Seafood ShoresSeafood Shores

Director Peter Weir had almost given up on a location for The Truman Show and settled for a soundstage in Los Angeles when his wife found the “master-planned” community of SEASIDE on Florida’s now-famed Highway 30A. Although its cheerful Chiclet-like cottages and cute post office provided the ideal backdrop for the manufactured and closely surveilled life of perfection in the movie, the real Seaside isn’t exactly Stepford. 

Pop into decidedly unconventional SUNDOG BOOKS and CENTRAL SQUARE RECORDS, perched over the same beachside town square (more like a semicircle) where Seaside Farmers Market shoppers pick up locally grown oranges and tupelo honey. The community also hosts the annual 30A SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL (Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Jason Isbell all alumni) and the Longleaf Writers Conference. Drive past 30A’s high-dollar vacation villas (there’s a reason this stretch is called the “Hamptons of the South”) and a more modest, mid century scene comes into view at Laguna Beach, where you can still eat a reasonably priced diner-style burger at the THOMAS DONUT & SNACK SHACK and enjoy an uninterrupted view of the water. 

At nearby ST. ANDREWS STATE PARK, the egalitarian access belies its uncrowded beach, a 10-out-of-10 stunner with Coke-bottle–green waves and rock jetties. Take the road less traveled, away from Panama City Beach’s stretch of high-rises and souvenir shops, into St. Andrews, a historic downtown in the midst of a revival. Sit on the patio of new addition, HISTORY CLASS BREWING COMPANY, and sip a pint of Pretty Bayou, then take a stroll past the Martin Theatre, an art deco gem, to the corner of 9th Street and Calhoun Avenue to marvel at the front yard tropicalia of Mike and Cindi Cole, owners of the Snooty Gardener. 

An hour down the highway past Mexico Beach (brake for KILLER SEAFOOD’s trailer if it’s open), Port St. Joe was, in 1837, once the largest outpost in the Florida territory. After yellow fever and a hurricane very nearly wiped it off the map, the settlement was reimagined by 20th-century entrepreneurs as a company town around a paper mill. The mill closed in 1999, and today’s Port St. Joe is sleepier but it’s no less charming–the kind of place to rent a cottage on short notice, settle into the porch swing and finally read the novel that’s been languishing on your nightstand. When you venture into downtown, stop in at JOSEPH’S COTTAGE, a boutique owned by Melissa Farrell, who–together with Christina McDermott and Emily Raffield–authored Saints of Old Florida, a coveted coffee-table book that captures the hidden romance and history of this part of the Panhandle.

SEAFOOD DETOUR
Hole in the Wall
Apalachicola, FL
Make friends with Barbara. She’ll cut you a good piece of her Key lime pie after a dozen on the half shell. 

Tour the “Forgotten Coast” 

CAPE SAN BLAS
On a map, it looks like a glorified sandbar, but this sliver might be one of the Gulf ’s best-kept secrets. A row of stilt houses lines State Road 30E, the one road on this peaceful peninsula where even during peak season you’ll find just a few souls strolling abreast the waves. On the fittingly named STUMP HOLE BEACH, ancient cypress stumps stand suspended over the sand by exposed roots once submerged in the water. Come August and September, its prime scalloping season in ST. JOSEPH BAY. The state park has snorkels, buckets and everything else you need to harvest a bucket. Just note the limit of two gallons per person. 

APALACHICOLA
A recent short-term ban on harvesting wild oysters in its estuary has been a hard hit for this salty yet seductive town. But thanks to oyster farms and harvests from nearby counties, there are still plenty of half-shell opportunities, including THE STATION RAW BAR, and the wraparound veranda of THE GIBSON INN, a renovated stunner built in 1907. On Commerce Street, pop in at BECASA, source of breezy linen pieces. Just a block farther, pull up at the oversize cypress benches at OYSTER CITY BREWING with a Mangrove pale ale. You’ll quickly make some new friends, maybe even fishing buddies.

ST. VINCENT ISLAND
Home to red wolves, nests of least tern and tufts of amethyst-colored Gulf Coast lupine, this barrier island wildlife refuge is accessible only by boat. Take the shuttle ferry over, or experience its natural wonders just by standing at the pier near INDIAN PASS CAMPGROUND at the end of 30B, where pods of bottlenose dolphins put on their own show.

CRAWFORDVILLE
An untouched primordial paradise for migrating and native birds in winter, ST. MARKS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE spans 68,000 acres, with plenty of lookout towers for spotting roseate spoonbills, bald eagles, even wood storks. The 19th-century lighthouse has survived multiple hurricanes and the Civil War. As you drive out of the refuge, head to Ouzts’ Too Oyster Bar and Grill for smoked mullet and a dozen on a cafeteria tray, best eaten in the courtyard under banana trees. 

SEAFOOD DETOUR
Mineral Springs Seafood 
Panacea, FL
The myth, the legend: the Hot Mess. A dip made from smoked tuna, cobia and salmon. 

Florida is home to more large-size natural springs than any other state, and the healing, sapphire-blue allure of those along the Gulf ’s edge has drawn Old World explorers and Old Hollywood celebrities alike. Evade the syrupy humidity with a 90-minute float in RAINBOW SPRINGS, or hop aboard a covered pontoon ride through CRYSTAL RIVER PRESERVE STATE PARK’s estuary. Citrus County is the only place where it’s legal to swim with manatees in their natural habitat; sanctioned snorkeling tours at Crystal River offer a chance to float (with reverence) among the calm, curious creatures. Back on dry land, head south on U.S. 19 to the first-magnitude spring at HOMOSASSA SPRINGS WILDLIFE STATE PARK and its exotic wildlife, which includes flamingos and Lucifer, the oldest hippopotamus in captivity. Farther south, at WEEKI WACHEE SPRINGS STATE PARK, make time to see one of the famed mermaid shows. Fish-tailed beauties have been dancing under-water since 1947, gulping air through long hoses in between graceful flips and kicks.

SEAFOOD DETOUR
Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish
St. Petersburg, FL
Smoking mullet, mahi-mahi, salmon and mackerel over red oak since 1951.