Things to do in Florida Panhandle
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Boatyard
Slips are available to pull up in your own boat at this classy place that's gained a loyal following with locals. There's good live music, very fine martinis and talented chefs turning out Keys and Gulf classics like guava-glazed baby back ribs and crisped-to-perfection hand-battered fried shrimp.
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Pineapple Willy's
Ask for a table on the restaurant pier for breezy beachside dining. Famed for its signature drinks and its house special: Jack Daniels BBQ ribs.
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Pensacola Lighthouse
Accessed from the NAS is the 160ft, 1859-built Pensacola Lighthouse, which is in use today.
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Lake Ella
- Tallahassee, USA
- Sights › Lake
Part of Tallahassee life for well over a century, Lake Ella, east off N Monroe St to the south of W Tharpe St, is a much-loved urban park that's great for a run or blade, or picnic.
Originally known as Bull's Pond, in the 19th century this sylvan, spring-fed pool was renamed by planter Jabez Bull for his daughter. It has long been a swimming hole, baptismal site and picnic spot. It was here, in 1867, that more than 2000 newly freed slaves celebrated Emancipation Day.
The roaring '20s saw Lake Ella become a holidaymaker's playground. In 1924 Gilbert Sewell Chandler built the Lakeside Motel (the cottages still line the east shore today, housing boutiques and craft shops), an…
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Tallahassee-St Marks Historic Railroad State Trail
It's a cyclist's fantasy: no cars, gutters or traffic lights, just uninterrupted, smooth-as-silk riding (or running, blading or walking). Opened in 1989, the Tallahassee-St Marks Historic Railroad State Trail (877-822-5208; admission free; ;08:00-sunset year-round) is the original and longest paved rail trail in the state. It spans 16 miles from Tallahassee due south to the Gulf port town of St Marks, and is recessed at the confluence of the Wakulla and St Marks rivers.
At times canopied by oaks that create a shady tunnel, it sits on a coastal plain, making it flat as a tack the entire length and easy for riders of all abilities.
The original railroad also broke ground as …
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Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University
Universally referred to by its acronym, FAMU (fam-you), Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University was founded in 1887 as the State Normal College for Colored Students, with 15 students and two instructors. Today it’s home to a population of about 10,000 students of all races, as well as the Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center & Museum. A forerunner in research on African American influence on US history and culture, the center and museum holds one of the country’s largest collections of African American and African artifacts as well as a huge collection of papers, photographs, paintings and documents pertaining to black American life.
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Tallahassee–St Marks Historic Railroad State Trail
The ultimate treat for runners, skaters and cyclists is the Tallahassee–St Marks Historic Railroad State Trail – with 16 miles of smooth trails shooting due south to the gulf port town of St Marks and not a car or traffic light in sight. It’s easy and flat for all riders, sitting on a coastal plain and shaded at many points by canopies of gracious live oaks. Though the rail trail begins 4.5 miles north of the main trailhead, the city section is not so scenic, and it’s best to start at the main trailhead (with parking), 100yd south of the intersection of Capital Circle and Hwy 363. You’ll find plenty of jumping on and off points with water and restrooms.
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Treasure Ship
A landmark since the ’70s, this trip of a place houses three separate restaurants over three levels of a full-scale replica of Sir Francis Drake’s 17th-century Golden Hind galleon. Hook’s Grille & Grog, at dock level, serves Caribbean cuisine (mains $11 to $24), and is open for lunch and dinner. On the 2nd level, the Main Dining Room is open at dinner, and serves steaks, seafood and huge salads (mains $16 to $30). Opening onto an open-air deck, the 3rd level contains Captain Crabby’s, with all-you-can-eat dinners of crab legs, shrimp and ribs (buffet $20 to $30), and cocktails served at the Deck Bar overlooking Grand Lagoon.
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Museum of Florida History
Housed in a stark and off-putting modern building with no charm, the Museum of Florida History is filled with wonderful exhibits, tackling everything from Florida’s Paleo-Indians, who inhabited these parts beginning at the end of the Ice Age, to Civil War times, Spanish shipwrecks in the Atlantic and the rise of ‘Tin-Can Tourism,’ when the middle-class traveler began hitting Florida in droves – driving south, camping out and eating dinner out of tin cans. You’ll see a 1925 Model T, a 1911 Baker electric car, a reconstructed citrus packing house of the 1920s and the star attraction: a North American mastodon skeleton.
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Cycling
It's a cyclist's fantasy: no cars, gutters or traffic lights, just uninterrupted, smooth-as-silk riding (or running, blading or walking). Opened in 1989, the Tallahassee-St Marks Historic Railroad State Trail is the original and longest paved rail trail in the state. It spans 16 miles from Tallahassee due south to the Gulf port town of St Marks, and is recessed at the confluence of the Wakulla and St Marks rivers.
At times canopied by oaks that create a shady tunnel, it sits on a coastal plain, making it flat as a tack the entire length and easy for riders of all abilities.
reviewed
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Atlas Oyster House
This new and instant favorite – paired, right on a breezy dock, with the slightly more upscale Fish House (mains $15 to $25) – is packed nightly with a range of locals who come for the outdoor seating, live blues and fresh-from-the-sea menu featuring everything from burgers and oysters on the half shell, to gulf shrimp and fish of the day served in a variety of ways, including pecan encrusted. The Fish House is known for its signature dish: World Famous Grits Ya Ya, which serves spicy gulf shrimp, bacon and garlicky veggies over steaming gouda-cheese grits.
