The BEACH!

 So amazingly beautiful and with the sound of the waves that soothes my soul! For these reasons, I loved every day that we spent here.

 The beach was a short walk from the campsites down this boardwalk.

 Kik pulled this fish out of the water (already dead). Huge and heavy!

 We are not sure what left this print, but this my adult handprint is next to it so you can see how large it was. There was a whole trail of this giant prints on the beach one evening.

 Since it is February, the water is chilly by Florida gulf standards, but still warm to those of us used to the Pacific!

Besides, sandcastles can be built no matter the temperature of the water - and build we did!

 Who wouldn't?!

 

Kik asked if we could spend a whole day on the beach and do nothing else - so we did.

Our orthodontist at home has a contest for "Tin Grin" pictures, so the kids thought this would be a fun entry.

Gulf Islands National Seashore - 2/27-3/2

We we're so blessed to get a spot for three nights at this national park! It is definitely one of my favorite spots on the trip.

 We headed across the bridge from Pensacola to the barrier islands that make up Gulf Islands National Seashore.

 We were greeted by this beach ball and white sands!

 It was so beautiful and perfect weather for climbing trees,

 eating and doing schoolwork outside,

 and finding wildlife - like this armadillo!

 We hiked trails and biked to the fort.

 We rescued baby turtles.

We enjoyed life on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico!

Our campground is at the west end of Santa Rosa island - where you can see it's a bit wider.

While staying here we took an evening to drive in to Pensacola and meet a friend from long ago - Kida!

 So fun to reconnect and meet his family. Kida worked in high school ministry with us when we were first married, so we had lots of good memories to rehash and we've all grown quite a bit so it was fun to hear & share how the Lord has grown us since those times together.  We were thankful they could drive out to meet us.

 

Fort Pickens

This fort was active from the early 1800s until 1947.

There was a 1 1/2 mile hike/bike path to the fort from the campground.

The first day we rode over to learn about the fort.The fort is in the shape of a pentagon and has had various additions and retirements over the years.

One of the 5 sides was actually lost in an explosion when a store of gunpowder was accidentally lit. Brick fragments were found across the sound on the mainland!

 Architecturally, the double arches were interesting. In order to build a solid fort on not-so-solid sand, arches were built into the ground to distribute the weight of the structure so that one small part could not sink into the sand and compromise the integrity of a larger portion. In the above picture, they have dug out the lower portion of the arch, which was traditionally underground.

The second day, the kids went to play hide and seek at the fort.

 

The 3rd day, we made it into the museum. They have done a great job with the small space - exploring architecture, military, ecology, etc and reaching a wide range of ages with displays that appeal to all the senses.

We learned a lot about the island, its history and its role in our current ecosystem. 

 And, of course, we had the junior ranger book to guide us through it all.

 While this cannon is huge, it wasn't the largest one here when the fort was active!

On our ride back to camp one day, we saw this huge turtle in the estuary area right off the path.

 

Tallahassee, FL - Capitol #33

Florida's historic capitol now stands in front of their current capitol built in 1977. Their current capitol is one of 4 tower capitols in the U.S. The first one we saw was in North Dakota. The second was at Nebraska, but it didn't feel like just a tower because they had so much to see on the wider bottom floors. This is the 3rd and we'll eventually find the last.

There was a video introduction, then we toured all the standard areas.
When the new capitol was built in the 70s, there were plans to tear this one down. Instead they paired it down to it's 1902 footprint and refurbished and furnished it to that time period. (It was originally built in 1845.)

 We are excited to be on the road again after a whole month in Florida. We were a little out of practice when we got here. We almost forgot our journals, which we get stamped. But we did remember to make a video. So, we're getting back in the swing of things.

Museum of Florida History - 2/26

This museum exposed us to Florida history from pre-historic to present.

The many native people exhibits expanded on what we had learned at De Soto National Monument about tribes in Florida. 

Ky learned some new knots.

 They had some inspiring photography and an old camera to "play" with in the "modern times" part.

At the far end below is one of the first RVs. Snowbirds have been bringing their homes on wheels here for a long time. 

Steering the paddle boat.

Operator?

Florida has such a rich history and so many diverse environments. It was fun to experience this museum after exploring the state for a month and put together all we've been learning about.