Gulf Islands National Seashore
Our "Alabama Coastline Tour of 2009" was something we wanted to do while camping near Pensacola at Big Lagoon State Park. The area is naturally beautiful and the National Seashore roadways make for perfect scooter traveling. Speed limits are 35 MPH or less and the scenery is amazing. Our base of operations was our camp site at Big Lagoon State Park.
This adventure began at Pensacola where we unloaded the scooters from the truck. We left the truck parked at the main Pensacola Beach parking lot as we knew it would be fine there. We got there early so the crowds hadn't formed yet and the parking lot was mostly empty. It didn't take long before it filled up with people eager to enjoy a day at the beach. Who doesn't like to go to the beach?
We rode from our starting point east towards Navarre Beach. This is a nice long ride on a scooter so we made sure to wear sunscreen. We saw a lot of shore birds and when we spotted a piece of driftwood, we couldn't resist the photo opportunity. Of course, the shore patrol stopped and warned us that we could get a ticket for parking along the roadway even though we were small enough to get completely out of the way.
There were little crabs everywhere so we had to swerve around them to avoid crunching them! You could hear Cynthia squeal each time she flattened one. Here she is making a face after thinking about all the crabs she ran over.
We made it safely to Navarre Beach and stopped to get a few bottles of water. It was very hot and we knew we had a lot more riding to do. We re-applied the sunscreen so we wouldn't become french fries. We made a u-turn and headed back towards Pensacola so we could start the journey to Fort Pickens. Being the law breakers that we are, we had to stop along the roadway again for a shot of the ocean. Isn't this view of the ocean amazing?
We passed back through Pensacola and started the trip to Fort Pickens. This is a federal park and they charge admission but since I have a Federal Access pass we got in for free. Here I am smiling because I like when I get things for free. :)
We arrived safely at Fort Pickens. We did take the time to tour the campground there, it was destroyed by a hurricane and they still hadn't got it back up to snuff yet. I heard that in October of 2009 they finally got electricity restored and are expected to have sewer service again by mid 2010. Don't you love how efficient our government is? Anyway, we stopped by some of the bunkers that still remain and went in them. That was pretty neat. I could imagine the soldiers who fought there back in the day.
After touring Fort Pickens we headed back to the truck. It was a long and exhausting trip but it was a lot of fun. If you're ever in the area, bring your own scooter or you can rent one... and take the ride along the National Seashores on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Bring your camera, a few bottles of water and some sunscreen and make some fantastic memories. And if you see a crazy couple riding a pair of Honda Ruckus scooters, flag them down and say hello. We'd love to meet you!
We visited here in the summer of 2009.
