Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach, Florida

During the past year our youngest son and his family moved from St. Petersburg, FL to Pensacola Beach, FL, an island off the coast of Florida near Pensacola. As we do each year, we planned to visit them in early spring. So, on March 19th we packed our bags and headed south. About 18 hours later, we arrived in Pensacola and crossed over the bridge to Gulf Breeze, and then another bridge taking us to Pensacola Beach and their home on the white sands of the island. For the next 10 days we enjoyed our two granddaughters, our son and daughter-in-law, and as a bonus the historical significance of these two Gulf Islands.

Pensacola is also known for its Naval Base, which is also home to the Blue Angels and the Naval History Museum.

Gulf Breeze, an peninsula sticking out from mainland "Panhandle" Florida is home to the Naval Live Oaks Reservation, a 1450 acre site originally developed as a tree farm in 1828 for the single purpose of using live oak timber for shipbuilding.

Within these 1450 acres are many interesting trees and plants, as well as wildlife. Among the trees are huge white magnolias reaching up to 70 feet in height with the large shiny leaves of the magnolia. These white magnolias rarely produce the magnificent flower as the flower buds are often eaten by squirrels.

The tree that gets the most attention, however, is the live oak. Like the magnolia, it can reach 50 feet or more in size and is often divided by two or more main trunks. The live oak is known for its durable wood. One reason is its density resulting in a cubic foot of live oak weighing 75 lbs or more as compared to a white oak that weighs 55 lbs.

The high density of this wood made it a desirable wood for the construction of navy vessels. So much so, that cannon balls bounced off the sides of ships constructed with "live oak". Among these ships were the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides", and the USS Constellation.

The Naval Live Oaks Reservation, part of the National Park Service also has other trees and plants and presents an interesting picture of dense forest with draping Spanish moss giving the visitor a surreal image.

Part of the Reservation borders the bay between Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach, and wildlife is often seen, including the great blue heron pictured here.

Among the plants that I found and photographed was this tree-petaled flower, akin to a Trillium sp., including a very small bee that was seeking nectar and transferring pollen.

Before crossing the bridge from Gulf Breeze to Pensacola Beach, visitors are greeted by thus sign proclaiming the excitement of the beach community.

Once on Pensacola Beach, another sign makes one pause momentarily, as we read the possible dangers that could be encountered on the white sandy beaches. The Gulf Islands National Seashores are located smack dab in the middle of hurricane alley. Damage by recent hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Katrina (2005) require significant repairs to island roads and facilities.

These damages not withstanding, popular places such as "Peg-Leg-Pete's" continue to rebuild and continue to attract customers. The white sand on Pensacola Beach is extraordinary; instead of crushed sea shells being the source of the sand, it is pure quartz that originated perhaps in the Appalachian Mountains and reached the Gulf via rivers.

We were particuarly interested in learning more about the history of Fort Pickens, located at the far western end of Pensacola Beach. So, as we entered Pensacola Beach we turned right at the main intersection. Further down the road we saw remnants of the slash pine forest that dominated the island at one time.

On the way we stopped at a parking area and walked on the beach for a while. We came upon a large grouping of brown pelicans. Some are shown on the photo. They seemed to be quite comfortable with people walking around, although closer than twenty feet made them nervous.

Further on I spied a great blue heron on its nest atop a dad slash pine. Watching it for a while I was convinced that it was still in the process of building the nest and that no eggs had been laid.

Finally, we arrived at Fort Pickens, a naval fort whose construction began in 1829 and lasted five years. Hundreds of slaves were used in its construction as skilled workers were unavailable in the local area, and northern craftsmen refused to work in the unhealthy climate of the Gulf Coast due to the continual epidemics of Yellow Fever.

Fort Pickens has had a role in American history that began in 1829 and continued into the the 1940's during the second World War. The fort itself is a mixture of buildings, batteries, powder magazines, and quarters that reflect action during the Texas Revolution and the war with Mexico, the American civil war, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II.

In addition, Fort Pickens was used as a prison in 1886 to hold a number of Chiricahua Apache Indians including one named Geronimo. The presence of Geronimo at Fort Pickens also made Fort Pickens a world-class tourist attraction. In 1887 the Army began to allow tourists to visit and as many as 450 /day.

As you approach the fort, your first view is of a thick brick entrance way that actually is part of a wall that surrounds the entire fort.

The original purpose of the fort was to be part of a large Harbor defense system, along with Fort McRee on Perdido Key, and Fort Barrancas located now on the Pensacola Naval Air Station. These three forts provided an overlapping defense of Pensacola Bay.

View of the inner parade grounds of the fort showing the Battery Pensacola and the open arches on the right.

Another view of the open areas within the fort itself. In the far ground are openings for canon fire as a last-defense if the walls of the fort are breached.

View of the open arches part of the fort. These reverse arches were developed to support the weight of the fort on sand, spreading the weight of the entire structure to minimize settling.

Another view of Bastion A. These projections from the corners of the fort created bastions allowing cannon fire down into the dry moat at invading attackers.

Another view of the open arches showing the thickness of the walls made up primarily of brick. In building the fort, some twenty million bricks were used.

A view looking down through the open arches where canon were placed.

A look at one of the areas within the arch.

An outside view of the open arches showing the layout of bricks.

This view shows the south wall of the fort where the quarters were located. This is also the area where Geronimo and the other Apache prisoners were were housed.

View inside the fort showing an old civil war-era canon.

