mimzy644

The day after Christmas, my sister and I plan to drive from our home in Fort Lauderdale to Panama City to spend a few days with family. We only have a week but plan to stop to spend a couple nights somewhere going up and one night somewhere going home. We're looking for a quaint town where we can find a nice hotel and restaurants. We would love to spend time walking to interesting shops and maybe find some antique stores in the area. We're familiar with the East Coast of Floriida and the Orlando area but not the Central part and West Coast where we would go. Can anyone help? Just found your site. Hope I'm not too late! Thanks.

cd

Oh so many good places! I would check out Sanibel or Captiva or futher up the coast at St Pete Beach. To fulfill 'quaint' town with nice hotel and restaurants and some cute little botique shops, I would recommend Apalachicola, It has what you want, it's a step back in time to old Florida. See my report at: http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...as-florida.cfm We stay about 30 miles away on the beach but for Apalachicola, townwise, The Gibson Inn has been recommended: http://www.gibsoninn.com/ The problem being it is only about 2hrs away from Panama City and you might want something more in the middle of your drive.

NeoPatrick

I think your original post is just calling out for a stay at Mount Dora, not far from Orlando.

I too love Apalachicola, but is it too close to Panama Beach for an extra stop?

Orlando_Vic

Agree with NeoPatrick. Quiet & Quaint + antiques = Mount Dora

mimzy644

We'll try to do Mt. Dora going up; maybe Apalacacola going home even though not exactly equidistant. Rather to go where you guys recommend than fly by the seat of our pants. Thanks much.