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2. Pokémon Go – What a Great Way to Have Some Fun with the Family!

If you think you’re too old to play Pokémon Go…think again!  Attention Parents:  This is a great activity that you can play with your kids!  You’ll ALL get some exercise too, and you’ll get to visit some significant local sites.  And then there’s just the fun of catching these little critters and having some friendly competitions in the gyms (optional).

Check out what THIS Baby Boomer accomplished in just 5 days!

If you don’t already know HOW to play, you can use this link to learn the basics:

Now until you begin to play, the rest of what I have to say will probably not make too much sense, so pass this on to the Pokémon Go players in your family so that they know what a Pokémon “gold mine” we have at the Calypso and Pier Park.

There are about 30+ Pokéstops in the Calypso & Pier Park area.  This is where you collect most of the items you need to play the game, especially eggs and Pokéballs.  Some of these stops are so close together you can collect items from more than one at a time.  My favorite Pier Park restaurant, The Back Porch, has a Pokéstop, and if you sit out front you may even be able to reach the Pokéstops across the street.

As for the Pokémon in the area, I collected so many in just a few days, I was more than impressed.  I kept track of the ones that I collected and you can see them in the chart below.  My findings included rare ones that popped up like candy.  For the most part, I ignored all of the ones I could find at home (Pidgey, Rattata, Caterpie, Weedle, and their evolved forms).  I marked them with an X on the chart to indicate that I saw them, but they were ignored to save Pokéballs.  There were so many rare and uncommon Pokémon popping up, that despite 30+ Pokéstops within walking distance, Pokéballs were still my scarcest commodity.

I did learn that mornings (around 6am – 2pm) were probably the scarcest for Pokémon sightings.  The findings were mostly the basic and common ones.  From 2pm to 8pm, they increased in frequency and I found them to be the more uncommon, evolved forms or rare ones.  After 8pm and through the night, was when I found the best selection.  You could always see 8-9 sightings in the area, so if you were up for a walk, you’d find something without going far.

The real challenge was having enough Pokéballs to catch them all!  I quickly scouted out a 1.8K walk that hit many of the major Pokéstops (twice), and let me have my Starbucks treat!

Walking to the Pier, crossing at the far crosswalk, and then proceeding to Starbucks, you can reach nearly all of the main strip stops.    You can hit all of them if you want to pop back and forth across the street for a block or two.  I walked to the Grand Theater, and walked the circle.  I’d get my Starbucks, and repeat the walk in reverse.  This let me hit each Pokéstop twice in the 1.8K walk, and collect about 50 Pokéballs, potions, and goodies for my backpack.  I made this walk every morning, and then again in the evening after dinner.  But the more Pokémon you want to catch, the more you’ll need to walk, or hang out between the Starbucks and the Grand Theater.  You can sit on the picnic tables and reach 3 Pokéstops and a gym all at once.

The most popular places to find people using Lures were the Pier, the Back Porch restaurant, and the eating area between Starbucks and the Grand Theater.  Every night you’d usually see all of these Pokéstops lit up with lures.

I didn’t spend any time in battling in the gyms because frankly, I’d just learned how to catch these little fellows.  But my daughter plans to teach me how to battle in the gyms before I return in November, so perhaps Part 2 will be an update on what’s happening in the gyms!

So now is the time to learn the game, and get ready to play in Panama City Beach!  It’s great family fun and great exercise!

But do remember to exercise caution on your walks.  With so many critters everywhere, be sure to keep your eyes up and watching where you’re walking!  If you need to catch a few critters, step aside or rest on one of the many benches available along the way.

If you catch one that I don’t have on my list below, send me the photo with the condo or Panama City Beach background!

