Leslie and David's Wanderings: 8 – 10 Feb 2020 Fort Pickens

The drive from Hattiesburg to Gulf Breeze Florida was mostly uneventful until another driver came up alongside of us at a stoplight to tell us we were dragging something on the Wanderer. We found a place to pull over and luckily it was just a cross support that holds up the insulation board under the tank bay. The scary part was it was hanging by one bolt and dragging right in front of the right tires on the Wanderer. We pulled it off (Later reinstalled with new bolts) and continued on. We crossed the southern portion of Alabama (Our 27^thState) before crossing into Florida (Our 28^thState).

Saturday morning we headed for historic downtown Pensacola. We stopped at the famous McGuires Irish Pub for a wonderful lunch before hitting downtown. As we pulled into downtown we were surprised to find a street market in full swing (they have it every Saturday morning). We quickly found a parking spot and proceeded to explore the street market and the stores on the side of the street. It was a fun afternoon exploring the booths of artists, local foods, and jewelry. They started breaking down the booths around 2:30 so we headed for a local brewery to try the beers and enjoy the people watching.

Sunday morning we headed for Fort Pickens at the end of Santa Rosa Island. Fort Pickens was one of 42 costal forts that were built to protect from foreign invasion following the war of 1812 when the British sailed up the Potomac River and sacked Washington. Following the war, congress funded building of the coastal forts and a new navy based on what had worked in the 1812 war. Fort McHenry had stopped the British sailing up the river and taking Philadelphia and the oak sides of the USS Constitution, made from the dense live oak wood (the densest wood in North America). Started in 1829, Fort Pickens was built with slave labor and finished in 1834. Fort Pickens was one of four forts in the south that remained in Union hands during the Civil War. The only action it saw was in the Battle of Pensacola in Nov-Dec 1861. The South eventually abandoned Pensacola. We were able to join a Ranger led tour followed by a demonstration of a cannon firing. The Fort was modified in 1899 to install newer guns and then again during WW2 to defend against Uboats. The fort was handed over to the state of Florida in 1947. It was returned to the federal government along with the Live Oak Reserve (set aside by the Navy for building ships in 1815) in 1971 to become part of Gulf Islands National Seashore. Gulf Island National Seashore spans 160 mile of coastline from Mississippi to the Big Bend of Florida. Our only regret is we did not stay here longer. The beaches are beautiful, the food wonderful and the sunset beautiful!