Pictures of the Week 2009-13
Hello All,
Continuing with our adventures along the Gulf coast of Alabama and the panhandle of Florida, one of our stops was at the Pensacola Lighthouse. It was built in 1859 and is currently maintained by the Pensacola Lighthouse Association. They are doing a wonderful job of preserving this historic landmark.
Continuing with our adventures along the Gulf coast of Alabama and the panhandle of Florida, one of our stops was at the Pensacola Lighthouse. It was built in 1859 and is currently maintained by the Pensacola Lighthouse Association. They are doing a wonderful job of preserving this historic landmark.
While in Pensacola we stopped
at another well known landmark, “Joe Patti’s.” If you love fresh seafood it is
the place to go on the gulf coast. The only place that we have found in our
travels that rivals it to buy quality seafood would be Pike‘s Place Fish Market
in Seattle, WA. In addition to seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, Patti’s has
seafood from all over the world flown in. Fresh salmon and live lobsters were
on our shopping list.
We made treks to a number of
forts in the area. Fort Pickens is the largest of four forts built to defend
Pensacola Bay. Seeking a means of homeland defense that would not require a
large military presence in peacetime, the United States relied on forts to
guard harbors from any invader. For over a century, Fort Pickens protected the
coastline from foreign invasion.
The fort was begun in 1829, completed in 1834, and used until 1947. Over 21.5 million bricks were required to build it. A workforce of skilled African-American slave labor was used to construct the fort. Ironically, the only real action the fort endured occurred when the country was at war with itself. Fort Pickens was one of four seacoast forts in the South that remained under Union control during the Civil War.
The fort was begun in 1829, completed in 1834, and used until 1947. Over 21.5 million bricks were required to build it. A workforce of skilled African-American slave labor was used to construct the fort. Ironically, the only real action the fort endured occurred when the country was at war with itself. Fort Pickens was one of four seacoast forts in the South that remained under Union control during the Civil War.
We thoroughly enjoy walking
the trails of Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge consists of
approximately 7,000 acres of coastal lands, ranging from constantly changing
beach dunes to rolling pine-oak woodlands. The big oak trees were covered with
Spanish moss and the bushes underneath were loaded with some type of red berry.
Of course we had to snap a few photos here and there!
During our stay on the Gulf
coast a late season tropical depression rolled in and abruptly changed our
serene winter paradise. You could see it coming as the sky rapidly turned black
and the wind picked up followed by days of rain. It was rather ugly but we have
learned to enjoy the moment. Here are a few photos we snapped as the storm
moved onshore.
Wow, look at the black horizon in the following photo!
Wow, look at the black horizon in the following photo!
Clouds began rolling in. Keep in mind that the
Gulf of Mexico water is normally quite smooth with just a few swells. There is
very little in the way of waves breaking on shore.
Things rapidly started getting
ugly!!
And the surf started pounding
the beach creating foam as it crashed onto the shore. In some areas the foam
was over a foot deep. The changing wind would pick it up and blow it through
the air.
It was quite an awesome
experience. That’s Dave out on the pier at Gulf Shores taking photos of the
waves breaking. The pier shuddered and shook when a big wave would hit!!
We’ll let you know whether or
not we survived the storm in the next Pictures of the Week.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns