Florida Agenda

By PAUL RUBIO

Since the early 20th century, the 250-mile plus belt known as the Florida Panhandle has taken a back seat to the Pan itself, watching its well endowed eastern appendage rise to exalted glory and fame as the world’s top vacation destination while itself struggling to keep the Alabama riff raff at bay. In recent years, Florida’s northern redheaded step cities have shown way more than tits and ass, hoping to draw some attention to the state’s forgotten region. Thankfully, modern globetrotters have developed an affinity towards off-the-beaten path travel; and with this paradigm, former quiet, under the radar places like Panama City Beach, Destin, and Pensacola have suddenly become a bit “cooler” and have even found a place on the GLBT radar.

While certain parts of the Panhandle are indeed classified as the “Scary South” – an unsettling panorama of pro-life and KFC all-you-can-eat buffet ads, young Klansmen in training, and government projects harboring Antoine Dodson style “Bed Intruders” – the coastline is filled with exquisite homes, sleepy fishing villages, oyster shacks, and funky beach towns. The centerpiece of this region, Panama City Beach, engenders all these facets, merging the best of Florida’s gulf coast in one small town.

Unlike Fort Lauderdale and Cancun, which have vehemently rejected their former Spring Break personas, Panama City Beach gleefully embraces its reputation for extracurricular fun in the sun. For those beyond the age of spring break style shenanigans, Panama City Beach is also a place to bring the fam, especially with its wealth of affordable short and long-term beach apartment rentals. Though the First Family chose to go the more traditional hotel route with the Bay Point Marriott Golf Resort & Spa (www.marriott.com /PanamaCityBeach, 850.236.6000) while vacationing here in August 2010, most visitors will find the centrally located Sterling Breeze Resort (www.sterlingbreeze.com, 850.238.8200) the ideal crash pad for their Gulf Coast sunny sojourn. Sterling provides spectacular views of the Gulf ’s rising tides and velvety sands.

Panama City Beach’s main attractions – dazzling nature and scrumptious seafood!

People travel far and wide from Hawaii to the Caribbean for the ever-popular ‘swim with the dolphins’ experience not realizing that Panama City Beach offers a superlative, eco-friendly alternative. Sadly, the greater public often turns a blind eye to the brutal means employed to create these ‘swim with the dolphins’ attractions (google “The Cove” to find out). Thankfully, more ethical options and outfitters do indeed exist, like the Panhandle’s Island Time Sailing (www.islandtimesailing.com, 850.234.7377), which facilitates an organic and rewarding experience in the dolphin’s natural habitat. In most instances, your snorkeling excursion here brings you face-to-face with resident pods of graceful, curious, and charismatic dolphins.

Most of the restaurants specialize in both lavish and simple ways to showcase regional fruits of the sea. The succulent ‘Filet of Scampi Imperial with fresh lump blue crab meat’ (prepared with lemon butter, olive oil, scallions and parsley) steals the show at family-run Capt. Anderson’s Restaurant (www.captanderson.com, 850.234.2225). Sweet and juicy ‘Fried Apalachicola oysters,’ ‘Smoked Tuna Dip’, ‘Peel n’ Eat Shrimp,’ and the fabulous raw bar headline the menu at the iconic Boatyard (www.boatyardclub.com, 850.249.9273), accessible by both land and sea along the beach’s bustling dockside. And let us not forget the city’s ultimate dining experience – Firefly (www.fireflypcb. com, 850.249.3359). Firefly combines a seductive ambience, top-notch cuisine, impeccable presentation, and the robust flavors captured in its 1800-degree broiler to produce an all out gastronomic extravaganza. Specialties like the ‘Sautéed Gulf Grouper with shallots, fresh corn, grape tomatoes, sherry cream, and jumbo lump crab sauce’ are likely to induce a ‘When Harry Met Sally’ food orgasm, giving you another great reason to return to Panama City Beach time and time again!

Paul Rubio, LGBT Travel writer, has
authored numerous articles and an
award winning book Out Traveler:
South Florida. Paul can be reached
at editor@FloridaAgenda.com

The Florida Panhandle Detour

Photo: Goodwood Museum and Gardens: Living Heritage of the Deep South,Courtesy, Paul Rubio

By PAUL RUBIO

Each fall, Florida’s capital city, Tallahassee, swells with thousands of students ready to take on a world of scholarship, adulthood, binge drinking, and explorative promiscuity. A few years back, national polls revealed that the city’s flagship university, Florida State University, boasted some of the hottest college guys in the world. It’s not hard to see why. Innocent ball tossing on grassy patches looks more like a homoerotic Abercrombie & Fitch shopping bag circa 2006. Shirtless studs assert their dominance across campus, comparing pec muscles at sports games, six packs at frat parties, and fake IDs at nightclubs.

