Of course. It can be beaches, and miles and miles of them. Yesterday morning we took a bike ride west from the campground past several WWII towers and gun emplacements to Fort Pickens, built in 1834 and modified through the years to suit the times. It was a very windy day, but the trail was fairly sheltered by tall grasses and shrubs. The fort is an intriguing place to visit. The most famous prisoner held at the for was Geronimo in the late 1800s. With hindsight through history, it may seem surprising that fortifications were necessary in the Gulf during WWII, but of course no one knew what direction an attack might come from so there are old gun emplacements all along with west end of the island. The northwest corner of the fort was destroyed in an 1899 explosion but the rest is fairly intact.
We returned to the campground for those two crucial Ns--naps and nourishment. Then we drove to a beach on the Gulf side of the island for a short glimpse and to admire the power of the high seas.
Finally, a second bike trail east from the campground ended at another gun emplacement and with a nice view of the calmer waters on the bay side of the island. Showers ended the day--for us in the great campground shower house and from the sky right after Butch got the pork chops grilled. A good day. Even better, today looks like it might be much nicer than was forecast!
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