Jenny's Pokémon Go: 5 day tally - September, 2016

#	Pic	Pokémon	Caught	Evolved	Hatched
#001		Bulbasaur	4
#002		Ivysaur
#003		Venusaur
#004		Charmander	1
#005		Charmeleon
#006		Charizard
#007		Squirtle	4
#008		Wartortle
#009		Blastoise
#010		Caterpie	X
#011		Metapod	X
#012		Butterfree	X
#013		Weedle	X
#014		Kakuna	X	1
#015		Beedrill	X	1
#016		Pidgey	X
#017		Pidgeotto	X
#018		Pidgeot	X
#019		Rattata	X
#020		Raticate	X
#021		Spearow	X
#022		Fearow	X
#023		Ekans	16		1
#024		Arbok	3	1
#025		Pikachu	9
#026		Raichu
#027		Sandshrew	7
#028		Sandslash
#029		Nidoran	13
#030		Nidorina	1	1
#031		Nidoqueen
#032		Nidoran	14
#033		Nidorino	1	1
#034		Nidoking
#035		Clefairy	1
#036		Clefable
#037		Vulpix	7
#038		Ninetales
#039		Jigglypuff	7
#040		Wigglytuff
#041		Zubat	13
#042		Golbat	3	1
#043		Oddish	14
#044		Gloom	1	1
#045		Vileplume
#046		Paras	17
#047		Parasect	1	1
#048		Venonat	24
#049		Venomoth	3	1
#050		Diglett	7
#051		Dugtrio
#052		Meowth	10
#053		Persian
#054		Psyduck	16
#055		Golduck
#056		Mankey	7
#057		Primeape
#058		Growlithe	7		1
#059		Arcanine
#060		Poliwag	8
#061		Poliwhirl		1
#062		Poliwrath
#063		Abra	5
#064		Kadabra
#065		Alakazam
#066		Machop	3
#067		Machoke
#068		Machamp
#069		Bellsprout	18
#070		Weepinbell		1
#071		Victreebel
#072		Tentacool	11		1
#073		Tentacruel
#074		Geodude	10
#075		Graveler		1
#076		Golem
#077		Ponyta	7
#078		Rapidash	1
#079		Slowpoke	11
#080		Slowbro
#081		Magnemite	5
#082		Magneton
#083		Farfetch’d
#084		Doduo	2
#085		Dodrio
#086		Seel	4
#087		Dewgong
#088		Grimer
#089		Muk
#090		Shellder	2
#091		Cloyster
#092		Gastly	7
#093		Haunter		1
#094		Gengar
#095		Onix			1
#096		Drowzee	8		1
#097		Hypno
#098		Krabby	13
#099		Kingler		1
#100		Voltorb	7
#101		Electrode
#102		Exeggcute	8
#103		Exeggutor
#104		Cubone	1
#105		Marowak
#106		Hitmonlee	1
#107		Hitmonchan	1
#108		Lickitung	2		1
#109		Koffing	5
#110		Weezing
#111		Rhyhorn	4		1
#112		Rhydon
#113		Chansey	1
#114		Tangela
#115		Kangaskhan
#116		Horsea	6
#117		Seadra
#118		Goldeen	18
#119		Seaking		1
#120		Staryu	21
#121		Starmie		1
#122		Mr. Mime
#123		Scyther	1		1
#124		Jynx	3
#125		Electabuzz	1
#126		Magmar
#127		Pinsir	8
#128		Tauros	2
#129		Magikarp	33
#130		Gyarados
#131		Lapras
#132		Ditto
#133		Eevee	16X*
#134		Vaporeon		1
#135		Jolteon
#136		Flareon		1
#137		Porygon
#138		Omanyte	1
#139		Omastar
#140		Kabuto
#141		Kabutops
#142		Aerodactyl	1
#143		Snorlax
#144		Articuno
#145		Zapdos
#146		Moltres
#147		Dratini	1
#148		Dragonair
#149		Dragonite
#150		Mewtwo
#151		Mew

X = unknown # ignored.

16X* = I caught 16 so that I would have candies to evolve, but ignored all others after that.

Photo Credit for Pokémon character images:  www.pokemongodb.net