BEACHES

1) Pensacola Beaches: Gulf-side

Photo Credits: Denise Daughtry

Picture taken by Christina Schiro

2) Casino Beach: Pensacola Beach, Sound-side

photo credit: Denise Daughtry

DOWNTOWN PENSACOLA

Photo credit: aerialangel.com

1)    HISTORIC PENSACOLA VILLAGE: Downtown Pensacola

Historic Pensacola village consists of ten museum facilities with indoor and outdoor exhibits that bring to life Pensacola's long and colorful history.  Through guided or self-tour, visitors are whisked back to the time of Spanish explorers and seafaring men, of brightly dressed Creole women and Victorian ladies. Nearly 450 years of Florida and Pensacola history await discovery. www.HistoricPensacola.org

2)    JOE PATTI'S: Downtown Pensacola

Founded in 1931, Joe Patti's Seafood Company is THE place where locals and tourists alike get their fresh bay and gulf seafood. www.JoePattis.com

3) FERDINAND PARK: Downtown Pensacola

4) SEVILLE SQUARE: Downtown Pensacola 

Seville Square serves as a focal point of festivals and concerts where thousands gather. Taken on September 12, 2001 by Denise Daughtry

5) PORT OF PENSACOLA: Downtown Pensacola

Photo Credit: Denise Daughtry

The Port of Pensacola is northwest Florida's leading deep-water port. Bagged agricultural products, forest products, asphalt, sulphur, lime, steel products, frozen and refrigerated foods and project cargoes are a few of the many commodities frequently handled through the Port of Pensacola. Cargo from all over the world to and from the Port of Pensacola. It's fun to walk around the bayfront promenade and view of the tugs, large ships and freighters that come in. www.portofpensacola.com 

6) SEVILLE QUARTER - Downtown Pensacola

Seville Quarter, consisting of a variety of different room or bars, is the place to eat, party, dance, or just relax. You can even bring the parents to the awesome Dueling Piano Show.

FORTS

    1) ADVANCE REDOUBT: Pensacola Naval Air Station

Advance Redoubt is one of four "Third System" (1817 - 1867) fortifications located in the Pensacola, Florida area. It is unlike any of the other fortifications around Pensacola, however, since it is designed exclusively to defend against a land assault. (Photo Credit: Andy Bennett)

The Advance Redoubt and Fort Barrancas are both located on the mainland, on a peninsula where the Navy Yard was located. Fort Barrancas had the dual role of acting as a harbor fort, and also blocking the peninsula to infantry. The Advance Redoubt, located about 500 yards across the peninsula, close to the Bayou Grande, was designed to act in concert with Fort Barrancas to deny access to the Navy Yard. The two fortifications were linked by a trench line to provide a line of resistance across the whole peninsula.

The Advance Redoubt, like Fort Barrancas, has a central area that is filled with sand and soil, with the cannon mounted en barbette at the parade ground level. Its shape is trapezoidal, with a dry ditch completely surrounding the structure, scarp and counterscarp galleries, and half bastions to guard the gorge wall and the sallyport. The Advance Redoubt is an interesting structure, unlike any of the other fortifications located along the Gulf of Mexico. It is located a few hundred yards from Fort Barrancas on the Pensacola Naval Air Station, and is managed by the National Park Service. It is important to note that the parade level, and the scarp and counterscarp galleries are usually closed to the public due to a lack of sufficient personnel. In the past, they have been opened on certain days during the summer, so if you are interested in seeing all of the Advance Redoubt, you should consider contacting Gulf Islands National Seashore (the Park Service unit managing Fort Barrancas and the Advance Redoubt) and see if there is a specific day or time that those sections will be open. The exterior portions of the redoubt are open for visitation during all normal park hours.

    2) FORT BARRANCAS: Penascola Naval Air Station

Fort Barrancas was designed with two roles. It acts as a harbor defense fort, forming a rough triangle at the entrance to the bay with Fort McRee and Fort Pickens. It also acted together with the Advance Redoubt to prevent troop movement to the navy yard from the mainland side. It was designed by Joseph Totten, who designed many of the Third System fortification, and constructed from 1839-1843. It also incorporates a Spanish-built water battery as part of the fort.

    3) FORT PICKENS: Pensacola Beach

The massive weight resting upon the piers is transferred to "reverse arches" to minimize sinking in the soft sand. Photo credit: The Florida Center for Instructional Technology, University of South Florida

Over 21.5 million bricks were used in the construction of Fort Pickens.

The fort was constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1834. The fort was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero, General Andrew Pickens. It was occupied by federal troops during the Civil War and at one time was a military prison for Apache medicine man Geronimo.

     4) Fort McRee

This is a boaters favorite, due to its large deep sheltered cove and easy access to the Gulf, the Pensacola Pass, AND the Intracoastal Waterway.

GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE 

More than 80 percent of Gulf Islands National Seashore is submerged lands but the barrier islands are the outstanding features to most who visit. The Seashore stretches 150 miles from Cat Island in Mississippi to the eastern tip of Santa Rosa Island in Florida. There are snowy-white beaches, sparkling blue waters, fertile coastal marshes, and dense maritime forests. Visitors can explore 19th century forts, enjoy shaded picnic areas, hike on winding nature trails, and camp in comfortable campgrounds. 

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NAVAL AVIATION/NAVAL AIR STATION: West Pensacola

photo credit: aerialangel.com

This museum is one of the largest and most beautiful air and space museums in the world. See over 140 beautifully restored aircraft representing Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Aviation. www.naval-air.org 

SCENIC HIGHWAY and BAY BLUFFS PARK: East Pensacola

The only known example along the Gulf Coast of red clay bluffs are along the eastern shore of Escambia Bay in Pensacola. The bluff formation is the only one of its kind along the coast of Florida, representing the highest point along the entire coastline of the state, rising 100 feet from the shoreline. This feature caused the earliest Spanish explorers to establish the first settlement in the sheltered bay near the bluffs in 1559. Scenic vistas are a highlight as the road winds for 11 miles through parks and nature preserves. Bay Bluffs Park, a 32-acre park owned by the City of Pensacola, contains boardwalks and nature trails down the cliffs to the water, along with scenic vistas and close-up views of the bluffs.