Great Blue heron

Monday 7 April
Another frustrating day. A grey cool day with the possibility of showers, so we thought we would drive across to Pensacola, just across the border in Florida and visit the National Naval Aviation museum. We had visited it once before, but years ago now. I was expecting it to be a popular place to go, being a grey day, and moreover it’s free, but I hadn’t been be prepared for the line to get in to extend way outside the entrance gate, and even at that point it’s still a bit of a drive to the museum itself. We waited in line for a while, but we hardly moved, so we changed our plans and visited another
fort, Fort Pickens, which as the crow (or heron!) flies is a only a short distance, but the fort is further east, and built at the end of a long sandy spit of land so by road, it’s almost another hours drive
In 1816, the US began constructing Third System forts along its coastline to protect important waterways and seaports. Five years later, the federal government began fortifying areas along Florida’s 3,500 miles of shoreline. Fort Pickens (see extra collage) was designed and constructed to defend Pensacola Bay and the Pensacola Navy yard and Depot from foreign attacks. We managed to explore the fort and have a walk along the beach to a fishing pier, before the rain moved in. It was here that the heron posed nicely for me, so I chose him for my main blip. At this point, we decided to call it a day, and headed back to our accommodation, stopping for a late lunch along the way, and charging the Tesla at the same time.