Day 274 (Sunday 4/21/13)- Pensacola, FL

Not fully realizing what a busy day it would be, we spent several hours at the Pensacola Naval Air Base Museum. Though a military history enthusiast could spend days here, several hours was plenty of time for us to get an overview. There was a History Channel documentary and several T.V. cartoons from WWII encouraging people to donate their scrap metal to help with the war effort. Apparently Walt Disney's propaganda was a little too helpful and the government ended up collecting more scrap than they could use. 

Historic Fort Barrancas built in 1839 is also on the base, one of the two remaining forts designed to protect the Pensacola Bay and now operated by the NPS. We met an enthusiastic amature Ranger named David who walked around the fort with us, telling us all about the other fort he had toured the day before. Though it was a little confusing touring one fort while learning about the other, the history was interesting. David was a brisk walker, nice, knowledgeable, and a free guide.

Later at Fort Pickens, which was built in 1834, we got to see many of the things David had mentioned, including the 21.5 million bricks that went into making the fort. Though both forts were built to last and considered very important, they never actually saw any action until the Civil War. Fort Pickens did, however, serve as the final home of famed Native war leader Geronimo. (Which is a nice way to say he died in prison)

Finishing our day at the Gulf Islands National Seashore we lounged in the semi-warmth of the sand (Chilly for FL, but would be scalding for the Oregon water we are accustomed to, so we were happy) hoping to see the world's whitest sand as a Ranger had promised. It was white certainly, still we felt the claim might of been a stretch.

Pensacola Air Naval Base

 

 

 

 

 

Gulf Islands National Seashore