Day Tripping

by Kelly Oden

Who doesn’t love a road trip? Open road, open skies and the promise of adventure

at every turn. While Rosemary Beach and the 30A community offer more than enough amenities and adventures for the average visitor, homeowners and long term guests may want to explore the inland areas of Florida’s panhandle and discover the beauty and history that exists off the beaten path. Fortunately, Rosemary Beach is just a hop, skip and a jump from a variety of historical sites, unique natural wonders and wildlife encounters. These locations are perfect for a quick day trip or even a long weekend. Either way, you’ll come back renewed and ready to for a long day at the beach. SOUTHERN GRACE LAVENDER FARM

SOUTHPORT, FL SouthernGrace LavenderFarm.com Air Force combat veteran Jason Leabo and his wife, Kari, started Florida’s first Lavender in 2018. With 1,240 Phenomenal lavender plants on about a quarter acre of the 4-acre farm, there is plenty of room for Southern Grace Lavender farm to grow. The farm offers guided tours, which include information on planting, harvesting, distilling and blending the aromatic plant. Southern Grace also houses a small boutique where the couple sells their homemade lavender products in the form of candles, soaps, sachets, room spray, body lotion, tea, honey and more. The farm also offers occasional gatherings and workshops when weather and social distancing guidelines permit. Check their website for more hours and event information.

Flutterby by Cameron Moberg

PANAMA CITY MURAL TRAIL

PANAMA CITY, FL BayArts.org When Hurricane Michael roared through Panama City in 2018, the city’s arts community saw a chance to show the city’s resilience and vibrancy. “With our town becoming a somewhat blank canvas, it allowed us to unite, repaint, and rebuild ourselves into the type of city we’ve always wanted to be,” Jayson Kretzer, executive director of the Bay Arts Alliance, explained. As a result, art has been at the forefront of discussions as the city’s parks and buildings are repaired, and the Bay Arts Mural Project emerged. The Bay Arts Mural Project raises funds for (mostly) local artists to paint murals citywide, which will result in a Panama City Mural Trail in Spring 2021. The trail will include 7-9 murals, with more to come. The murals will be located in the walkable historic districts of Downtown and St. Andrews, as well as the Millville and Glenwood neighborhoods.

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, FL defuniaksprings.net | defuniaksprings.com The quaint town of Defuniak Springs is a mere fifty minutes from Rosemary Beach. The town sits on the banks of the spring-fed Lake Defuniak, which is a true rarity—one of only two such almost perfectly circular bodies of water in the world. The other is located in Switzerland. A collection of Victorian homes surrounds the lake and adds to the nostalgic charm. Founded in the 1880s as a railroad stop for the L & N Railroad, DeFuniak Springs retains its old Florida look and feel. In fact, the Walton County Library on Circle Drive is the oldest library in Florida still operating in its original building. It houses an interesting assortment of antiquities, including an impressive medieval weapon collection and many firstedition books. The former L&N railroad depot now houses the Walton County Heritage Museum. The town became the winter home of the New York Chautauqua, an educational movement that attracted thousands of visitors to Defuniak Springs in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Chautauqua

Vineyards, a 40-acre vineyard located 12 miles north of Defuniak Springs offer tours and tastings of their wide variety of muscadine wines.

PONCE DE LEON SPRINGS

PONCE DE LEON, FL FloridaStateParks. org/park/Poncede-Leon-Springs Named for the famed explorer who sought the fountain of youth, Ponce de Leon Springs may not grant you eterPhoto by Sean Mullins nal youth, but its majestic beauty will certainly relax your mind while its crisp cool waters are sure to revive your senses. The crystal clear water maintains a year-round temperature of 68 degrees. Approximately 14 million gallons of pure water emerges daily from the Ponce de Leon Spring. Spring water emanates from the aquifer deep underground. European settlers and American Indians before them used this spring as a source of drinking water and recreation. While the spring is the main attraction, the park also offers ample opportunity for hiking, birding, fishing, snorkeling and even geocaching.

SEACREST WOLF PRESERVE

CHIPLEY, FL SeacrestWolfPreserve.org Wild animals are fascinating and potentially dangerous creatures. If you love the idea of spending

time with wild wolves in a relatively safe environment, this is the trip for you. Seacrest Wolf Preserve, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to wolf and wildlife conservation through education. At Seacrest Wolf Preserve, humans and wolves connect in nature for educational purposes. The rare hands on wolf-human interaction are profound learning opportunities for humans to connect on a deeper level with wolves in the hope that visitors will be inspired to join the effort to save America’s wolves and wild heritage. The preserve offers a variety of tour options, but the four-hour Saturday educational tour is the most economical. It includes plenty of wolf centric education and interaction with three wolf packs, including both Grey and Arctic wolves. The tour concludes at the small animal adventure where guests can cuddle with skunks, interact with foxes and feed the raccoons. Only children 12 and older are allowed on the wolf encounter tour. Camping is also available on the preserve.

FLORIDA CAVERNS STATE PARK

MARIANNA, FL FloridaStateParks.org/park/Florida-Caverns Florida Caverns State Park is the only state park in Florida to offer cave tours to the public. Inside the dry (air-filled) caves, visitors will see incredible formations of limestone stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, flowstones and draperies. The park’s caves have a long and interesting geologic history beginning about 38 million years ago when this area was submerged beneath high sea levels. Shells, coral and sediments gradually accumulated on the sea floor and as sea levels fell, these materials hardened into limestone. During the last million years, acidic groundwater dissolved crevices just below the surface creating cave passages large enough to walk through. Stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone and other fragile cave-drip formations were by a similar dissolving process by the naturally acidic rainwater. The caves provide a habitat for the blind cave crayfish, cave salamanders and three species of cave roosting bats. The park also contains the Chipola River and Blue Hole Spring, which provide areas for fishing, canoeing and boating. Florida Caverns State Park is popular for camping, picnicking, fishing, hiking, and horseback riding. The park also features a nine-hole, New Deal-era golf course set in beautiful rolling terrain.

FALLING WATERS

CHIPLEY, FL FloridaStateParks.org/park/Falling-Waters The star of the show at Falling Waters State Park is most certainly Florida’s highest waterfall. To see the waterfall, visitors follow Sink Hole Trail, a boardwalk flanked by huge trees and fern-covered sinkholes. Falling Waters Sink is a 100-foot deep, 20-foot wide cylindrical pit into which flows a small stream that drops 73 feet to the bottom of the sink. The water’s final destination remains unknown. Located a few miles south of I-10, the quiet and serene park also offers visitors the chance to see beautiful native and migrating butterflies in the butterfly garden, take a dip in the lake, or have a family picnic. Hikers enjoy trekking through the green, gently sloping landscape of North Florida. Fullfacility campsites nestled in a shady pine forest provide the perfect excuse for an overnight stay at Falling Waters.