Panhandle

[Michael66]

Hier een leuk artikel over dingen die in de panhandle te doen/zien zijn:

Tallahassee area of the Panhandle rich with Florida's history

Visitors at Wakulla Springs State Park gaze into the water during a glass-bottom boat tour of the Wakulla River. A trip on the river is a journey through nature, where alligators, deer, osprey and turtles are on display in an area where Johnny Weissmuller became Tarzan.


TALLAHASSEE
You were going to drive out west with the kids, see the mountains and the canyons. Or fly up to New York City to take in a couple of shows. Then you looked at the budget, did the math and concluded that a vacation may be out of the question this year.
But wait! You need not be stuck with a "staycation" after all. Drive 200 miles north of Tampa Bay — that's one lousy tank of gas — and find yourself in a different landscape, a different rhythm. It's Florida, but not as you know it. In Tallahassee, the accents are softer, the tea is sweeter, trees are hugged daily and history abounds. Here, you can visit a 17th century Spanish mission, commune with panthers and stroll around a plantation house once lived in by a princess of France. All that in one afternoon and for less than the price of a ticket to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Now, you probably think of Tallahassee as the place where lobbyists in $100 ties drink $200 bourbon while hanging out with lawmakers as they conspire to wreak havoc on the taxpayer. That image might be accurate sometimes, but there's more to the story than that.
• The Capitol is one of Tallahassee's most interesting attractions. The silver-domed old building, restored to its 1902 incarnation, is now a museum, with exhibits related to Florida politics (the state has been what Dave Barry calls a "weirdness magnet" ever since it became part of the United States in 1821). The adjacent "new" Capitol (as it's called, even though it was completed in 1977) boasts the best view in town from the 22nd floor, and some fine public art, commissioned back when we actually cared about culture. The lobby has murals of iconic Floridiana (oranges turned into flowers, a cattleman's hat, a rocket, diaphanous blue water, a large mockingbird) by world-renowned painter James Rosenquist. Upstairs in the House of Representatives, check out the murals by Tarpon Springs artist Christopher Still, taking you from the prehistory of the peninsula 10,000 years ago through the Spanish settlement, the Cotton Kingdom and on to the 21st century. All free; call (850) 487-1902 for information.
• The Museum of Florida History (500 S Bronough St.; (850) 245-6400) is a block away from the Capitol and is like the state's attic. There is a trove of peculiar treasures: tattered Civil War banners, Florida movie posters (The Creature from the Black Lagoon filmed in part at Wakulla Springs), old-time tourist souvenirs and World War II relics. Admission is free.
• For an even more vivid evocation of Florida's past, one you can walk through and touch, the Tallahassee Museum of Natural History (3945 Museum Drive; (850) 575-8684) on the shore of Lake Bradford allows you to experience Florida as it was 150 years ago. The Big Bend Farm is a collection of 19th century buildings carefully moved from Wakulla, Liberty and Calhoun counties and reassembled to show what life was like (outhouse and all) back before Henry Flagler and Henry Plant made the state safe for indoor plumbing and tourism. There's a garden with corn, beans, greens and cane, the staples of Southern cuisine, as well as hogs, chickens and cows. The scents are as authentic as the weathered wooden boards.
Most Floridians then lived on small hard-scrabble farms. A few lived in comparative luxury on a plantation. Catherine Gray, a relative of George Washington's, married Prince Achille Murat, Napoleon's nephew and onetime crown prince of Naples, in 1826. He drank himself to death in 1847, but she lived on in Bellevue, an airy raised cottage now at the museum. It's not as fancy as you might think, not for a woman who was declared a princess of France by Emperor Napoleon III. But Bellevue is far more comfortable than the spartan cabins where the slaves lived. The one here is a reconstruction (few people bothered to preserve the originals), but you can see that plantation life wasn't glamorous for the people who picked the cotton.
The museum's very best feature, however, is its wildlife. You wander along raised walkways over the swampy palmetto and oak forest, critters to the left and critters to the right, many endangered: red wolves, bobcats, wild turkeys, gray foxes, black bear. They live in large enclosures where they can run, swim and generally act in the ways they did in the wild. The river otters, with their combination stream, swimming pool and water slide, put on a great show (they love an audience). Other animals are more shy, especially the Florida panthers. If you wait patiently, you can watch them play like kittens, leap onto a branch (they can jump 15 or 20 feet in the air) and lounge in a tree, staring at you with their golden eyes.
• Back when the panther ruled the Florida wilderness, 300 years before the first Europeans landed on the Atlantic coast, the Apalachee built huge earthworks on the shore of Lake Jackson, just north of Tallahassee. Considered one of the most important pre-Columbian sites in the Southeast, the mounds were a sacred place. There were once at least six of them, but some have been plowed under. The Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park (3600 Indian Mounds Road; (850) 922-6007) lets you climb the biggest one, which is 36 feet high.
The park is a great place for a picnic, with the breeze blowing off the lake and the oak trees whispering overhead.
• Or you can tote a cruelty-free tuna sandwich and a slice of carrot cake from New Leaf Market (1235 Apalachee Parkway; (850) 942-2557) over to San Luis de Talimali, a restored and re-created 17th century Franciscan mission on a high Tallahassee hill (2020 Mission Road; (850) 487-3655). For 50 years, until it was abandoned in 1704, this was the capital of Spanish West Florida, the seat both of temporal and spiritual power. Careful excavation is still ongoing (sometimes you can see archaeologists at work), but we know that the Spanish built a friary, a fort and a church, very like the ones you can see now. The Apalachee held council meetings in the big roundhouse and played ball in the courtyard. San Luis was the central gem in a string of missions from Pensacola to St. Augustine.
• The Spanish left traces of their attempts at colonization all over the place, including at Wakulla Springs, 13 miles south of Tallahassee. Of course, paleo-Indians settled near the vast, deep spring (one of the largest in the world) 10 centuries before Juan Ponce de León ever took ship. And even before then, not long after the peninsula rose from the sea for the last time, mastodons and saber-toothed tigers roamed around Wakulla. You can still see mastodon bones down in the blue heart of the spring.
Wakulla Springs State Park (550 Wakulla Park Drive; (850) 926-0700) is the place to go and cool off from all that culture you've been getting. Even in a North Florida August, the water stays about 70 degrees. You can also hike the nature trails and go on the Jungle Cruise, a boat trip along the Wakulla River where you'll see alligators, deer, osprey, anhinga, turtles and jumping mullet, not to mention the tree Johnny Weissmuller swung from in his Tarzan movies.
The tab for all these attractions (not counting food) adds up to $18. San Luis, the Museum of Florida History and the Capitols are all free. Entrance to the Mounds costs $3 per car, Wakulla Springs is $6 per car, and the Tallahassee Museum of Natural History is nine bucks for an adult. Even if you have a blow-out dinner at Wakulla Springs Lodge (the fried chicken, the shrimp and the pecan pie are to die for), you'll still have spent less than you would in one afternoon at Disney World. And you will have seen what the state park service likes to call "the real Florida," a rapidly disappearing wonder.

