Located on an island just South of Pensacola, across Pensacola Bay, is the Fort Pickens campground. Located right next to the historic remains of Fort Pickens, the campground offers a fun place to relax and recoup. The beaches of Pensacola are some of the most beautiful and inviting beaches to either simply sit and look out over the Gulf of Mexico or to go for a relaxing dip in the ocean’s waters. You can tell that Flat Eric already has his beach chair set up to enjoy the view and just “kick back” to meditate on God’s goodness. But, both Bonnie and I were able to likewise enjoy some time on the sand. And, it was made even more enjoyable as we thought of the winter weather that was hitting much of the North and Northeastern parts of the U.S.

Construction was started on Fort Pickens in 1829 and completed in 1834. There is a lot of history here and we learned a lot about the Fort and its defense of Pensacola Bay and the Navy Yard in Pensacola. Interestingly, the designer of Fort Pickens was a captain the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His name was William Henry Chase, and he decided to fight for the Confederates and became a Colonel. Colonel Chase led an attack against the fort and demanded its surrender. But, Fort Pickens is one of only four forts in the South that was never occupied by Confederate forces during the Civil War. You would think that the designer of the fort would know its weaknesses but Captain Chase had done a good job of constructing a fort that repelled his every effort to subdue it. Here are some pictures of the Fort:

The fort remained in operation till 1947 and defended its position well. But, the only action it ever saw was during the Civil War. Thankfully it was not called upon to defend the coast of the United States during the World Wars.

At the beginning of this article I spoke of relaxation. Well, even touring the fort and reading the history of it is a form of relaxation. But I am reminded that the Bible says the Lord is our fortress and our strength. Anything made by human hands will eventually fail. But God will never fail and His defenses are eternally sure! I can sure relax for that!

You may also wonder what the “Art in the Park” (the picture in the first set of pictures above) has to do with this article. My response: nothing! But I wanted to put it in anyway. We came across the sign as we pulled into Foley, AL and used the park to cook our supper.