Vacation in Pensacola: Fort Pickens

So I was driving and Dave was resting... I said something about exit 57.  A little while down the road Dave must have woken up and said Oh we just passed exit 57, what was there?  I said never mind--- but he kept pressing me.  Finally I had to spit it out, all the while wishing he had just left me well enough alone-:

Who in the world wants to have to admit such a sickness as this....

But because I generally feel I am pretty honest with you guys on this blog I shall share it with you all.

I have a sickness while I am traveling.  I is called

"IFEELTHENEEDTODOEVERYTHINGUNDERTHESUNSICKNESS"

It is very difficult to recover from, there are no 12 step programs and the sad thing is that often GREAT good comes from it! 

Oh yes, I said I would be honest.  On exit 57 there is apparently a store that sales THE BIGGEST GUMMY BEARS IN THE WORLD.  Now who on Earth wouldn't want to see that!  I have since found that they sale them online so we didn't miss much! 




photo credit to Vat19


They are 5 lbs and equal to 1400 regular size gummy bears.


Anyway-- after passing up this GREAT GEM.... we headed out from our hotel to do all the things in Pensacola that I couldn't pass up doing! 

We went to the bluffs on the scenic highway-- which ended up being a TON of steps/ boardwalks and piers that went on for ever and Dave and I were VERY sorry that we started it in the first place because what comes DOWN... well in our case it had to go back up to get back to our van!  :0)

Next we headed to Pensacola Beach across Gulf Breeze Island to the outer barrier Island to Gulf Islands National Seashore.  IT was so beautiful... white sandy beaches... dunes, waves crashing onto the shores, salt air, practically NO one there.... we went to the far end of the island to FORT PICKENS.  It was a fort held by the Union during the Civil War-- after the Confederate fired on Fort Sumptner they attempted to take over Fort Pickens but the Union held out and because of keeping the fort, they basically stopped the Confederates from gaining control of Pensacola Bay--which was a big deal Naval wise.

The kids explored (literally crawled down hallways, and went in dark rooms and tunnels with a flashlight-- it was hilarious!  They had a TON of fun and kept exploring for over an hour! 

The fort was also used during World War 1 and 2 for defense against possible invaders, but was shut down and then reopened in 1976 as part of national park.