Gulf Islands National Seashore

Our last stop in Florida was in Pensacola Beach.  We stayed at Ft. Pickens Campground on Gulf Islands National Seashore.

This place is perfect if you are looking for a peaceful, quiet and uncrowded beach.  Our campsite was just steps from the beach.  It was the most beautiful white sand beach, and we almost had the whole beach to ourselves.  It was rare to even see another person out there.  We spent most evenings on the beach watching the spectacular sunsets.

Sometimes during the day I took the boys to the beach to play in the sand or I just went by myself to enjoy a good book.  This was the perfect place to relax!

One day we saw lots of dolphins swimming in the waves and we saw this large group of ducks or birds floating down the current all clustered together.  It was a strange sight!

Even Fat Cat loved this place.  She wanted to be outside all the time; she even made friends with an armadillo!  I really wish I had a picture of that!

Gulf Islands National Seashore is part of the National Park system which means they have a Junior Ranger program.  There was a bike path from the campground to Ft. Pickens so the boys and I went over there one day to tour the fort and do some activities towards earning their Junior Ranger badges.

Touring the fort…

There was also a museum to tour where we learned about the birds and sea life that is common in this part of Florida and we watched a movie about the history of Ft. Pickens.

Earning new Junior Ranger badges…

We enjoyed this park very much!  I would highly recommend it if you are looking for an uncrowded place to go near the Gulf Coast.