Last Updated: August 1, 2026
Tallahassee sits in Leon County and has been the capital of Florida since 1824 — chosen, in the practical way of the era, because it was roughly halfway between the two population centers of the time, St. Augustine and Pensacola. It does not feel like the rest of Florida. The oak-canopied roads and southern homes belong to the Deep South rather than the beach coast, and after a month of dunes and condos the change was welcome. It is also a real city, which meant a Costco — and after weeks of small Panhandle grocery stores we were embarrassingly excited about restocking. From Panama City Beach it was about a two-and-a-half-hour tow.
