Florida Panhandle-West...and Mobile! - Streaming to National Park Sites

“Camping” near the home of the Blue Angels!

We stopped here to visit the Gulf Islands National Seashore-Florida and the National Naval Aviation Museum (on the Naval Air Station Pensacola.) We actually camped across Perdido Bay from Pensacola, in Lillian, Alabama, our 35th state to camp in with Lizzy! We spent 3 days with those visits, and also took a day trip to Mobile, Alabama. And…we just stopped in Mobile again, on a “moving day”, to visit the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park (they have RV parking)!

Silly Side Note…the camp hosts in Lillian were snow birds from Washington State, camping in an Airstream.

Visits to 1 new National Park Site:

Gulf Islands National Seashore (#232), Florida. There are several areas in the park. We spent a day visiting the Fort Pickens Area, on west end of Santa Rosa Island, which includes the Northern Terminus of the Florida Scenic Trail, which we walked for a mile or so and back. (4th section we’ve seen this month.) We also stopped by Fort Barrancas on our 2nd visit to Naval Air Station Pensacola. We’ll check out the Gulf Islands NS, Mississippi, hopefully tomorrow.

Northern Terminus 1.5 weeks after the Southern Terminus!
Hiking on the northern-most mile of the Florida National Scenic Trail
Hiking on the northern-most mile of the Florida National Scenic Trail
Touring Fort Pickens in Gulf Islands National Seashore
Building of Fort Pickens, of course, done by enslaved people
Building of Fort Pickens used the Double Arch, for stabilization in the sand
Top taken off for later guns, one can see a bit of how Fort Pickens was built

Visits on Naval Air Station Pensacola

National Naval Aviation Museum, with over 150 beautifully restored aircraft representing Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aviation, and many other exhibits and displays. We visited twice, enjoying the many exhibits & displays & the movie Magic of Flight, flying with the Blue Angels, narrated by Tom Selleck. We really appreciated the excellent 2 hour tour with a retired Vietnam Era Jag officer, with lots of personal stories.
Pensacola Lighthouse & Maritime Museum (also located on Naval Air Station Pensacola), where we climbed the 177 steps up the historic lighthouse, built in 1859. Nice views. We could see Fort Pickens from there. The Maritime Museum was in the Keepers House.

The Spirit of Naval Aviation…WW I, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm Pilots
How can you NOT have these at the National Naval Aviator Museum
How can you NOT have these at the National Naval Aviator Museum
Great Tour Guide!
Did you know, that Bush was the youngest ever Naval Aviator when he got his wings?
Pensacola Lighthouse & Keepers House-Maritime Museum
View of Fort Pickens/western Santa Rosa Island, from top of Pensacola Lighthouse

Visits in Mobile, Alabama

GulfQuest National Maritime Museum of the Gulf Coast, an amazing museum! Designed around the concept of a Container Ship, 5 stories, with all kinds of exhibits, movies, activities…Mark piloted 3 different boats in 5 simulations, day & night, clear & bad weather.
History Museum of Mobile, housed in Old City Hall, with great exhibits on Mobile’s history from pre-Colonial contact to the modern Port City.
Colonial Fort Condé, a replica of (one-third of) the original Fort Condé (at four-fifths scale), which was built in 1723 by French explorers.
USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, home to the USS Alabama Battleship, USS Drum Submarine, and various aircraft, tanks, and artillery. In 4 hours, we mostly only visited the Battleship and Submarine, and rushed it, at that!

GulfQuest Maritime Museum, very interesting building
GulfQuest Maritime Museum organized internally like a container ship!
Mark piloting a tow boat to get a container ship into the locks
Old City Hall, a historic complex of buildings, built from 1855 to 1857 to serve as a city hall and as a marketplace, currently housing the History Museum of Mobile
Mark by the big guns on the USS Alabama
inside the 16′ Gun Barbette on the USS Alabama, the only one anywhere, where one can do that
USS Drum