Fort Pickens

This Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather we are having and go out to Pensacola Beach to visit Fort Pickens.
On the way there we saw the infamous cross. One of the few things that remained standing on the beach after Hurricane Ivan struck in 2004. I'm sure there is a sermon in there somewhere.
"On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"

Fort Pickens is the largest of four forts built to defend Pensacola Bay and its navy yard. The fort was begun in 1829 and construction was completed in 1834. Fort Pickens successfully served the country for over a hundred years.
Some of the main action the fort saw was actually during the Civil War in 1861.
At one time, there was over 200 cannons here.
I felt like we were in Alice in Wonderland with the walls closing in on us. The kids loved exploring in the mine chambers where the gun powder was once stored.

Fort Pickens was also used to house Apache prisoners in 1887. Geronimo was a noted war leader and medicine man who is probably the most famous of the Apache prisoners that were held here.

Now the fort proudly displays the American flag but it has been the site of many flags including Spanish, French, British, and Confederate.

The fort was built using over 21 million bricks!

Check out the beautiful view of the beach in the background.

Most of the fort consists of gun emplacements on top of and within the walls.

These rooms were originally intended for officers but they were used as a hospital in 1861.

Micah would run ahead of us and then stop at every tunnel and yell "HELLOOOOO!"

I wondered what he might do if someone actually answered. :-)

Seven acres of open ground in the center of the fort once provided space to drill troops.

Check out these biker pups we met in the parking lot complete with

sunglasses, biker jackets, and gotees~ that were bleached and dyed! Hilarious!

Brian thought this speed limit was a joke at first until we realized that the campground areas have been delared a protected animal habitat for sea turtles.

We also stopped by this souvenir shop out on Pensacola Beach. Take a close look at the floor - yep- that is sand! I love it! These people are brilliant! Why fight with nature? This is so much more practical and it certainly adds a flair of character!

Savanna and Micah thought it would be a wonderful idea to buy one of these painted hermit crabs to take home as a new pet. But seeing as we've had more hermit crab funerals than I can count, we quickly diverted their attention to something else.