Pier Park is the commercial hub of Panama City Beach — a large open-air shopping and entertainment complex that sits where the old Miracle Strip Amusement Park once thrilled generations of Florida kids. The original Miracle Strip operated from 1963 to 2004, and its wooden roller coaster, the Starliner, was hauled off to Indiana when the park closed. Pier Park replaced it, but if you look at the site now you'd never know what came before.
Today the complex has the full range of chain restaurants and shops, a movie theatre, a Ferris wheel, and enough activity to keep families occupied for an afternoon. It is not the most distinctive place in the world, but it organizes the tourist end of the strip and anchors the area around 77th Avenue. If you need supplies, a proper meal, or something to do on a rainy afternoon, this is where you go.