Being 6:00 in the morning, it was way too early to head to the KOA because I'd still end up paying for an extra day if they were even there when I arrived. Instead, I did the next most logical thing - went to the beach. Since I was already on the western outskirts of Pensacola, I ended up driving to Perdido Key Beach where I watched the sun rise. After watching the sun rise, I drove to the Naval Air Station to explore The Advanced Redoubt and Fort Barrancas.
The Forts
I had to drive around to the main gate because it was Sunday, and it's the only one open before 8:00 on the weekend, which meant that the first fort I came to was the Advanced Redoubt. No one was there, as you can expect at 7:30 in the morning, but explored it for a while before taking the so called "trench trail" to Fort Barrancas. 
This half mile trail was never considered a trench as much as an earthwork ditch that connected the redoubt and the fort. All of it is overgrown, and much of the "trench" is no longer, as a road cuts through it. Compounding the overgrowth is the fallout from the hurricanes that hit the area a few years back, much of which hasn't been addressed, as they are the last thing the government really cares to fund.
Anyway, after the walk through the trail, I arrived at Fort Barrancas visitor Center. When I entered the visitor center, a ranger was talking the woman who worked there as the clerk about needing to replenish the brochures at the Advanced Redoubt. I offered to take them back with me, since I was still parked there, and had a conversation with the ranger, who has a masters in history, and is unofficially in charge of all the historical research and education for the Gulf Coast region of the National Parks system, and has been stationed at the fort for 27 years. He is true wealth of information about all of the forts in the area, as is also evidenced in that he is the spokesperson for the video at Fort Pickens (possibly some of the others, but I didn't watch the one at Fort Barrancas. After our talk, I explored the fort.
Fort Barrancas consists of 3 major parts - the Water Battery, which was originally built by the Spanish around 1797, to which America added the rest of the fort - an inner and outer scarf, with separate tunnels connecting these three parts and a dry moat in between. The entrance to the fort is a draw bridge into the central fort. Unfortunately, I had neglected to charge my camera battery or to carry my point and shoot, so when my battery in the tunnel to the Water Battery, I knew I'd have to come back to the fort to finish taking pictures. I still finished walking through it, which made it quicker to come back for pictures later.
KOA Killian, AL
Because I wanted a shower, my battery was dead, and by now it was around noon, I decided to head to the KOA, and charged my battery along the way. The KOA is located across the river that separates Florida and Alabama, and is situated right on the bank of the river. I paid for 2 nights, set up camp, took a shower, and called my mom before heading back to finish taking pictures.
Getting back to Fort Barrancas around 4:40, I knew I had to hurry to get the rest of the pictures I had missed. First I headed to the outer scarf, and as I was finishing taking pictures here, I heard the thud of the gate closing. Going back to the tunnel that links the outer scarf to the main fort, the lights were out, so I used my camera to illuminate it. Ascending the steps to the main fort, I saw the gate closed and the iron bar securing the gate shut (picture shown above, taken after I removed the bar, which is leaning against the wall).
A bench nearby had a canvas sack sitting on it, which wasn't there when I had entered, so my first thought wasn't how do I get out, but is the ranger still inside, having chosen to secure the door to make sure no one else came in and went into an area he'd already checked. I glanced back at the bar on the door, and there was a note on it saying "You are NOT locked in. Pull this bar off the gate, then pull open the left door to get out." Not wanting to leave the door ajar and unsecured, I yelled to see if the ranger was still there, but there was no reply. After a minute, I decided to follow it's instructions and headed to the parking lot, were the ranger was waiting to find out who owned my car. I told him I my tale of being "locked in," and he said a lot of people panic, but he usually waits a few minutes before going back to check. He also apologized because he usually checks the outer scarf, but didn't that day. I still hadn't photographed the Water Battery, so I'd have to go back for it...again.
Lighthouse Exterior and NAS Beach
Since I was still in the Naval Air Station, and the Pensacola Lighthouse was right around the corner, I headed there, hoping they were open later than 5:00. They were - until 5:30, and by the time I got to it, they weren't letting anyone else up the lighthouse. So, I took pictures of the outside of the lighthouse, and when I went around back, I saw that there was a walkway to the Naval Air Station Beach. Figuring a few shots from the walkway and the beach would be nice (as they have been at other lighthouses), I went down the walkway (the rest of the pictures will be posted with Day 4).
As it happens, just off the beach at near this point was the beacon tower that Navy Rescue Swimmers were jumping off of that I posted pictures of earlier. I took a few pictures of them while I surveyed the area, and the one of the girls that I posted pictures of in that set told the other one that they should go jump too, so I could take their picture. I figured I'd comply, as it really was mutually advantageous - I was looking for subjects to take pictures of, and they were volunteering to do something photo worthy. Once they climbed up, one of them, who is afraid of heights, chickened out, and it took nearly long enough for her to build up the courage to jump that I lost track of time and I finally rested my arms when she started her jump/slide from a seated position on the platform (refer to prior post for additional images of the jumping).
Everyone had waited so long for her to jump that they were done for the day, and so was I. By now, it was passed 6:00, and the west gate of the NAS was closed, so I had to leave out of the main gate. I drove back to the KOA, made dinner, then tried to get online to check email and add to my blog. Unfortunately, the KOA's wifi signal wasn't boosted to the shore, where the tent spots are located, so I ended up going to the general use meeting house to write to my blog, which is when I composed the post about the people jumping at the beach, then went back to camp to sleep around 12:30.
No comments:
Post a Comment