Doing the Fl Panhandle

[skiptut]

We will be going East to West starting in Lake City Fl to Pensacola and back. Looking for camp sites and cool things to do or Not to do.

[Terry]

Try joe patties seafood in pensacola

[Lagrandd]

The State Parks are great... St. Andrews, Camp Helens, Top Sail, Henderson Beach, Big Lagoon....Camp Gulf (not a state park) is right on the beach in Miramar Beach. Try restaurants along 30A..The Vue, Cafe 30a, Stinky’s, Shunk Gulley. In Sandestin’s Grand Blvd area..Emerils...Vintage..

[Carol]

Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center in White Springs, FL located on your way to the panhandle - nice campground, music, small village with old-time crafts (blacksmith, potter, weaver, etc.) located on the Suwanee River. Imagine they have a website where you can see what events may be happening when you would be passing that way.

[captmetal]

i found the panhandle to be boring

[The Gritz Carlton]

PCB for sure...St Andrews St Pk is nice. 30A is one of those areas where the ladies wear sweaters tied around their neck in July. We've owned a vacation house in PCB for years. Lots to do, good restaurants and gorgeous water.

[gulfcoasters]

Be sure to go to the National Naval Aviation Museum on Pensacola NAS.

Ft Pickens Camp Ground on the Gulf Island National Sea Shore on Pensacola Beach is a good bet. They have a ferry that will shuttle you to NAS, Pensacola and Pensacola Beach so you do not have to drive.

[vegas]

Originally Posted by Lagrandd

The State Parks are great... St. Andrews, Camp Helens, Top Sail, Henderson Beach, Big Lagoon....Camp Gulf (not a state park) is right on the beach in Miramar Beach. Try restaurants along 30A..The Vue, Cafe 30a, Stinky’s, Shunk Gulley. In Sandestin’s Grand Blvd area..Emerils...Vintage..

We are staying at TOP SAIL another night to enjoy more of this beautiful park. We biked around 30A and stopped at STINKYS BAIT for a cold beer then biked over to ELMOs for dinner. This is an off season week just before Labor Day Weekend so it’s very quite but still the beach is beautiful.

[blw2]

Take a look at roadtrippers.com. Really nice site to find things along any route.

If it were me, I'd plan at least one way getting off I-10 as much as possible, looping down along the coast. Adds a lot of time, but that's a boring stretch of interstate IMO.

National Naval Aviation Museum is extremely good. World class. Not as big but on par with Smithsonian in my opinion. I'm a pilot and an aviation buff, but they have a great collection so I think it's at least good for folks that aren't. It's on the Navy base, so no firearms on board, etc...

We recently stayed at Big Lagoon State park. Pretty good. With that they extend free pass to go to the beach at nearby Perdido Key state park. We had an enjoyable time exploring downtown Pensacola too.
Sunset Grille on Perdido Key for waterfront dining.

What I recall from other trips

The stretch between Panama City and Fort Walton/Destin has a lot of beachy touristy activity, beautiful beaches, shopping, etc....
Once not in the RV, we took the "scenic route" looping down from Tallahassee to Apalachicola and along the coast all the way to Panama City Beach. It added a lot of travel time but it was enjoyable.... not much there but enjoyable.

The Whale's Tail Beach Bar and Grille was nice for right on the beach outdoor dining, very low end casual bar food
Landshark Landing Beach Bar and Grille was similar
These are probably party bar places at night and spring break, so timing probably makes a difference depending on your taste

I was impressed with Falling Water State Park...surprisingly hilly.

[16ACE27]

Florida Caverns is worth a stop, not necessarily to camp there but to take the tour. Get there early as they frequently sell out.

[Joe-FL]

There is a ton of stuff to do and visit in the panhandle. We stayed in Robertsdale AL for a month this last spring and ventured out from there. We visited New Orleans, Mobile, and many towns along the coast. Don't forget to check the Blue Angels practice schedule which is open and free to the public.

We got booked into Top Sail for a couple weeks next fall. You almost have to make your reservations 10 or 11 months out it stays so full. If you are a Florida resident it is half price. It will be one of the nicer places you will ever stay.

[csseeker]

Tallahassee Car Museum. It's not only cars, but tons of collectables. It's was an awesome stop. It's right off of I10 east of Tallahassee.

Top Sail is a great campground.