Another view inside the fort showing an area that was used for gun emplacements. At one time over 100 canon could be brought to bear on he channel into Pensacola Bay.

Ironically, the only real action that the fort endured occurred when the country was at war with itself. Fort Pickens was one of only four seacoast forts in the South that remained in Union control during the Civil War.

A 15-inch Rodman canon at Tower Bastion. When the fort as first built, the end of the island was a mere 150 yards away. Today, this area of the fort is almost a mile from the end of the island.

Looking towards the end of the island from Tower Bastion.

A view of Tower Bastion with the 15-inch Rodman canon as seen from outside the fort.

Another view of Tower Bastion with its Rodman canon. This view shows the continuation of the fort and the outside of the open arches; all the openings held canon during the civil war.

Old glory stand proud and tall every day of the year.

This old picture of Geronimo is used in all the Fort Pickens literature to describe his imprisonment at Fort Pickens.

This is a view of new canon mounts in an upgraded fort built during the Spanish American war about 1898. Powerful rifled canon were included towards the end of the Civil War and maintained into the early 1900's.

Battery Payne and Battery Pensacola were developed in 1904 and 1899 respectively

This view shows powder magazines incorporated into Battery Trueman built in 1905.

This picture shows a view from Battery Payne. All of the batteries erected within the fort were strategically located for optimum coverage.

One of the Batteries that was developed during the Spanish-American War. Others included Battery Cullen and Server.

Overall view of the battery emplacements and service areas built during the Spanish-American War.

During World War I, this gun emplacement and service bunkers were built, however they were never used.

At the beginning of World War II, new gun emplacements were built and heavy canon placed there to protect the area from possible attacks by German submarines. Two such canon can be seen in this picture.

A closer view of one of the WW II canons placed at Battery GPF in 1937 or Battery 234 in 1943.

View of the WW II canon looking out into the Gulf of Mexico

The last artillerymen left Fort Pickens in 1947. It now remains as a testament to our military resources over a period spanning some 118 years, and is maintained by the National Park Service as a unit of the Gulf Islands National Seashore,

Fall in New England, 2009

It is September, 2009, and it is time for us to take our annual pilgrimage to New England. About ten years ago, my wife inherited a summer home in West Falmouth, MA that had been her cousins. We rent it all summer as that is the only way we can afford to keep it, but when September comes we spend time there maintaining it and thoroughly enjoying our good fortune. At the same time, Peg's sister Christine has a summer home on the island of Cuttyhunk. Cuttyhunk is last in a series of Elizabeth Islands that go south from Woods Hole, MA. It is small island which attracts a lot of boaters in the summer, but has few year-long residents. The picture above shows the south west end of the island with some salt water ponds where oysters are farmed.

Leaving Cuttyhunk on the ferry to New Bedford, we pass near Penikese Island and see harbor seals gathering on nearby rock. Penikese has a long history as a biological station with Agassiz, a leper colony, and more recently a school for wayward boys.

Arriving back in West Falmouth, I have taken my bike and am riding down the newly created bicycle path that goes all the way to Woods Hole. Along the route is the Sippiwissett Marsh, a well studied salt water marsh along the shores of Buzzards Bay.

Here, along the bicycle path we can see a small colony of Great white egrets, enjoying the comforts of the day.

Back in West Falmouth, I look at the harbor from our porch and there sitting on the dock is a Great Blue Heron, trying to ignore the two laughing gulls sitting next to him/her.

Also present, are the many cormorants that ply the harbor water looking for fish. They are interesting birds, and like the anhinga of the southern states, they have to dry their wings after spending time in the water.

We take a drive over to Chapaquoit Island and I am attracted to a particular way in which an old anchor is draped over a post. I normally do not take pictures of inanimate objects, but this one caught my attention.

The next day we took a walk along the shores of Little Island, a wildlife preserve in West Falmouth. Again the cormorants are present everywhere.

In addition, there are reminders that big fish inhabit these waters. I find the remains of a striped bass along the shoreline. Coyotes, raccoons or skunks have have cleaned these bones quite well.

I can never seem to get enough pictures of great blue herons. I am fascinated by them and was luck enough to get this one as it just started to take off in flight. Such beautiful gracefull birds!

In the middle of Little Island, we noticed several great white egrets sitting in the trees.

And, the always present Limulus limulus, horseshoe crab shells that one finds very summer.

Arriving back at our summer home, I again look out into the harbor and notice an osprey atop the mast of a sailboat. At this time of the year, these osprey are the young of the year. Their parents have already gone south. It always amazes me to know that these young osprey somehow know where to fly south during their migration. It has to be genetic or somehow the information has been transferred from their parents.

On our way back home to Wisconsin, this year we have decided to go by the northern route through New Hampshire, Vermont and Canada. Our first stop is at my brother-in-law's home near Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. We are hoping to catch the fall colors.

While there we wander down to the Mad River and begin to observe the annual color change of the northern forest.

Something catches my eye. I lean down and take a close look. I see a small toad (or frog) and fortunately, a discarded bottle cap as a measure of size. I have yet to identify this amphibian.

Back at my brother in law's home, we begin to seethe real change of colors.

Absolutely magnificent!

We continue our journey home, now stopping at friends who have a summer cottage on Lake Willoughby in Vermont, not far from the Canadian border. It was almost dark when this picture was taken of the two mountains at the far end of the lake.

The next day, my friend takes us for a ride in his small power boat. We get closer to the end of the lake and begin to see the colors on the side of the mountain.

A closer view with a little more sun than the previous evening.

And finally, a picture worth a thousand words!