I really like Gulf Shores… there is live music everywhere, history, awesome bike trails and a beautiful state park beach. We were able to visit several forts, built in the early 1800s, utilize their bike trails, and visit the USS Alabama, a battleship turned museum. Fort Barrancas, as well as a working lighthouse and the National Naval Aviation Museum are on the Navy base outside of Pensacola, which is generally closed to the public. Luckily, they opened for 2 days, and we happened to notice and were able to see all three. Fort Barrancas was built in the early 1800s right behind a Battery that was built by the Spaniards in the late 1700s. The battery is lower on the hill, where they shot cannons at a very shallow angle, ricocheted them off the water, and hit ships right at the water line to sink them. I never get tired of walking through the old forts and WW2 ships and subs, the ingenuity, hard work, and craftsmanship of that time period is amazing. In the small museum attached to the lighthouse was an original knee from the USS Constitution, that were were able to visit a couple summers ago. The knees for these large ships were often made from Live Oaks, which are plentiful in the area. While in Gulf Shores, we also picked up Pickle Ball, which is a blast, we played often.
Jim and Sherry's RV Life 