DeFuniak Springs

DeFuniak Springs is the town people don’t expect to find in the Florida Panhandle. An hour inland from the sugar-white beaches of 30A, the Walton County seat is built around Lake DeFuniak — one of only two near-perfectly-round, spring-fed lakes in the world — and ringed by a Victorian historic district that looks lifted from a New England postcard. Gingerbread trim, wraparound porches, and the 1909 Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood all date to the town’s era as the winter home of the New York Chautauqua movement, when trainloads of visitors arrived for lectures, music, and self-improvement by the lake.

Today the town rewards a slower kind of visit. Walk or drive Circle Drive, the one-mile loop around the lake, then head a block over to the walkable downtown along Baldwin Avenue, where you’ll find the DeFuniak Springs Art Co-Op, vintage hunting at Funky Pumpkin and Vault 46, and used books at Anita’s Half & Half. The food scene punches well above its weight for a town this size — from Southern soul food at Milly’s Cafe to Vietnamese pho, craft beer at Last Stop Brew Vault, and H&M Hot Dogs, a stand that has been serving since 1947. If you want to stay over, Hotel DeFuniak puts you in a restored boutique property right in the historic downtown.

Getting there and getting oriented

DeFuniak Springs sits at the crossroads of I-10 and US 331, with historic US 90 running through the middle of town. From Santa Rosa Beach and 30A, it’s a straight shot north on US 331 — roughly 45 to 55 minutes. That makes it one of the best rainy-day or change-of-pace outings on the Emerald Coast: leave the beach after breakfast, spend the day on the lake loop and downtown, and be back for sunset.

Worth pairing with your visit

The surrounding countryside holds a few genuine curiosities. Britton Hill, at Lakewood Park near Paxton about 25 minutes north on US 331, is Florida’s highest natural point at 345 feet — the lowest state high point in the country and a fun bragging-rights stop. Ponce de Leon Springs State Park, a short drive east off US 90, offers a 68-degree spring for a swim on a hot day. Together with the lake and the Victorian district, they make DeFuniak Springs an easy, genuinely charming day trip that most beach visitors never think to take.