Discovering Our Neighborhood

     After one week in our new spot we're starting to learn our way around.  The fun part is discovering what is nearby and figuring out the rhythm and patterns in this neighborhood.
    Our new routine includes early rising and 3 mile walk on the beach.  After breakfast we take some time to sit around the pool to soak up some sun and get some exercise doing laps in the pool.  In the evening we take another walk on the beach.  In between we read and occasionally explore the area.
     A couple of times we've taken the short cab ride into the central area of nearby Coronado to decide which of the four supermarkets we prefer to get our groceries from.  One of the stores is somewhat like a Target with food.  We've found just about everything that we might buy at home for our weekly groceries.
     On one of the rides we tried out the restaurant that was rated #1 on Trip Advisor for Coronado.  Unlike some cities where the rankings are out of a total of hundreds of restaurants, this restaurant was ranked #1 of 27 in Coronado.  On the ride back to our temporary home, the road was filled with walkers and the cab driver took an alternate route.  Turns out that on that alternate route we discovered two local eating establishments within a very short walking distance of where we are staying.

We walked to La Ruina for a drink and met Frank who owns the place with his Panamanian wife.   He is retired U.S. military and had been stationed in Panama.  Our neighborhood is in a place called Nueva Gorgona.  Turns out the the original Gorgona was flooded away when Lake Gatun was created as part of the Panama Canal.  Frank set up this bar and restaurant on the ruins of an American military site, hence the name.  Like most things in our neighborhood, Frank's restaurant and bar are a work in progress

The inside of La Ruina is pretty charming.  We plan to return and check out the food.  The specialties are Panamanian seafood (prepared by Frank's wife) and pub food.

Frank recommended the restaurant right across the street for breakfast.  We will be trying it out soon as well.

     When we take our morning walk and it is high tide, there is a lot less beach area to walk on.  Today we decided to go off the beach and walk on the street just off the beach.  What we were treated to was a better view of some of the beach properties.  An interesting feature of these properties are the gates.

A more typical local home in Nuevo Gorgona

     Nueva Gorgona is a lot busier than it appears at first.  There is a public park area close by and just about every night there are organized futbol (soccer) games going on under the lights.  It seems like there is something to celebrate almost every night as we can see fireworks going off in the area.  Saturday night the air was filled with music.
     This beach area is where Panamanians go to get away from the city.  Things pick up on the weekends as the public beaches and complexes like the one we are in get busier with people enjoying the beach, the ocean and the pools.  There is a genuinely happy vibe here with families spending fun time together swimming and lounging.
     There also appears to be a regular circuit which the Canadians and Americans and other English speaking people travel to hang out.  On Wednesday nights there's happy hour with music at a restaurant/bar nearby called Picasso's.  At our place there is a happy hour on Thursdays.  My impression is that a lot of ex-pats who own businesses in the area use the gatherings as a way of networking.
     A group of people get together before the happy hour for beach volleyball games on Thursdays and again on Sundays.  I was lucky enough to join in on the games this past Thursday.
     There's not much in the way of touristy things in this area.  Basically being here is all about enjoying the weather (to date we've had rain during three of the days we've been here), experiencing the ocean (something we don't see much of at home) and relaxing. 
     We are working on renting a car for a few days in a week or so to allow us to explore a little further out in this part of Panama.  One of the challenges we've been facing is that the internet/wifi is undependable here and doing things online becomes problematic.  Time will tell whether we can get the rental accomplished.

It's not that unusual to see chickens and other critters in the yards of the homes in the neighborhood.  There are several roosters on our property.  We spotted a huge white rabbit in the yard next to La Ruina and were in the process of debating whether it was real or not when it took off.