Pensacola Beach Spring Break

Pack up the kids ma, we're a-goin' to the beach!

Pensacola Beach that is, for some Spring Break surf and sun.

We pulled our little camper South and set up at the Pensacola Beach Campground, located in the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Then we hit the beach.

When momma's happy, evr'body's happy!

The weather wasn't the greatest for the beach while we were there, but was fine for some sightseeing. We rode our bikes down the island a ways to the historic Fort Pickens. Very interesting.

The fort was built before the Civil War to help defend the entrance to Pensacola Bay and was a Union fort during the war. One corner got blown up by accident at some point in it's history, but most of the rooms and passages are in pretty good shape. All brick, all laid out for a method of warfare that has long since passed.

When the fort was active, every hole in the wall had a cannon sticking out and a crew to man it. Today there are still lots of holes, but only one cannon. And kind of a motley looking crew.

The layout and construction of the fort was fascinating to me. We seem to have taken quite a few pictures while we were there, so maybe they will show up in a later post.

Paxton stands next to a massive smooth-bore cannon perched on top of one of the outer walls, pointing towards the entrance of the bay. Imagine the noise when this baby lit off!

As time passed, the brick and mortar fort turned obsolete and the Army started building concrete bunkers, or batteries, with larger and larger guns. Then cruise missiles and smart bombs made the bunkers obsolete, so they turned the whole area into a national park.

The bunkers are still there and one of them has a neat example of one of the guns that was used there. The gun sat on a frame that raised it clear of the bunker before firing, then dropped it back down out of sight again to be reloaded. We couldn't get it to work.

Back to the beach. Kenrick perfects the art of digging a hole.

Paxton works on overcoming his fear of getting his feet wet.

On Wednesday we visited the National Museum of Naval Aviation on the Pensacola Navy Base.

The museum is full of lots of displays, models, rides, an IMAX, and LOTS of airplanes. Very neat.

It's also the home of the Blue Angles.

Our friends Doug and Karena just happened to be vacationing down the Gulf a ways at the same time we were there, so we met them at the museum. It also happened to be the day that the Blue Angles were going to fly their first practice session of the season. Open to the public and free. We found a spot on the grass.

It's hard to capture the sensation in pictures. Goose bumps.

The Blue Angles fly in impossibly close formations.

Sometimes upside down.

Sometimes straight up into the sky.

Always beautifully.

The last part of the week was a bit colder and windy, so that put a bit of a damper on the beach time. Anya still enjoyed digging in the sand, but kept her distance from the water.

The wind did kick up a respectable surf though, so the older kids got a chance to roll in the waves.

We packed up on Friday morning and hit the road just before it started pouring rain.

Everyone was happily exhausted, a sure sign of a successful vacation!