Gulf Islands National Seashores

“I must go down to the seas again, 

for the call of the running tide is a wild call 

and a clear call that may not be denied.” 

(Poet John Masefield)

As soon as we had set up camp we made a mad dash for the beach before the sun set.  The kids ditched their shoes and went right for the water. This is looking towards the naval yard across Pensacola bay. 

The bay side was fine, but we really wanted to check out the gulf. By the time we crossed to the other side of the campground, it was dark, but the white sand glowed. The kids squeeled and commenced to wave jumping. Up to their knees at least. It was barely warm, upper 50's and super windy, but they didn't care. They had been anticipating swimming in the ocean and weren't about to delay any longer. 

After a ghost crab came out of the water they began to think about all the other unseen creatures of the sea and decided to hold off more swimming until the morning when the nocturnal creatures  wouldn't be pinching toes.

Gulf Islands National Seashore is a collection of historic forts, campgrounds and trails, a little strip of land running parallel along 160 miles of the southern coast. It stretches from Cat Island, Mississippi to just east of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We camped at Fort Pickens, just south of Pensacola. 

The park had just reopened after the ripple effect from hurricane Patricia dumped seven feet of sand into the shore. The roads had been cleared of the white sand and were reminiscent of North Dakota in the winter. We felt grateful to have timed the trip when we did because this park was breathtaking!  

We woke to temperatures in the 40's, so we opted for afternoon swimming and a bike ride to the fort in the morning. But not before peek at the shore. It was straight off a postcard!

Fort Pickens was the largest of four forts built in the early 1800's to protect Pensacola bay from foreign attack. Ironically, it's only real action was during the civil war. It was the only Union fort in confederate territory, and the fort was held for the entire civil war by Lt. Adam Slemmer. Some historians say these were the first shots fired in the Civil War. Its really a fascinating story, you can read more about it here.   

The bike trails took a sheltered path between the gulf and the bay, bordered by a marshland of sea oats and beach grasses, pine trees, heathers and a native mint that resembles rosemary. 

The afternoon trip to the beach was worth the wait!

This sweet man and his wife were also on their first RV trip. They purchased their RV at the same time we got ours. Then he became sick. The entire time we were renovating our motor home, he was struggling to stay alive. He had travelled the world with the army and as a civilian, and now looked forward to seeing more of his own country, grateful to be alive. 

We were alone on the beach. 

Kids swam, but we weren't brave enough. It was 70 and sunny during the day but super windy! It wasn't the balmy temperatures we were anticipating, but come on guys!  It's white sand, a beach to ourselves.  It's Florida.

For the first time in twelve years we celebrated our anniversary on a glorious beach!  

Claire invited me on a sunset walk to the beach.  This was a no brainer, but it reminded me of the many times she introduces me to something new, points out something I didn't notice, or challenges me to try something i never would have thought to try.