Port St. Joe sits on St. Joseph Bay, between Panama City and Apalachicola, and feels like the Florida Panhandle before the condo towers arrived. The downtown is small and walkable, the bay is shallow and clear, and the main pleasures are practical ones: seafood, boat ramps, quiet beaches, and long views across the water to Cape San Blas.
The town also has a stranger history than its size suggests. In the 1830s, nearby St. Joseph briefly challenged Apalachicola as a Gulf port and hosted the convention that drafted Florida's first constitution. Fever, hurricanes, and bad luck erased most of that boomtown, but the Constitution Convention Museum State Park still gives Port St. Joe a real historical hook.
For a spare day, mix town and coast. Climb the relocated Cape San Blas Lighthouse at George Core Park, walk the bayfront, then drive out to T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park for dunes, white sand, and open Gulf water. It is not a flashy place, which is exactly why it works.