@firm, indeed the beaches of the "Forgotten coast" are fantastic, and draw mostly the locals or drive-ins like you as it's not an easy area to fly to for us Eastern Canadians.
Salt - you're not used to saltwater, eh? We spent so much time around New England beaches and abroad to know all about salt film. Our Maine beach house we co-owned for a few years was high up on a rocky hill above and behind oceanfront homes, but all the outdoor metal - hinges, lights, etc. - rusted up after just a couple of years. Nice for swimming though, especially down South - you float so easily in heavily salted waters! Just don't get it in your eyes 
All very true - I've been to Central and South Florida (for work) and the culture there is very different than the panhandle area, the panhandle feels a lot more like what we're used to in Tennessee, much more of a traditional southern culture than you get in the rest of Florida. Most of the vacationers we met, or license plates we saw, were from the southern states or, Wisconsin / Illinois - which I guess is a fairly straight shot for them to drive down. Saw quite a few North/South Carolina plates too which surprised me, figured they have lots of good beach options closer to home.
Only other times I've been by the coast like this it was either trips to Mexico as a kid, and I would've been too young to notice things like the salt air, or our honeymoon in Cuba, and I don't recall noticing much then - but I didn't spend much time on that trip sober, and if memory serves the weather was really calm.
One pleasant surprise in the Pensacola area; real estate is fairly attainable....There are some mega mansions on the water for $4-5M, a 'nice' place on the water is maybe $1M, but if you're OK being a couple block inland (say a 5-10 minute walk to the beach) there are plenty of options around $300K for a nice little bungalow. Lots of people in the office have vacation properties here, now I understand why