Bron: http://www.tampabay.com/features/tra...cle1024938.ece

[vondutchga]

Dennis,
Ik heb een hele groep vrienden in Cartersville GA, kan ze wel bellen als je langs wilt gaan, dan kan je een pig roast bbq mee maken.
Atlanta zelf is natuurlijk een wereld stad, als je echt "southern living" in Georgia mee wilt maken ga dan naar Ellijay of Blue Ridge GA, ik heb zelf zo'n 5 jaar in Blue Ridge gewoont daar ga je gemakkelijk 30 jaar terug in de tijd

[nati]

Hallo

Onze laatste week van onze reis door Florida volgende zomer,willen we een rondreisje door het noorden van de staat doen.
In een reisgids las ik iets van een Cotton Trail Tour in de omgeving van Tallahassee, kent er iemand deze route?
Kan men in deze streek (katoen)plantages bezoeken of zijn deze meer in Georgia?(heb er al enkele gevonden rond de stad Thomasville,GA )

Groetjes

[Armand]

Mijn vrouw en ik zijn al vaak naar Florida op vakantie geweest en vlogen dan meestal op Orlando om vervolgens een week of 2 tot 3 in de panhandle door te brengen (ons favoriete stukje Florida). Sinds mei dit jaar hebben we een zoontje en we zouden graag over een paar maanden weer richting Florida willen gaan en het liefst weer naar de panhandle gedurende 10 dagen tot 2 weken.

