I felt like I was standing on the edge, a great black abyss before me. The stars were out, and I could hear the waves lapping up on the shore. It truly was the great beyond before me — at least it felt that way in near total darkness.

Welcome to Panama City, Fla.

I was in town for an awards ceremony — “First-place awards also went to … former staffer Todd DeFeo for Investigative Reporting” — and this was my first brush with the beach. Not exactly my favorite place to visit. Buy hey, since I was here…

More to come…