Good Friends, Spanish Fort Alabama, Bass Pro Shop

February 19, 2010.  Another cold but sunny morning.  We got a late start and took Maggie and Rico for a longer walk.  We had plans to meet our friends Rocky and Gloria at their home in Spanish Fort Alabama.

We left our home at 1130 and got to their home about 12:30.  We made plans to eat lunch at the Olive Garden.  We had a good meal and then drove over to the Bass Pro Shop.  

This had been the first Bass Pros Shop that we had ever visited.  It set the bar high as far as the displays and merchandise. 

We had been disappointed in the Bass Pros Shop in Destin as it did not compare!

After looking around we visited some other stores in the area.  It was a lazy afternoon spent window shopping with good friends and excellent company.  Before long it was almost 5:00 and we needed to head home to Maggie and Rico alone in the rig.

We said our goodbyes and hoped to see Rocky and Gloria Soon.  We made tentative plans to meet later next week in Biloxi.  We plan on moving on Wednesday to the Biloxi area.

Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore

February 18, 2010.  It was a frosty start to a beautiful day with highs in the mid 50's.  

We had made plans to take a ride out to the beaches of Gulf Breeze.  We wanted to tour Fort Pickens, part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  Our daughter, Ashley had decided to go with us.  Andrew had to work.  We went to Panera Bread for lunch before heading out to Fort Pickens.  The fort has one daily tour at 2:00 p.m. and we wanted to get there in time for that.  We took the drive out to the beaches and soon came upon the sign board for the National Park indicating the entrance prices.

The national park service ranger station is actually located about 6 miles from the fort.  It was about 1:45 when we got to the ranger station.  We paid the $8 entrance fee and were assured we would make the drive in time to catch the tour.

It was a long drive down what is essentially a large sandbar on steroids.  You could see the water on both sides of the road behind the sand dunes.

Obviously, blowing sand can be a problem as it gets blown over the roads.  We saw a bull dozer at work removing sand in some of the beach parking areas along the drive.

Hurricane Ivan had blown across the island and the Gulf Breeze communities in 2004.  It not only caused severe devastation to the local communities, it resulted in the closing of the Gulf Islands National Seashore for several months.  Along the drive as we got closer to the fort, the sand bar widened and there were some areas with trees.  However, most of the trees were dead or dying as they had obviously suffered damage from the hurricane.

Before long we came upon the entrance to Fort Pickens.  The original construction was completed in 1834.  It was built with the purpose of protecting Pensacola Bay from attack from foreign adversaries.

However, the only battles the fort participated in were not with foreign adversaries but with Americans during the civil war.  Fort Pickens was a union fort and remained such during the civil war.  The confederate army attacked the fort by land in and effort to overrun it.  However, that effort was unsuccessful and it never fell to the confederate armies. 

The fort was frequently updated with larger and more powerful cannons.  In 1886, it housed Geronimo and several other Apaches as prisoners until 1888.  Geronimo became a popular "attraction" for the Pensacola area until he was moved to Mount Vernon Barracks in Alabama. The fort remained active until after World War II when it was then deemed surplus and obsolete.  The fort became a Florida State Park.  However, Congress eventually turned the area into a National Park.

Ashley took the tour with us.  Here Joyce and Ashley are standing on top of the fort near one of the cannon.  Behind Ashley in the picture above is Pensacola Bay.  It should be noted that the length of the island sandbar has fluctuated over the years due to the shifting sand and erosion by the waves and storms.  Behind Ashley and Joyce in the picture below is the Florida mainland and Pensacola Naval Base.

The park had a large campground with several loops.  However, Hurricane Ivan had destroyed the campgrounds.  The park has been working to repair the camp facilities.  From their website:  Beginning February 1, 2010, Loop A with 40 campsites with water and electric will be available to campers while the rest of the Fort Pickens Campground is closed so that contractors can replace utilities. There is not an exact date that the main section of the campground will reopen, but it is expected to be by March 1, 2010. Though some parts of the campground may remain closed until the project is completed later in the spring, the majority of sites--all with water and electric hook-ups--should be available for use by spring campers.

All sites are $20.00 a night, and on a first-come-first-served basis. All campers must register at the Fort Pickens Ranger Station between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m

We enjoyed our visit as it was a good way to spend and afternoon. If you are in the area, it's worth the visit.  If we had time, we would have explored the miles and miles of beaches within the park.

Blackwater River State Park

February 17, 2010.  The day started off sunny with freezing temps over night.  Some of our neighbors had frozen hoses.  I've insulated mine with pipe insulation and so far have not had to deal with a frozen hose.  The wind was still blowing at 10-15 mph making the windchill very uncomfortable.  The day warmed to near 50!


The park was holding a coffee and donut social this morning in the rec. room.  We didn't want to be unsocial, so we took advantage of it and met a very nice couple who told us about some interesting places to visit in our travels.


We planned to visit some old family friends in Crestview, Fl. about an hour drive away.  We took Joyce's car and enjoyed the nice quiet ride of the new tires.  We took a detour to Blackwater River State Park.

Deaton Bridge Road cuts through the park which has picnic/ parking areas on both sides of the Blackwater River.  These are manned by 'iron rangers' that visitors use to pay the entrance fee of $4.

We parked in one of the parking/ picnic areas and took pictures of the river which was not dissimilar to the Suwannee River with some notable exceptions.   

Blackwater River has an average depth of 2.5 ft.  The banks of the river are shallow and flat in contrast to the steep banks of the Suwannee River.

Blackwater River is billed as "One of the purest sand bottom rivers in the world".   It's designated a Florida Canoe Trail.  

We passed the ranger station and gates in route to the camping area.  The ranger station was unoccupied with a permanent sign indicating the office hours from 3-5 p.m.  Another sign advised campers to find their reserved site and check back at the ranger station between 3-5 p.m.  I thought it was an unusual protocol.   Situated among longleaf pines are two campground loops with 30 campsites that offer water and electric.  There is a single bathhouse building for both loops.  There is of course a dump station near the entrance on the exit side of the road.

We took a look at the campground which was neat and tidy.  There were only a handful of RVs with many open sites.  The majority of the sites were filled with the small gravel, the same as the gravel on the sites at Grayton Beach.  These sites are available for $18 a night.

The park itself was small and some of the trails were flooded.  We had considered staying at this park, but had decided against it as we thought it would be similar to Big Shoals with forests and a river.  We were looking for something different.

I think we made the right decision for us by going to Avalon Landing RV Park as it's much closer to our daughter and son in law.   If the weather had been better, I think Blackwater River State Park would be great for canoeing/ kayaking.


On the way out of the park on Deaton Bridge Road, we came across a training field, part of Whiting Naval Station.  

Helicopter trainers were doing maneuvers.  We stopped to watch and took some photos.  

Our son in law Andrew will be participating in this type of training in the near future.

In the afternoon, we visited our friends Bob and Janette in Crestview and were glad to see that they are doing well.


We got home by 5:00 and made plans to do some more exploring tomorrow.