Panhandle Pleasure: The Unique Appeal of Life in Northwest Florida

It's sometimes called L.A. (for "Lower Alabama") or the "Redneck Riviera," but Northwest Florida has a unique appeal those goofy nicknames can't convey. In fact, the Florida Panhandle boasts a diverse range of attractions that's hard to find anywhere else:

Sparkling white-sand beaches. The fine, pure quartz sands along Florida's Gulf Coast are both near-blindingly beautiful and soft and gentle on the feet -- no sharp rocks, large pebbles or dull grays and tans here. In fact, three beaches along the Panhandle -- Grayton Beach in South Walton County, St. Andrews Beach in Panama City and St. Joseph Peninsula State Park in Port St. Joe -- have been named as America's best beaches (in 1994, 1995 and 2002, respectively) by Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, a professor known as "Dr. Beach" who's also director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University.

A change of seasons. Yes, all of Florida is hot, hot, hot in the summertime, but Northwest Florida lies more than 450 miles north of Miami. That makes for milder temperatures in the spring and fall, and weather that can get downright chilly during the winter months. In fact, every few years, a city like Pensacola can actually see a few flurries -- nothing to rival the snowfall in Buffalo, and rarely even enough to stick to the ground for long, but enough to remind North Florida residents that there are actually four seasons in a year.

A convenient, central location. The Panhandle might be largely a string of small beach towns, with mid-sized Pensacola and Tallahassee for bookends, but the area provides an excellent starting point for many great road trips: 2 1/2 hours to the casinos of Biloxi, 3 1/4 hours to New Orleans' Bourbon Street, 5 hours to Atlanta, 6 1/2 hours to Savannah, 7 1/2 hours to Orlando, etc.

A lot fewer crowds. Face it, Miami is a traffic nightmare, South Florida is developed to every edge of the Everglades and Central Florida feels like endless sprawl revolving around the theme-park center of Orlando. Northwest Florida might have pockets of over-development (Destin, while a fun destination, often sees bumper-to-bumper traffic, especially because there's only one major east-west route through town), but it's still home to many thousands of acres of native sand-pine forests, long stretches of national-park-protected beaches and quaint, quirky small towns that locals call the "Real Florida." (In fact, my own community, Navarre, has long billed itself as "Florida's Best-Kept Secret.")

Awesome food. No, it's not New York, Chicago or Vegas. But from the best of Southern-style cooking to Cajun/Creole dishes and always-fresh seafood, Northwest Florida offers plenty for the serious foodie. Gourmet dining is also within reasonable driving distances: Seagar's Prime Steaks & Seafood and The Elephant Walk in Destin, McGuire's and Jackson's in Pensacola, Ruth's Chris Steak House in Mobile. The only caveat: Northern specialties like Chicago-style, deep-dish pizza are difficult, if not impossible, to find locally, so if you're a Yankee planning to relocate, put an overnight, long-distance food-delivery service on speed-dial or learn to make your own hometown favorites yourself.