After leavin' the Battleship Park we decided to stay the night in Mobile. We went to a PA park called McCoy RV Park, thank goodness we are self contained. The only bathroom was absolutely horrible, dirty, filthy & flooded. Had to change sites three times to find electric that was workin'. Needless to say this is one PA park we would not recommend and will never stay at again.
Next day we were off to Florida, we wanted to see the aviation museum in Pensacola. The National Naval Aviation Museum is located on the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. Hint, Don't try to access the base if you have a weapon in your vehicle or rig. The museum is free for all and when we arrived we just got in on a guided tour, narrated by a Navy veteran. The tour started with the Navy's first airplane and progressed thru the years. It is an excellent stop as they have some 'one of a kind' aircraft. Towards the end of the guided tour we had to run to catch our tour of the parking apron outside. Again the bus driver was very knowledgeable about all the aircraft on the 'Flight Line' and they each have a story. When we returned we toured the museum for about one hour, till closin'. Well Linda decided that we should come back tomorrow & I agreed wholeheartedly.
Searchin for a place to lite we decided on Big Lagoon State Park as it was about ten miles and we had stayed here last year on Linda's Birthday Trip to Pensacola. The next day we returned to the base and first visited the Lighthouse which is across from the museum. Then it was off to Fort Barrancas, a site of an early US fort and a spanish fort that predated it.
I thought we were going to see ruins or a reconstructed fort, but these are the real thing. The US Army engineering officer assigned to construct the fort, in the 1839, elaborated on the design of the existing 1787 Spanish fort by building into the existing dune. By doing so they protected the masonry walls with the dune. The fort was constructed with slave labor and has 20' walls 4' thick, made of brick.
Typical passageway in the fort.
The earlier Spanish fort was called a "Water Battery" as they would fire the cannon at about water level and 'skip' cannon balls across the surface towards the water line of enemy ships. The forts are administered by the National Park Service and have free admission.
We then went back to the museum and spent several hours finishing our tour. This is an excellent stop for anyone interested in aviation, history or just a wonderful museum. Linda didn't think she would be to interested but she say's she was Wowed!
This plane was in Pocahontas Park in Vero Beach for children to play in for 40 years. It is the last F2H-2P Banshee in existence today.
We drove up the road into Alabama to Conecuh National Forest to spend the next two days. Our stop was Open Pond Campground, a really nice NF camp. Four loops 2 with W&E, one primitive and one for groups. Sites are large, private, paved, level and wonderful for $12. We chose a lakefront site but decided to move, due to the cold wind the next morning. We had a wonderful fire then showered our smoky bodies and retired for the night.
We'll see what tomorrow brings as we're,
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