We zijn benieuwd naar de ervaringen van anderen en tips waar te verblijven met een baby.

[Ebelix]

Een gedeelte van de panhandle is erg druk en toeristisch. Dit is het gedeelte tussen Pensecola en Destin. Vanaf Destin naar het einde van de panhandle is het erg rustig met mooie bossen en prachtige stranden. We hebben 2 jaar op rij een week op St. George Island gezeten aan het einde van de vakantie. Heerlijk rustig in een bungalow met prive zwembad en het strand om de hoek.

[Michael66]

Vandaag een leuk artikel over bezienswaardigheden in de Panhandle gevonden:

Trip to Florida Panhandle offers unspoiled beauty, history

By Janet K. Keeler, Times Lifestyles Editor
In Print: Sunday, March 7, 2010

Some call it the Redneck Riviera, though tourism boosters prefer the Forgotten Coast, or maybe even the more Celtic sounding Emerald Coast.

• It's the Florida Panhandle and it is as different from the rest of Florida as Pepsi is from Coke. Yes, the Panhandle is in the same state as Tampa, Orlando and Miami, but it has its own flavor. The portion of the Panhandle south of Alabama, which is most of it, is even in a different time zone than the rest of the state.
• Forget the nightlife, unless you count midnight fishing on the Choctawhatchee River. In the Panhandle, vacationers trade theme parks for state parks that have real thrill hills and sand dunes. The pace is slower, more genteel, and the food — and accents — more Southern. The white-sand beaches are wide and frequented by folks from Georgia and Alabama all summer long. And there's history there. When the peninsula was mostly swamp, settlers and explorers set up camp on the wide strip of northern Florida.
• Today's installment of our yearlong Sunshine State Scrapbook series focuses on the Florida that stretches from Tallahassee to Pensacola. If you haven't been, gather the family and gas up the car. It's 470 miles from Tampa to Pensacola (more than the 455 to Atlanta). The drive will remind you what a big state you live in. The change in terrain and vibe shows its diversity.
• Put these places and events on your to-go list. And make sure you stop somewhere for Apalachicola oysters. And grits. Lot of grits.
• Janet K. Keeler, Times lifestyles editor
• Sources: Times files, Orlando, Central & North Florida: Visitor's Guide by Sandra Friend and Kathy Wolf (Countryman Press, 2004), Backroads & Byways of Florida by Zain Deane (Countryman Press, 2009), visitflorida.com

Florida CavernsState Park
A cave tour of Florida’s delicate limestone underpinnings will have you ducking and squeezing through places called the Wedding Room and the Cathedral. This state park in Marianna (3345 Caverns Road; (850) 482-9599 or floridastateparks.org) is just 70 miles northwest of Tallahassee and is the only state park that offers guided cave tours. The caverns were formed 38 million years ago by the acidic erosion of limestone, Florida’s native rock. Tours are every hour during the day, more frequently during school holidays and busy summer months, which is a cool time to visit because the temperature underground is a steady 68 degrees. For those who want to keep their entertainment above ground, there are camping and hiking, plus kayaking and canoeing on the Chipola River, the largest tributary of the Apalachicola River. Nearby stables rent horses for the trails. Entrance to the park is $4 per carload. Cave tours are adults $8, children 12 and under $5, free for age 2 and younger.



Falling WatersState Park
Just a few miles off Interstate 10, near Chipley, the sinkhole is celebrated at Falling Waters (1130 State Park Road; (850) 638-6130 or floridastateparks.org). This is the spot of Florida's tallest waterfall, but forget what you know about water cascading over a mountainside. You'll have to look down as water plummets 73 feet into a 20-foot-wide cylindrical pit. It's a good idea to call ahead to see how much water is flowing. It's better if there has been a lot of rain. Sinkhole Trail, which is lined with towering trees and sinkholes, leads to the waterfall. The 170-acre park bursts with blooming wildflowers each spring, and campsites are available. Take a detour and mosey through Chipley, population 3,600 and the county seat of Washington County, which says something about how sparsely populated the area is. Stop at the 1901 Gallery & Cafe on Main Street for a bite. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Highway 98
Take the winding slow road along the Gulf of Mexico clear to Pensacola, about 270 miles if you catch it in Perry. Go left off U.S. 19 after seeing the neon sign that says "Take a kid fishing" at Wilson's, an old-time bait, tackle and convenience store.
You'll pass through lots of scenic towns including Carrabelle, Apalachicola and Mexico Beach, plus drive by the wide beaches of Panama City and the newly engineered resort havens of Seaside and Watercolor. Think about sitting at the bar for lunch at Indian Pass Raw Bar in Port St. Joe (91 Indian Pass Road; (850) 227-1670 or indianpassrawbar.com). Get ready for super fresh oysters and some crazy tales. If you can hold out longer, head for the Red Bar in Grayton Beach (70 Hotz Ave; (850) 231-1008 or theredbar.com). Order the gumbo; they don't serve it at dinner. There are lots of cottages and big beach houses for rent in Grayton, where the unofficial slogan is "Nice Dogs, Strange People." Get information at graytonbeach.com.
Fort Walton Beach comes before Pensacola, where you can spend another night. Head back home via Interstate 10.

