Morning and Evening on Carrabelle Beach, FL

For a few days, we stayed at an RV resort in Carrabelle Beach, FL.  We were lucky in that just across the road was a lovely beach that we strolled down each day we were there.  Let’s take a look…..

Down the Coast

The coast and seashore was beautiful here.  It looked this great no matter which way we looked.  In this image, we’re looking at the part of the beach that didn’t allow dogs to run free, so, needless to say, we didn’t walk down this area!

Greenery on the Shore

I was quite surprised at how much greenery I saw poking up out of the sand.  I loved the look of these leaves against the sand and dried grasses (they haven’t greened up yet!).

Sunset on Carrabelle Beach

Here’s a sunset view, looking out almost directly straight on from the path onto the beach.  This was really quite a peaceful beach, and I don’t just mean all the great people we met.  It wasn’t a crowded beach, and the waves were always very gentle.

Just Be

When I looked at this view, and then when processing this image, I just felt so calm as I looked out on this scene.  It’s enough to just want to make me just sit, breathe deep and sigh……

Lift Off

There were some seagulls on the beach at times when we walked, and generally, they were pretty calm, too.  However, when Miki would start chasing them, to play with them (even she knew she couldn’t catch them!), they would take off!

Enjoy!

 



Gulf Islands National Seashore

About an hour away from Big Lagoon State Park lies Gulf Islands National Seashore.  If I have a “bucket list”, one of the things on it is to see as many of the National Parks/Monuments/Seashores that are of interest to us.  Since we were so close to this one, it seemed like a good thing to check out.

Gulf Islands National Seashore – 1

I have to admit, I really thought there would be more sand on a national seashore.  Altho this is a pretty good moody shot, I think it would have been much better with more seashore!

Gulf Island National Seashore – 2

Here’s another image looking in the opposite direction.  We spent much more time getting to and back from the seashore than we spent on it!  I guess there are a number of different locations, but this seemed to be the best one (the main one) for checking out the actual shoreline.  Again, nice image, but disappointed in the locale…..

Enjoy (anyway)!



 Naval Aviation Museum – near Big Lagoon State Park

Here are a view images of the cool planes at the Naval Aviation Museum, close to the Pensacola Lighthouse, and Big Lagoon State Park.  I am not knowledgeable enough about planes to know what the planes were, but I did think I got some fairly decent angle shots of some of them!

Fighter Jet

I liked standing so that I could sort of see into the air vent on the side of the fuselage of the plane.

Head on View

This was a different plane, and I was able to get a pretty neat perspective of what it might be like to see this guy heading right toward you.  Of course, if that had really happened, this would be the view you had one nanosecond before the lights went out on a permanent basis!

In the Crosshairs

I have no idea why this cross is on the nose of this plane.  I would say “X marks the spot” except this isn’t an X!!

Enjoy!



Pensacola Lighthouse – Around Big Lagoon State Park

There are a number of lighthouses around the state of Florida, and the first one we came across was the Pensacola Lighthouse, just outside Big Lagoon State Park.  This lighthouse was completed in 1859.  It is currently maintained by the Navy, and is actually on the grounds of the Naval Aviation Museum.

Pensacola Lighthouse

This was our first view of the lighthouse, and the building off to the right in the image is part of the keepers’ quarters.

Pensacola Lighthouse – side view

This viewpoint is from the yard just outside the keepers’ quarters.  The very mature and tall tree gives you some perspective about how tall the lighthouse is.  Altho it’s 150 feet tall, it sits on a bit of a bluff, so that it’s 191 feet above sea level, making it the highest lighthouse in Florida!

Lighthouse and Keepers’ House

Here’s a slightly better view of the keepers’ house portion of the structure.  What was interesting about this, is that the keepers’ house is actually a duplex, able to house 2 families.  One side of the duplex is a museum, made up to look like it did when keepers actually lived there with their families.

View from the Lighthouse

This is the view from the lighthouse, in front of the keepers’ quarters.  If I were up in the lighthouse, I would have a view of the site of 3 forts that used to be within view of the lighthouse.

