(Photo) Nature Trail on St. Joseph Peninsula.

Piece 1: Port St. Joe. Located in the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle is the town of Port St. Joe. Founded in 1835, it was initially established as a Gulf Coast trading port.

Today, Port St. Joe is largely a tourist spot that offers visitors a glimpse into the region’s past with its well-preserved vestiges and museums. The downtown area is highlighted by Reid Avenue, which features a number of unique shopping and dining experiences.

Swimmers and sunbathers will find easy access to beaches from Port St. Joe, while photographers and nature enthusiasts will enjoy the area’s stunning scenery and diverse habitats. The town’s shoreline borders St. Joseph Bay, which is a cove created by the St. Joseph Peninsula and Cape San Blas (a beautiful community that connects the peninsula to the mainland).

The peninsula is easily accessible from Port St. Joe, and includes a state park with sugar-white sand dunes and walking paths that wind through natural coastal vegetation filled with wildlife. The day we spent on the peninsula and at T.H. Stone Memorial State Park was definitely a highlight of our trip here.

An historic landmark of note in the area is the iconic Cape San Blas Lighthouse, a skeletal cast iron tower that was constructed in 1883 to serve as a sentinel over the coastline. The lighthouse and its complimentary structures were moved to Core Park in Port St. Joe in 2014 to better preserve them.

The Port St. Joe area is a good option for travelers who prefer a less crowded and more relaxed destination along the Gulf Coast.

Apalachicola Shrimp Boats

Piece 2: Apalachicola. Another small coastal town in the Florida Panhandle located about 30 minutes east of Port St. Joe is Apalachicola. The community’s name comes from the indigenous tribes who inhabited the area thousands of years ago.

Like Port St. Joe, Apalachicola was initially established for maritime commerce and became known as one of the largest cotton shipping ports on the Gulf of Mexico. Today, the town’s identity is more about its fishing industry and tourist traffic.

Also like Port St. Joe, Apalachicola borders a coastal inlet. St. George Island is peninsula-like landform that stretches 28 miles along the Florida coastline that includes Apalachicola, and creates Apalachicola Bay. This bay is an abundant source of shellfish, and ranks as one of the Florida’s top producers of wild shrimp.

During our visit here, we stopped in the local Piggly Wiggly grocery store, which had a great fresh seafood department, and got them steam cook us a couple of pounds of Apalachicola Bay pink shrimp. The meat of the pink shrimp is sweeter and more tender than the white and brown shrimp, and they are typically larger in size. What a treat!

We felt that Apalachicola had an “Old Florida” feel about it. Its legacy is captured in its beautifully preserved historic district, featuring Greek Revival and Victorian homes that testify to its former prosperity.

The town also had an eclectic mix of shops, many housed in historic buildings, offering everything from handcrafted jewelry and local artisan crafts to vintage finds and nautical treasures.

Wakulla Springs

Piece 3: Wakulla Springs. Located about 65 miles northeast of Apalachicola in Wakulla County FL is Wakulla Springa, which form one of the largest and deepest freshwater reservoirs in the world.

The springs are nestled within the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park, a 6,000-acre nature sanctuary featuring pine forests, cypress wetlands, hardwoods, a variety of flora and fauna, and a diverse array of wildlife including many species of native and migratory birds.

Wakulla Springs became a popular filming location for several Hollywood studios, beginning in 1938 with some of the early Tarzan movies. Perhaps the most well-known cinematic appearance of the area was the underwater scenes in the 1954 Universal Pictures horror classic “Creature from the Black Lagoon.”

When visiting Wakulla Springs, staying at The Lodge on the park property is recommended. This intimate 27-room hotel was established by industrialist Edward Ball in 1937. It features Spanish styling, period furnishings, original elevators, and colorful painted ceilings that depict wildlife and Old Florida scenes. By design, none of the guest rooms have a television. We actually found this somewhat refreshing; no “window to the world” to interfere with our serene experience.

Lastly, there are two boat tours available at Wakulla. The first, a glass-bottom boat ride, provides passengers with a crystal clear view of aquatic life and plants. The second, a ranger-led river excursion, takes passengers through an ancient cypress swamp to see wading birds, alligators, and the occasional manatee.

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