FlyingHighCircus
Think Florida State is just about football? Think again. FSU boasts one of only two collegiate circuses in the country — the other is at Illinois State University in Normal — and your opportunity to see the high-wire thrills comes next month. The circus was formed in 1943 as a way to integrate the newly coeducational campus. In case you didn't know, FSU was a women's college for a time. Student performers do their thing under the big top at Haskin Circus Complex right on campus. Performances are April 2-3, 9-11 and 16-17. To get more information and to buy tickets, call (850) 644-6500 or go to circus.fsu.edu. Tickets are less than $20 each.

Flora-bamaLounge
The address says Pensacola, but the "last authentic American roadhouse" is actually on Perdido Key, which straddles the Florida-Alabama state line (17401 Perdido Key Drive; (850) 492-0611 or www. florabama.com). The location spawned one of the most curious annual events in Florida: the Interstate Mullet Toss, April 23-25 this year. There's a lot of beer drinking and tossing dead mullet across state lines. A golf tournament and beach party also accompany the fish-throwing festivities. If you're not up to that spectacle, stop by the rambling beach bar another time and take a sip of the rowdy South. It's been said Jimmy Buffett stops by every once in a while. Margaritaville meets mullet mayhem.

Scallopingin Port St. Joe
Snorkel for sweet bay scallops in St. Joe Bay, west of Apalachicola, from July 1 to Sept. 10. Or wade through the shallows and sift the hiding mollusks from the water. The wading is free and the snorkeling, too, if you have your own boat and gear. If not, book a three-hour charter trip with Seahorse Boat Rental out of Port St. Joe Marina (340 Marina Drive; (850) 227-9393 or psjmarina.com) for $45 per person, including gear. (Riders who aren't scalloping are only $10.) The water where the scallops hide in seagrass beds is generally no deeper than 6 feet. You'll learn how to catch, clean and cook your catch. Need a place to stay? Consider the quiet gulf-front Turtle Beach Inn (140 Painted Pony Road, Port St. Joe; (850) 229-9366 or turtlebeachinn.com). Rates start at $165, but book early — there are only four rooms in the B&B — if you're planning your trip around the annual St. Joseph Bay Scallop Festival Aug. 7-8. Cottages for families have a minimum two-night stay and start at $225. Go to gulfchamber.org for more information.

The Capitol
How long have you lived in Florida? And you haven't toured the statehouse? Shame on you. There are actually two capitols in Tallahassee and, no, one is not Doak Campbell Stadium. There is the historic Capitol, built in 1845, restored and added on to in subsequent years and then saved from the wrecking ball in the 1970s, and the high-rise next door where state business is conducted today. The historic Capitol sits graciously on a hill on Monroe Street. The domed building rises up to meet you if you drive into Tallahassee on the Apalachee Parkway, which is what U.S. 19 becomes as it hits Tally. (If you get to the capital from I-10, you'll miss that view.) A museum and tour are available. There are also tours of the new Capitol, which is worth your time especially to see the eight murals depicting Florida history, all the way to the space shuttle and Disney World, in the House of Representatives chambers. Those were painted by Tarpon Springs artist Christopher Still, who also painted Gov. Lawton Chiles' official portrait. (Look for the he-coon in the background, a reference to a famous Chiles line.) You can see that, along with other portraits of past governors, in the new Capitol. Get information about touring the new Capitol from the state Welcome Center at (850) 488-6167. For more information about the historic Capitol, including hours of operation and other activities, call (850) 487-1902 or go to flhistoriccapitol.gov.