Lighthouse Bloom

Closer to the ground, I noticed this lovely white bloom.  I don’t know what the name of the flower is, but seems to be keeping with the flavor of the color of the lighthouse and keepers’ quarters!

Enjoy!

 



 

Heron – Big Lagoon State Park, FL

One of my favorite water birds is the heron.  Here are some images of a wonderful bird in the wild, searching for food, and then taking off for better hunting ground…..

Heron from Observation Tower

At first, we were high up on an observation tower when I first spotted this guy.  Good overall view, but I needed to get closer to this guy!

Heron in the Grasses

This is more like it.  Here I am, down on the shoreline, about 30 feet from this guy.  He doesn’t seem to be bothered at all that I’m so close.

Looking to Open Water

Then, he turned away from the nearby grasses.  Is he seeing a better feeding spot somewhere else?  He’s still not reacting to me, so I don’t think its discomfort or fear of me.

Launching

Wow!  I have never been so lucky to be able to get this type of shot so close up!!  The amount of stretch he gets is amazing!

Flying

And, he’s off to search in greener (or buggier?) pastures!

Enjoy!



Big Lagoon State Park – Wonderful Scenery

Big Lagoon State Park offered some wonderful scenery, both from up high on an observation tower and walking along the boardwalk above the marshy terrain…..

Shoreline

We were up in the tower and I thought I’d capture this view of the shoreline of the lagoon – this is the big one just off the Gulf of Mexico.

On the Shore

I’m not sure how driftwood (and stumps) got to be washed up on shore, since it doesn’t appear that there’s any tide to speak of here, but, here you have it!  It makes for a nice photo focal point, in any event!

Christmas Colors

I know it’s been a few months since Christmas, but that was the first thought I had when I saw these berries and these very green leaves on a shrub just off the boardwalk we were on!

Big Lagoon Shoreline

Here’s a view of the shoreline from lower down, almost at ground level.  There was a boardwalk because the ground would have been much, much too marshy for us to walk on otherwise. 

Songbird

As we were walking along another sandy path, I heard some incredibly loud singing from a bird somewhere off in the distance.  Only, it wasn’t in the distance!  I was right under the tree where this little guy was singing – he had the loudest voice that could be crammed into a tiny little body!

Enjoy!

 



Alligator Marsh Trail – Gulf Shores, AL

On the last morning we were at Gulf State Park, we decided to walk a trail that wound around the campground.  There were some interesting sights to behold…..

Yellow Fronds

I told you in a previous post how fascinated I was with the type of palm that grew here, sort of a fan palm.  It seems to pretty much be a plant type of palm, instead of a tree variety.  Here’s one that had yellow leaves.  I think it must be at the end of its life cycle, but I did like the different color.

Spring Green

Probably because it’s the beginning of spring, I was very taken with the bright, yet soft green that I saw on many plants and grasses in the area.  This was some tall grass that grows along the trail.

At a Distance

Finally!  There are warnings all over the park about how dangerous the alligators were and to be alert to seeing them (and staying away!).  I wouldn’t even let Jeff let Miki off her lead when we were walking because I was afraid she’s go off into the brush and run into one.  As we finished up walking the trail, a couple of other folks told us they just saw a gator just off the main road into the campground.  We walked in the direction they pointed and saw this guy.  Now, I have to admit, gators make me a lot more nervous than the bears we encountered a couple of years ago in Alaska!  Why?  Well, to me, bears have a brain and they use some sort of logic (altho I do not profess to be any sort of expert on bear logic).  I had some idea of how to stay safe around bears.  However, gators are just big reptiles, and I don’t think reptilian brains follow much logic.  Therefore, they are much scarier to me!  That doesn’t mean I’m not curious, tho…….and besides, this guy was on the other side of a small creek or river that ran alongside the campground road.

Enjoying the Sun

This guy just laid right where he was at enjoying the morning sun for quite a long time.  Many different folks stopped by to see him, including a couple of park rangers, and he just stayed in the same spot.  I think gators always look as tho they are smiling….perhaps thinking about what a tasty treat we’d be??

Enjoy!