Exploring Pensacola

The next day found me taking in more parks in the Pensacola area. I started at the Tarkiln Bayou which is home to four species of endangered pitcher plants. I did the 1.5 mile round trip trail out to the bayou and didn’t see any pitcher plants but the bayou was pretty. It had such calm, glassy water that was only interrupted by a couple pelicans.

My next stop was Fort Barrancas which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore but it located on the Naval Base. Turns out it is only open on Saturdays though and you really can’t even see the fort from the visitor center.

View from Ft. Pickens

There is a .5 mile nature trail that you can walk but it skirts the main road through the naval base so its not exactly tranquil. Down from the fort is the Advanced Redoubt which you can walk around but not go inside. It was built between 1845 and 1870 as part of a defensive network for the Pensacola Navy Yard. The Redoubt is unique among the early American forts at Pensacola in being designed solely for resisting a land-based assault.

Also on the ground of the Naval Base is the Pensacola Lighthouse that you can walk up but it requires a fee and I was I no condition to walk up a lighthouse. It was more interesting to see the variety of planes constantly flying overhead from the Naval Base.

The Base is home to the Naval Aviation Museum but I wanted to save that for a rainy day so I headed over to Rosamond Johnson beach, another part of the National Seashore. I learned that this was among the few beaches open to African-Americans during segregation and it is named for Private Rosamond Johnson, Jr. who was killed on July 26, 1950 during the Korean Conflict. Having carried two wounded men to safety under enemy fire, he was killed going back for a third. There’s a half mile long trail through dunes, pine trees, and salt marsh outlooks. After walking that I settled in on the beach to relax for a bit. 

My last stop of the day was at Big Lagoon State Park. It was so relaxing, I think I only saw 3 other people the whole time I was there. Big Lagoon State Park separates the mainland from Perdido Key and the Gulf of Mexico. Natural communities, ranging from saltwater marshes to pine flatwoods, attract a wide variety of birds, so I tried to pay attention to what was flying around. 

 

There are several different trails that I checked out but I spend a good chunk of time relaxing on a bench overlooking Long Pond. 

 

I was pretty exhausted after my day outdoors so I headed back to the hotel to partake in the hot tub before nightfall.