Destin has a lot to offer, and although its beaches are world-famous and its seafood delicious, there are hundreds of hidden treasures in the surrounding area of Northwest Florida that yield for fun adventures, day trips and weekend getaways. This column which will be featured on Wednesdays, will follow the wanderings of reporter, Savannah Chastain, and explore the many opportunities in Destin’s surrounding area. I invite you to explore with me Beyond Destin.
Sometimes you just need a low-key weekend, and while my husband and I love adventures and exploring there are times when we just need to slow down and enjoy the scenery. So with that thought in mind we ventured to the sleepy town of DeFuniak Springs, a perfect place to take a slow walk, unwind and even sip some wine.
DeFuniak Springs is about an hour northeast of Destin. The town, which was founded in the late 1800’s, boasts Victorian homes, historic buildings and old fashioned stores that surround a circular spring-fed lake. I recently learned that DeFuniak Springs is also home to one of Northwest Florida’s few local wineries, the Chautauqua Vineyards and Winery which features wine made from locally grown Carlos and Noble varieties of muscadine grapes.
My husband and I had never tried muscadine wine, and were delighted to learn that Chautauqua offers free tastings and winery tours daily. Just off of Interstate 10 we found the tiny show-vineyard and quaint seasonally decorated building of Chautauqua Vineyards and Winery. The winery operates as the press, distillery, tasting room and sales floor for the business with the actual crop vineyards located 12 miles north.
I was a bit disappointed to find that the free tour was more of an interactive tour of the palate within the viewing room of the distillery. A.K.A a wine tasting with a view of the distillery vats. However, our ‘tour guide,’ D’ette Andrews quickly dissolved my disappointment with her vast knowledge of the Chautauqua wines. Andrews explained that every wine in the Chautauqua Winery is created right there in the distillery and the wines not made from locally grown muscadine grapes are brought to the winery in the form of juice to be fermented.
With 16 wines to try, we began our tasting and I quickly learned that muscadines are a very sweet grape, thus many of the Chautauqua wines are of the sweet variety. At the end of the tasting tour I found that my favorite wine varieties were actually the non-grape wines of blueberry and blackberry, and the mulled wine which is a heated and spiced red wine reminiscent of apple cider at Christmastime.
Our time at the winery which included tasting, perusing and purchasing our wine was under an hour so we decided to take some time to stroll downtown Defuniak Springs. We drove the short two miles to the lake to explore the historic town. We soon discovered that nearly every business downtown is closed on the weekend; however, as we meandered the streets of the ghost town we found a quaint shop called The Little Big Store.
Upon entering the store we were greeted by a young man in a white apron atop a sliding ladder and I instantly felt like I had fallen into the pioneer days. The shelves were lined with wares such as cinnamon sticks, wooden toys, kerosene lamps and antique medicine bottles. The store attendant told us that the shop was originally built in 1899 as a general store for the town and today it has become an iconic historical feature of the glory days of DeFuniak Springs.
We next explored the railroad tracks and found an old caboose on display welcoming visitors to climb aboard and enjoy the view of the old train station. The station itself has been transformed into the Walton County Heritage Museum which is small but free to the public. Also of interest nearby is the Defuniak Springs library which claims the rights to the oldest continuously operated library in the state of Florida. For the history buff, a walking tour guide of the historic buildings surrounding the lake is available at the visitor’s center, the Little Big Store and the heritage museum.
Currently DeFuniak Springs is gearing up for its annual Christmas Reflections light show which will display lights and figurines around the lake from November 28 to December 31. The little sleepy town of Defuniak Springs will wake up for Christmas I was told several times by the friendly locals, so stop in soon, the season is right for a mulled wine and a relaxing lake-side wintery stroll.
WANNA GO?
Chautauqua Winery and Vineyard is located at 364 Hugh Adams Rd. in DeFuniak Springs. The winery is open daily for tasting and sales from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The winery will also be hosting a small business Chrismas craft fair Nov. 29 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
DeFuniak Spring’s Christmas Reflections on the lake will be held November 28 through December 31 from 5 p.m. Price is $3 a person.