We have traveled south for five of the last six winters. The first three years by boat, and the last two years by car. The pictures I took in Santo Domingo were taken later in this trip.

On our trip this winter the first place we apent a week was Fort Walton Beach. On Sunday December 18th, we drove over to Okaloosa Island. After we visited John Beasley Park (where I made Bob (Beasley) pose with the sign),



we went to the Visitor's Center and picked up a lot of brochures. One of them was for The Lighthouse Point Restaurant, and when I asked, I was told that it was just a replica and not a real lighthouse. Wrong Information Breath...

I also asked him who John Beasley was, and he said he was an early settler but didn't know any other information.

We spent the 21st in Pensacola. Bob was stationed at the Pensacola NAS to go through pilot training when we first married. My mom took this picture in 1959



We drove through part of old Pensacola until we got to the NAS gate. I do not understand the directions on the Pensacola Friends of the Lighthouse site which says that you can't go in the main gate. They have a special section of the gate just for people without military base stickers - this is mostly for visiting the museum of course, but I don't think you have to visit the museum or at least you could visit the lighthouse in additin.

First we went to the National Museum of Naval Aviation.


This is one of the three largest air museums in the US - the other two are the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and an AF museum in Ohio.

T-28 One of the trainers Bob flew




Model of the Essex - one of the carriers that Bob flew from.



Carrier Ready Room mockup



Blue Angels exhibit (Bob did NOT fly with the Blue Angels)

We went to eat lunch in the Cubi Bar Cafe in the museum. I could see the top of the lighthouse from there, so I knew it was a real lighthouse and not just a reproduction.

After lunch, we drove over to the Pensacola Lighthouse (construction started in 1856) which proved to be just in back of the range which guides ships into the only entrance to Pensacola harbor. The workers who are in front of the lighthouse were cleaning up the area.


Actually the back range light is in a cutout of the picket fence around the lighthouse and lighthouse keeper's house and the range is right in line with the lighthouse.


This was the first lighthouse on the Florida Gulf Coast. It is on a site one half mile west of the original lighthouse



During the Civil War the Fresnel lens which was made in Paris by Henri LaPaite was taken out of the tower for safekeeping. It has been reinstalled in the lighthouse which is still a working aid to navigation. The lightkeeper's house was built in 1869 and the light was electrified in 1939 and automated in 1965. The light can be seen for 27 miles..



On Google World, you can pick the lighthouse out (along with the front range marker) if you know where it is.




Weather permitting, tours are given on Sundays from May to September between 12 and 3:30 pm. We visited in December, so of course we couldn't go on a tour. Visitors must climb 177 steps and I wouldn't have wanted to do that anyway. Children under 6 years of age are not permited in the tower.







Unfortunately, the restaurant was not open when we were there. It is normally open to the public i.e. you don't have to be military. Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Next, we tried to find Fort Barrancas, to take the 2 p.m. tour. In front of the fort was the Water Battery, which was initially constructed by the Spanish in 1797. The guns in this battery were designed to fire directly across the water - skipping along the surface until they hit the hull of a ship. So no problem with trajectory or anything like that. We went by the water battery (which is whitewashed) and had to turn around and go back to access the main fort visitor's center.



We could see Fort Pickens across the bay



It was closed (it still is) because of hurricane damage.





The ranger led tour was very interesting and I recommend it




He showed us where the gunpowder was stored.



One of the things he told us was that the fort was built on sand, so the walls had to be curved in order that the whole thing didn't fall into a heap (which I think is called the angle of repose)






He said all the bricks were made on site, and I think the bricks for the lighthouse were also made here.

On our second trip to Pensacola lighthouse we stop to see Fort Barrancas, thinking it would only take 5 minutes, however, the fort is big and it took much longer. The main part of the fort is two stories high and is connected to the water battery by a tunnel.

Yes - the 2:00 tour we took (which was free) was an hour. Fort Barrancas is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. We were in Fort Walton Beach for a week, and we went to the Naval Live Oaks section of the Gulf Islands National Seashore on Monday


This was in the visitor's center - a cross-section of a wooden vessel



And then afterwards we looked for the house we had lived in in Avalon Beach in 1960 and couldn't find it. On Wednesday, we went back to Pensacola to the Naval Aviation Museum and the lighthouse and the Fort.

Then later when we were in Gulf Shores Alabama for New Years, we came back to visit the NAS museum again and see the IMAX film (which Bob thought showed too much of the Blue Angels and not enough of the Wright Bros.

We weren't able to visit Fort Pickens or the Mississippi sections of the Gulf Shores National Seashore because of hurricane damage.

This is what the NPS website says at present

MUSEUMS
Fort Pickens Museum- Florida

Location
Fort Pickens area, Pensacola Beach, Florida

Closures
Closed indefinitely as a result of Hurricane Ivan damage.


VISITOR CENTERS

Davis Bayou Temporary Contact Station - Mississippi

Open
Open All Year 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Phone
228-875-0821

Location
Ocean Springs,MS

Closures
A temporary visitor contact station is open daily from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm and is located adjacent to the hurricane damaged William M. Colmer Visitor Center.

Special Programs
Special interpretive programs including jon boat tours of the salt marsh and star gazing programs are given throughout the year. Junior Ranger Programs are given during the summer months. The Mississippi Coast's largest Earth Day Celebration is held in April.

Exhibits
Temporary natural history exhibits based on the artwork of Walter Anderson illustrate the mainland-sound-barrier island ecosystem.

Available Facilities
Eastern National bookstore is located inside the temporary contact station. A picnic area with individual picnic tables, pavilions, nature trails and public boat ramp are open.


Fort Barrancas Visitor Center- Florida

Open
Open All Year
March-October 9:30 am - 5:00 pm
November-February 8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Phone
850-455-5167

Location
Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida

Closures
Closed Christmas Day.

Special Programs
A 12-minute video Fort Barrancas is shown upon request. Daily 45-minute tours of Fort Barrancas are given at 2:00 pm. Meet at the fort on Pensacola Naval Air Station.

Exhibits
Exhibits on the history of Pensacola under five flags from 1559-1971 and displays Civil War and coast artillery artifacts.

Available Facilities
Eastern National Outlet. Nature Trail. Picnic Area. Restrooms.


Fort Pickens Visitor Center- Florida

Open
May 20, 2006 - September 4, 2006 Intermittently 10:00 am - 4:30 pm

Phone
850-934-2635

Location
Ft. Pickens area of Pensacola Beach, Florida

Special Programs
On weekends and holiday join a ranger for a guided tour of Ft. Pickens. Self guided tours of the fort are available seven days a week, 8:00 am to sunset.

Exhibits
Wayside exhibits throughout the fort.

Available Facilities
Restrooms and drinking fountains.


Naval Live Oaks Visitor Center- Florida

Open
Open All Year 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Phone
850-934-2600

Location
1,378 acre woodland area in Gulf Breeze, Florida

Closures
Closed on Christmas day.

Special Programs
A 12-minute orientation film about the park is available upon request. "Trees for Defense" is a 30-minute talk or video on the historic use of live oak trees for national defense. Given on request.

Exhibits
An exhibit on a cross-section of a wooden vessel is available to view.

Available Facilities
Eastern National bookstore. Picnic area with a pavilion, individual picnic tables, restrooms, drinking fountains, outdoor showers, a youth group camping facility, and several hiking trails.

Great tour-nice pictures and history information!

Rosalie, ...Your pics and stories of your adventures are great! Thank you so much for sharing!

Bob

Thanks Rosalie, some great stuff here!