Constitution Convention Museum State Park

A few weeks back we decided on an easy mini-adventure right here in our county. We headed down to Port St. Joe to the Constitution Convention Museum State Park. It’s been a while since I’ve been there and we knew we could get Jax another stamp in his Florida State Parks Passport too! I really love their #EveryStampIsAStory campaign going on!

A lot of people don’t realize that Florida’s first constitution was drafted right here in Port St. Joe in 1838. This is a neat thing for our state’s history to me! Port St. Joe even refers to itself as the ‘Constitution City’.

The museum is small, but has some really cool artifacts and exhibits from our area. Jax is of course too young to understand the history part, but he enjoyed looking at the exhibits! It starts off with Native American and then Spanish occupation of the area. Jax particularly liked this section!

The next room has walls of history canvases. Matt took time to read them while I monitored Jax. I’d like to go back and when he is older and let him read and learn here. I did catch this one about how the area was a tourist destination long ago. This has always piqued my interest.

There are some artifacts on display of kitchen utensils and this part of an old stove. I thought it was funny that Jax liked them so much and thought it fitting since he loves to eat!

There’s an old parlor room replica and then this really cool room that gives an idea of when the 56 delegates came together to draft Florida’s first constitution. This room has life size figures that put you inside history. You press a button and the animatronic figures move and talk. Jax was a little suspect of these, but found them very interesting.

The museum finishes up with this awesome train replica. It was naturally a huge hit with Jax, who is all about the choo choos!

We went next door to see the big train at the Centennial Building that was recently repainted.

We took a stroll to the Constitution Monument. This is such a beautiful area. The grounds just behind this monument is also where we had our family photos made back in Spring.

I highly recommend making a visit here, especially if you are from this area. So much history in this place we call home! This is an awesome and inexpensive summer field trip for those parents with older kids too!

The museum is open Thursday - Monday 9:00-12:00 and 1:00-5:00 Eastern time. The price is $2 for adults and kids are free!

We finished up our adventure with hotdogs and fries from The Brick Wall Sports Bar & Grille. Everything I’ve had from here has been delicious, but this was our first time trying the hot dogs. 

We got the Southern Wrapped Dog (fried bacon wrapped dog topped with BBQ sauce, cheddar and scallions) and the Dukie Dog (hot dog with chili, sauerkraut and onions). We enjoyed them on the back porch of the Welcome Center. It’s the perfect place for a picnic!

No trip is complete without a quick jump in the water. 

We hit up the north WindMark beach access. The water is usually clear and the surf is more gentle here since it’s protected by Cape San Blas. There are bathrooms and an outdoor shower for rinsing off when you’re done too! We are no fuss packers when we go anywhere so we keep it simple on our beach trips too. Usually a towel and bottle of water (Jax’s diaper bag at the most) so that it’s easy-breezy!