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Historic Capitol
The 1902 Historic Capitol, adorned by candy-striped awnings and topped with a reproduction of the original glass dome, is as grand as its successor is uninviting. It now houses the Florida Legislative Research Center and Museum, including a restored House of Representatives chamber and governors’ reception area, plenty of governors’ portraits, and exhibits on immigration, state development and the infamous 2000 US presidential election, with displays such as the equally infamous butterfly ballot, now enclosed in glass.
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The Oar House
This tucked-away haven, right on Bayou Chico at the edge of a marina, is an alfresco dining spot with tables under a huge palapa roof. Between the sand volleyball court and wispy palmetto trees, you’ll feel like you’re really on holiday – but it’s especially true when you taste the food at this festive spot: seriously fresh oyster baskets, crab cakes, blackened fish sandwiches and fish tacos, paired with sides like black-eyed peas or garlic green beans. It’s a special, friendly kind of place.
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Knott House Museum
Housed in a stately 1843 white column-fronted building, the Knott House Museum is a quirky attraction. Occupied during the Civil War by Confederate and then Union troops before the Emancipation Proclamation was read here in 1865, it’s otherwise known as ‘the house that rhymes.’ That’s because in 1928 it was bought by politico William V Knott, whose poet wife, Luella, attached verses on the evils of drink to the many of the furnishings.
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Zoo World Zoological & Botanical Park
Home to more than 350 animals, including 15 endangered species, and over 250 species of plants, the Zoo World Zoological & Botanical Park participates in the government's Species Survival Plan to breed endangered animals. Among those born here are five African lion cubs, a Sumatran tiger and three mandrills (baboons); there's a glass-fronted nursery where you can watch the adorable babes in their infancy. Kids love the cuddly petting zoo.
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Veterans Memorial Park
In this military city, the 5.5-acre bayfront Veterans Memorial Park is a fittingly moving monument to American war veterans. At the end is Wall South, a replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, starkly displaying the names of more than 58,000 US soldiers who lost their lives in the war, among them eight women nurses, Angels on the Wall. Also at the park is Pensacola's brand new WWII memorial. Take Main St east from downtown.
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FSU Theatre Department
The FSU Theatre Department has three venues. The Richard G Fallon Mainstage Theater in the Fine Arts Building, north of Call St on the campus, does large productions of plays and musicals. The Studio, in the Williams Building on campus, stages various free student productions. Off campus, at the corner of Lafayette St and Copeland St, the Lab does a range of works, from Shakespeare to musicals, in its 150-seat thrust-stage setting.
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Black Archives Research Center & Museum
Housed in Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, the Black Archives Research Center & Museum is a forerunner in research on African American influence on US history and culture. The center and museum holds one of the country's largest collections of African American and African artifacts as well as a huge collection of papers, photographs, paintings and documents pertaining to Black American life.
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Posey's Oyster Bar
Perhaps the highlight of the Tallahassee-St Marks Historic Railroad State Trail; is just to the left of the St Marks trailhead (which also has a rest area and facilities). Posey's Oyster Bar is an absolute pearl of an old-time oyster shack on the water, with an outdoor courtyard, great bar and bands rocking the joint Friday to Sunday... so you may want to arrange for alternative transport on the way back.
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Alfred B Maclay Gardens State Park
Biking trails wind through the Alfred B Maclay Gardens State Park, which peaks from January to April with more than 200 varieties of flowers. It’s also the trailhead for the Lake Overstreet Trails, which circle the lake and wind through deer, gray fox and bobcat habitat. From I-10, take exit 30 to Thomasville Rd north and follow the signs – the entrance is on your left.
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Joe Patti’s
Don’t leave Pensacola without a visit to this vibrant, bustling seafood market, where you can not only watch the catch come off the boat, and have it deboned and filleted at long stainless steel tables, but also stock up on fresh and delicious items for picnicking, from shrimp salad to clam chowder. To complete the meal you can grab wine and cheese from the connected emporium.
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Saenger Theatre
The Spanish-Baroque beauty, Saenger Theatre, was reconstructed in 1925 using bricks from the Pensacola Opera House, which was destroyed in a 1916 hurricane. Closed for a major renovation project at the time of research, this is home to a popular Broadway series as well as the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra and Pensacola Opera.
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Shoreline Park
Shoreline Park in Gulf Breeze is a particular hotspot, where you’re likely to find local skywatchers (including members of the Mutual UFO Network, which meets here regularly) with binoculars and lawn chairs. Sightings have been reported right along the coast – it’s as good a reason as any to spread out a picnic or beach blanket and gaze up at the stars.
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Chez Pierre & 2 Chez
Southern charm meets French sophistication at Chez Pierre, a Midtown charmer located in a beautiful antebellum house and serving excellent, authentic dishes like beef bourguignonne, tuna nicoise and saffron-scented lobster ravioli. Its lower-priced, more casual adjoining 2 Chez, is a lovely outdoor café, specializing in raw-bar offerings, steamed mussels and burgers.
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Pensacola Museum of Art
Interestingly housed in the city’s old jail (1908), this museum, features nearly 20 exhibits a year – anything from Rodin sculptures to the pop-art work of Jasper Johns. Its impressively growing collection, shown on a rotating basis, includes major 20th- and 21st-century artists across genres including cubism, realism, pop art and folk art.
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