| Today the Little Girl and Seymore were playing Fort. The little Girl had built a fort in the dining room and they called it Fort Adventure. They were having fun coloring and reading. Seymore started thinking. He remembered seeing a sign for Fort Pickens while they were at the beach. He wondered if it was like Fort Adventure and whether or not he and the Little Girl could play there too? So the Little Girl decided they should visit Fort Pickens.  |  Fort Pickens was in the Gulf Islands National Park way past the beach Seymore had been to with the Little Girl. Shore birds made their nests on the ground along the way to the fort. They had to go slow so it would be safe for the baby birds to cross the roads. |
| It took a little longer than Seymore expected, but they finally made it to the fort! Fort Pickens was nothing like the fort in the dining room. It was huge! And it looked very different than any of the buildings Seymore had seen before. The little girl said it was a very old place. In fact, Fort Pickens was over 180 years old and that made it a very historic place. You can learn a lot about the past at historic places. |  |
 | There was a welcome center at the entrance. They offered guided tours or printed tour guides. The Little Girl grabbed a printed guide and they went to explore. |
| They saw the white rooms where Officers lived – those were the guys in charge. |  |
  | Then they went into a hallway with a canon. The canon was the coolest thing Seymore had ever seen! They could see a large semi-circle on the floor where the canon was placed, and the tools used to make it work. |
| Next they found a long dark tunnels. It was a little creepy, but fun to explore and it was a nice place to cool down. The tunnels were used as a self-destruct system in case enemies ever took over the fort – but that never happened. |  |
 | Outside the fort, Seymore saw a huge gap in the wall. This was from an explosion in a gunpowder room! |
| Seymore also noticed all the arches in the fort. The arches also went under the ground. That is because arches were the best way to build a fort in the sand. |  |
  | Best of all, Seymore saw more canons! There was a canon in the middle of the fort, or the Parade Grounds. And more canons on top of the fort. |
| Seymore and the Little Girl got to play in an area that looked like a jail. This was actually called Battery Pensacola and was an extra part built onto the fort to add more canons. |  |  |
 | Seymore and the Little Girl had a wonderful time exploring Fort Pickens and Seymore couldn’t wait for his next adventure! |
Know Before You Go:
-Entry to the Fort is free but there is a fee to get into the park.
-The roads are sometimes closed after a storm or a lot of rain.
-There is a lot to do at the park including camping, hiking, and fishing. You can call 850-934-2600 or visit nps.gov/guis for more details.
-Entry to the Fort is free but there is a fee to get into the park.
-The roads are sometimes closed after a storm or a lot of rain.
-There is a lot to do at the park including camping, hiking, and fishing. You can call 850-934-2600 or visit nps.gov/guis for more details.
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