Big Lagoon State Park - Pensacola, Florida

Big Lagoon was a very nice park.  Our campsite #2 was a little tight but we had good neighbors on both sides so not a problem:

There was plenty of biking on and off road in the park:

While we were there, the Blue Angels came back from the west coast and performed.  We were able to catch some of the show from the park which is only a few miles from the base:

This one flew pretty close by:

The park had many osprey nest perched high atop dead trees.  If you look closely you'll see this guy is carrying a fish that it just grabbed from the river:

A few nest you'd see the female working on the nest and the male close by watching:

this time the male is inspecting her work:

Forest fires nearby would leave haze across the sky (if you look closely here you can see it).  Looked pretty cool with the moon out in the middle of the day too:

One day we drove to Gulf Shores Alabama (only 10-15 miles west).  What a pleasant surprise!  Beaches are very nice here, water was clear too.  We were told that these beaches were hit hard by the oil spill but no signs of it at all:

Another day we drove to Pensacola (about 40 mins away).  This was a much more happening place on the beach than most places we've been so far.  Bars & restaurants lined the bay beach seen here below:

along with the ocean beach across the street.  Fine white sand and clear waters:

Later in the afternoon we had a late lunch at "Crabs" (very good food) on the beach:

As you can see, the beaches here filled up with the spring breakers - they were pretty tame:

While at Pensacola, we made the 10 mile ride down the narrow white sand peninsula to tour Fort Pickens:

Interesting architecture  but a little eerie to walk through:

This fort played a very important role in the civil war as the only southern fort held by union troops which prevented the south from using the naval fleet there.  This fort also held Geronimo and several of his tribe captive here:

For Suze birthday, we kayaked, biked, relaxed and had a very nice dinner on the river at the Oyster Bar restaurant on Perdido Key.  Instead of cake we lit a fire later (yes, we had cake too - just no candles):

A couple of days we kayaked up and down the river from the park's boat ramp.  Beautiful scenery but but the current and the wind (not too bad in this pic) made us work for it:

On another day we rode bikes from the camp over to the National Sea Shore Park (~5 miles one way).  The park was mostly a bright white sandy peninsula with the ocean and inlet river on either side:

This was a great place to camp.  All kinds of stuff to do in the park or near by.  Honorable mention goes to the Shrimp Basket for it's $3 a doz oysters & more!  Now we're off to Gautier, Mississippi (near Biloxi and on the Gulf).  More to come . . .