Hola! Panama City, Panama, is a city rich with history, and you can feel it embedded in the culture. I knew a little of it from what I learned about the Panama Canal’s history in school, but I was excited to discover more about the city. We chose this location for our “babymoon,” because we were looking for a place with a mix of tropical and city to satisfy our mission to balance relaxation and adventure (to the extent one can adventure in the late second trimester).

We took a direct flight into Panama City and were able to venture around via Uber. We chose a beachfront resort in Panama City, The Westin Playa Bonita Panama, so that we could use our relaxation days on the sand and water, and take a short ride into the city to do other activities. We alternated beach and activity days, and this was a perfect plan.

We started out on the beach, which would recede and replenish the shoreline each morning. The days we went into the city, we were able to peruse the architecture in the Historic District of Panama, where it was clear the French/Parisians had influenced. We also saw what the bottom of the Panama Bay looked like near the coast, because the water levels were fairly low as a result of the drought. It was definitely an unexpected part of our self-guided walking tour. We journeyed out on an accidentally-long walk to find the seafood market, Mercado de Mariscos Cinta Costera, which we did not realize was the Mercado de Mariscos located on Cinta Costera; so walked along Cinta Costera, stumbled upon the  “Panama” sign, and realized we had long walked past Mercado de Mariscos. By the time we realized, we were too hot and tired to walk back.

We deepened our knowledge of the history of the Canal and migration to Panama to build it at the Museo del Canal, and then went to see the Canal in action, where it adjusted the water levels for the ships to pass through (where we remembered we’ve been on the water for this experience in Chicago, when boats pass from the Chicago River to Lake Michigan). We walked and got some food at Calzada de Amador, which had plenty of Panamanian and other Central American cuisine options.

After the beach on one of our relaxation days, we decided to venture back to the city for a romantic dinner at an exquisite restaurant, Azahar Cuisine and Lounge, which had some delicious dishes like plantain gnocchi. On our last adventure day, we hiked Ancon Hill, which I thought would be much easier as I’d hiked a much more difficult trail in Seattle just the month before, but again, second trimester shortness of breath is not to be underestimated. And on our final day of the trip, we soaked up the last of the sand that we could.

In the future, I would like to see some of the neighboring islands or try some excursions, assuming I will not be toting around a little baking human in my body. 

All photos taken with Nikon D5600.