The young and the beautiful congregate at the Leach (the student recreation center/gym), pumping iron and exchanging locker room butt slaps as they talk about their latest “score.”

Beyond FSU eye candy, Tallahassee has evolved as an entity far more attractive than the typical university or government town. Most recently, the unveiling of hyper-modern Hotel Duval (850.224.6000, www.hotelduval.com) ushered in an element of uber glam relatively unknown to the Tallahassee scene. The rooftop bar, Level 8, has quickly become North Florida’s answer to big city sophistication, packing the house nightly for bespoke cocktails served by gorgeous servers in a South Beach-esque setting. Pimped out contemporary suites grace levels 1 to 7 of the hotel, with impeccably stylish furnishings and amenities, including varnished tree trunk stools, oversized rain showers and a bit of tech-y fantasia via ICE, the digital in-room concierge! Hotel Duval’s trendsetting prowess is so unexpected and refreshing, flaunting a vibe, a clientele, and a product usually found in the world’s greatest metropolises.

Accordingly, a number of restaurants and bars have also upped the ante to partake in this mini rena i s s a n c e . Tallahassee’s mid-town area brings on the gastropub phenomena with Midtown Filling Station (850.224.8272, www.midtownfillingstation. com) while the Wine Loft (850.222.9914, www.thewineloft.net) matches handpicked wine selections with succulent small bites like the Shrimp and Lump Crab Empanadas and daily artisanal cheese plates. Kool Beanz caters to the eclectic, Portland types, with an emphasis on fresh, funky, and different, living up to its amazing reputation. (850.224.2466, www.koolbeanz-cafe.com). A bit further afield, the gay owned and operated Lee’s Wine Bar (850.692.3404, 1700 North Monroe Street) facilitates an ideal commingling of gay and straight crowds over house cava and delicious wines from around the world. Tallahassee has yet to reestablish an exclusively gay bar or nightclub since the closing of Brothers in 2008. I n s t e a d , weekend gay nights have cropped up around town, fulfilling the desire to dance, drink and hook up, supplementing what cannot always be achieved online! The night begins early on Friday at Lee’s, Wine Loft, or the gay friendly, 101 restaurant (850.391.1309, www.101tallahassee.com), known for its dirt-cheap happy hour prices. By 11p.m. Friday night, everyone checks into Rehab (926 W. Tharpe Street) for the hot Friday night party, “Relapse.” The weekend party continues with Out & Out Saturdays at Paradigm (850.224.9980, www.paradigmrestaurant.net) in the heart of downtown.

For those not prone to massive hangovers or next-day‘Haze Him’ remorse, Tallahassee offers a surprising wealth of natural and cultural heritage by day. Once considered part of the Deep South, America’s largest concentration of original plantations (71 plantations over 300,000 acres) begins in Tallahassee and ends in nearby Thomasville, Georgia, 28 miles north. Several of these plantations remain open to the public, including Goodwood Museum and Gardens (850.877.4202, www.goodwoodmuseum.org), which still operates as a working plantation. Docents indulge the curious in the sordid and splendid history of the plantation, beginning with its construction in 1837 to its southern antebellum reinvention circa 1911 by the illustrious (and stocky) socialite, Fanny Tiers. Detailed tours highlight the original, antebellum period furnishings as well as the sprawling colorful grounds, replete with centuries old oaks, Spanish moss, and manicured gardens. The 17th century Spanish mission and Apalachee Indian settlement, Mission San Luis (850.245.6406, www.mission sanluis.org), functions as a bizarro living museum recreating daily life during a time when these two cultures first met (though I don’t think these encounters really played out like an Epcot exhibit…).

Thirty minutes south, Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park (850.926.0700, www.floridastateparks.org/WAKULLASPRINGS) reveals a glimpse of old Florida’s natural beauty, housing several miles of protected forest along and around the largest and deepest freshwater spring in the world. Stanch protection since the 1930s has allowed generations of manatees, alligators, turtles, wood ducks, and 181 other bird species to prosper and regenerate, resulting in an ecological treasure teeming with charismatic wildlife unafraid of human presence. Yes, that means if you decide to swim in the springs, you could be quickly met by a group of curious manatees or friendly gators. Older generations may recognize the park as the jungle setting for some of the original Tarzan films starring Johnny Weissmuller, looking exactly as it did decades ago.

Paul Rubio, LGBT Travel writer, has
authored numerous articles and an
award winning book Out Traveler:
South Florida. Paul can be reached
at editor@FloridaAgenda.com