Monday, August 13, 2018

For the Love of Lighthouses


Pensacola Light
I've long enjoyed visiting lighthouses, and last week we were able to visit a the one located in Pensacola, FL, at the Naval Air Station.

Please note: if you want to visit this lighthouse, Google Maps will likely take you to the wrong entrance. They only allow visitors to the lighthouse to enter at the West gate. (Yes, we found this out the hard way!)

There's a small museum located on the grounds near the lighthouse as well as a gift shop, where I found MIND THE LIGHT, KATIE: The History of Thirty-Three Female Lighthouse Keepers by Mary Louise Clifford and J. Candace Clifford. Fascinating stories! And then I found the US Lighthouse Society webpage which features a slew of lighthouse poems. Check them out! I especially enjoyed "The Lighthouse Keeper's White-Mouse" by John Ciardi, which is imaginative, adorable kid-fare.

And now here is a tour of the lighthouse:

view of the Gulf,
inside the grounds,
just past the parking lot

climbing the stairs - all 177 of them

People coming down have
the right-of-way, and people
coming up have to wait in the center
of the staircase for them to pass.

view from a window... it was a HOT
day, so any breeze was welcome

view of my flip-flops on window
 ledge -- visitors are required to
wear shoes with backs, or else go
barefoot (for safety) -- so I carried
my shoes up with me to wear
on the sure-to-be-HOT outside
balcony

the light! (still operating -- we
had to be careful of our heads
so we didn't crash into it!)

the north view

the crew - none of my guys
are all that fond of heights!



4 comments:

  1. Looks wonderful to see, Irene. My students and I stayed at a bed and breakfast lighthouse on the CA coast one year. The family that lived there ran the B & B & cared for the lighthouse, too. Fascinating! Have you read "Hello Lighthouse" by Sophie Blackall? It's a nice story! Thanks for sharing your adventure!

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  2. Wow! Who knew so many people had written poems about lighthouses? There is something so compelling about them, so it really isn't that surprising. Thanks for the photos. I would love to go visit a lighthouse someday.

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  3. So cool! The book and the poems sound like wonderful accompaniments. I love a lighthouse, too.

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  4. What a great find Irene, the light house and the book, “Find the Light Katie,” about woman light keepers! I’ve dragged my family to many ligh houses-there’s some kind of magic there. Thanks for the lovely virtual tour-beautiful pattern in the stairs and images assending up!

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