcome amenity; and rates starting at $270 a night, using SHOP as the booking code. 

The hotel also has a "Many Happy Returns" package, should you want to bring back presents someone didn't like or didn't fit, from Dec. 26-Feb. 28. This deal, booked witih code RETURN, has rates starting at $230 a night, and gets you the $10 taxi reimbursement, welcome amenity and 20 percent off the best available rate.

For information, visit www.ink48.com/new-york-city-hotel-promotions/index.html

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Got a cool $579,000 for a hot stay in New Orleans? A block of 200 rooms on the American Queen Steamboat is available for four nights during Super Bowl 2013, from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4. The floating hotel steamboat will be docked a little more than a mile from the Superdome, about a 20-minute walk to the game.

What's included are 200 deluxe staterooms and suites aboard the 432-passenger vessel; multiple function rooms; special Super Bowl reception, which provides a one-hour window at beer, wine and snacks; music; bars and lounges open late each night; buffet breakfast daily; nightly maid service; gratuities for ship staff; and city taxes and other taxes on accommodations.

What's not included? Super Bowl tickets. And single rooms are not available, just the 200-room block for a little more than a half-million bucks. But look at it this way: If you break it down, it's $362 per person per night, based on double occupancy. All you need now are 399 more football-loving friends. And of course, tickets to the game.

 For info, visit www.americanqueensteamboatcompany.com