It ’ s a salty realm . At the far eastern edge of the Emerald Coast , a slender arm of sand extends into the Gulf of Mexico , forming both a peninsula and a bay . Just to the south , at the elbow , there ’ s a cape — Cape San Blas .
There is no destination quite like it in all of Florida . With the Bay on one side and the Gulf on the other , the peninsula is tailormade for the salty set — from sportfishing to scalloping to scuba diving and snorkeling .
The area is for the outdoorsy in general , offering land-based activities that are hard to find in a day and age of beachfront condo towers and the crush of beachgoers . Ever wanted to explore a deserted beach on horseback ? There ’ s an outfitter on Cape San Blas who can make that happen . If a long walk on a deserted beach is your thing , well , you can do that , too .
One of the Cape ’ s most distinctive traits is the strong Old Florida vibe that runs through it . If you ’ ve ever wondered what 30A was like 30 years ago , it was a lot like this : pristine beaches that stretch for miles , thoroughly original restaurants that have been around for years , and a genuine down-at-heel spirit among the locals . A walk on the northern end of St . Joseph Peninsula offers a feature that you will find almost nowhere else in Florida : A footpath that begins where the road ends . As you make your way north , the seashells become ever-larger and more abundant due to the scarcity of humans who would take them home for keepsakes . What lies
“ If you ’ ve ever wondered what 30A was like 30 years ago , it was a lot like this : pristine beaches that stretch for miles ...”
ahead is a miracle , something you simply no longer see : miles and miles of uninhabited and undeveloped Florida coastline .
HISTORY
Being somewhat off the beaten path , the Cape ’ s history is largely defined by the sea . Archaeologists determined Native Americans of the Weeden Island Northwest Culture lived , worshipped , and fished along these whitesand beaches in pre-Columbian times . Spanish explorers , pirates , and settlers with visions of a thriving cotton seaport would sail these waters in the years to follow .
Leading up to the Civil War , there was little more than a solitary lighthouse on the Cape to warn seafarers away from the shoals that extend for miles into the Gulf of Mexico . An untold number of ships have run aground here over the centuries . The first lighthouse was built in 1847 , only to be destroyed in a storm a few years later . A second went up in its place and was promptly leveled by a hurricane . A third went up , only to die the slow death of erosion . Finally , a fourth was built in 1883 , this one constructed with an iron frame .
A saltworks run by the Confederacy was located on the Cape during the Civil War . The operation combined a process of evaporation with seawater
DESTINATION CAPE SAN BLAS TRAVEL beachLIFE 27