Great flyingmachines
The U.S. military, largely the Navy, has had a major presence in Pensacola since at least 1825, when a Navy shipyard was commissioned by the federal government. Once the military took to the skies, Pensacola really boomed. Track that history at the National Museum of Naval Aviation (1750 Radford Blvd.; (850) 452-3604 or navalaviationmuseum.org) or just marvel at the more than 150 restored aircraft, including wood-and-fabric biplanes. Plus, there are more than 4,000 artifacts from military aviation and the chance to see what you're made of in the FA-18 flight simulator. From March to November, you might be able to see the Blue Angels practicing for their air shows. (Find more on the Blue Angels at blueangels.navy.mil.) Did we mention the movies shown on the seven-story IMAX screen? Five movies are showing now, including Stormchasers and Fighter Pilot. Museum entry is free; charges for movie and simulator. Check the Web site for a calendar of events.

Sand dunesat St. Joseph
Sand dunes? On the gulf coast of Florida? Yes, and you can see them at the popular St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, near St. Joe. The unspoiled beach routinely ranks as one of the best in the nation according to Dr. Beach, who is a big fan in general of Florida beaches. Nature lovers flock there to see more than 250 species of birds and the annual migration of monarch butterflies in the fall. You can camp, paddle and hike, too, but it's the towering sand dunes, some as tall as 25 feet, that make St. Joseph special. Cabins tend to book up early so call ahead. For more information, call (850) 227-1327 or go to floridastateparks.org.

Honeyby the side of the road
Keep your eyes open for roadside stands selling tupelo honey, mayhaw jelly and cane syrup, all products of the American South, including North Florida. You'll see them if you've been smart enough to get off Interstate 10 to drive the smaller highways and byways. There is often a man selling all three from the back of his truck where U.S. 98 meets Highway 267 at Newport, south of Tallahassee near Wakulla. Arthur Robinson has been selling honey, jelly and nuts at Robinson Pecan House, U.S. 27, Monticello, for nearly 40 years. Pick up a few jars and a bag of pecans to take home as souvenirs. There's an annual Tupelo Honey Festival in Wewahitchka, this year May 15. For more information, go to visitgulf.com.

Bron: St. Petersburg Times / www.tampabay.com

[carmen1988]

Hallo,

Ik ben van plan om in mijn vakantie in September een bezoekje te gaan bregen aan Wakulla Springs. (Heeft iemand hier leuke tips over, ik hoor ze graag.)

Ik wil in de buurt een overnachting. Tallahassee lijkt mij het handigst, maar misschien dat iemand een leuk dorpje daar in de buurt weet voor een overnachting?

Greetzz Carmen

[Maarten-Annique]

Mijn tip zou zijn; sla de springs over. Wij zijn er in mei geweest en vonden het erg tegenvallen! Geen blauw water.
Voor de overnachting zit je in Tallahassee wel goed.
Saint Marks Wildlife Refuge is ook nog een aanrader als je daar toch in de buurt komt.

[carmen1988]

Oke dus Wakulla springs is niet de moeite waard. Zal ik in iedergeval wat receach doen naar het Saint Marks Wildlife refuge...Zou je me wel kunnen vertellen wat ik me daar van voor moet stellen?? Heb je nog andere leuke dingen gezien daar in de buurt bijv Dorpjes?

Alvast bedankt voor de TIP!

[Maarten-Annique]

De Saint Marks wildlife refuge is een mooie weg door een prachtig natuurgebied. Hier loop je het risico beren, racoons, alligators en vele mooie andere dieren te zien.
http://www.fws.gov/saintmarks/wildlife.html

In de buurt heb je o.a. nog Tallahassee. Verder kan ik het je niet vertellen, omdat wij buiten dit niets bezocht hebben en zijn doorgereden naar Clearwater (aanrader!!! prachtige stranden)

Als je tips wilt over de Panhandle:
Pensacola Beach
National Museum of Aviation Pensacola
Verschillende wijngaarden b.v. bij Panama city
In Panama city hebben we gezwommen bij de wilde roggen en vissen. Het zag er zwart van de Sting ray's.

Mooie stranden; Panama city, Pensacola Beach en eigenlijk heel de kust daar.