Scenes from the Forgotten Coast

Plump oysters, tender shrimp, crispy fried mullet, and classic Deep South dishes are among the pleasures of a trip along the Florida Panhandle. While working on our November 2014 story Forgotten Coast, photographer Zach Stovall captured the local flavor and strong culture built around the bounty of the ocean.
Read more about where to go and what to eat on the Florida Panhandle »

Alfresco dining along the rear deck of Boss Oyster in Apalachicola, Florida.

Forgotten Coast

Plump oysters, tender shrimp, crispy fried mullet, and classic Deep South dishes are among the pleasures of a trip along the Florida Panhandle.

Kim Williams, owner of Mineral Springs by the Bay, stands behind the refrigerated fish case at her Panacea, Florida, restaurant, which is especially well-known for its smoked fish spreads.

Cornmeal-crusted fried mullet at Posey's Steam Room and Oyster Bar in Panacea, Florida.

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With it's wood-paneled walls, nautical theme, and long foldout tables, Posey's Steam Room and Oyster Bar, in the town of Panacea, epitomizes the vacationer's dream of the perfect Florida seafood shack.

At Wakulla Springs Lodge, a skillet-seared lump crab cake is topped with panko-crusted softshell crab and served with lemon-tarragon aïoli. Popular among lovers of old-school Florida dining, the restaurant hasn't changed its menu since it opened in the 1930's.

While Spring Creek Restaurant in Crawfordsville is not exactly eat-in-the-rough dining, neither is it the least bit swanky. It is more a taste of laid-back Florida from decades past--a tree-shaded lodge with a fish camp that provides the restaurant's mullet, crabs, and oysters.

At Mineral Springs by the Bay, in Panacea, Florida, salmon is slow-cooked out front in a hardwood-fueled smoker, producing a fish that is firm, smoky, and agreeably oily.