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Review of Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National Seashore: A must visit destination near Destin, Florida!

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  Fort Pickens, Pensacola Beach, Florida  For my wife and myself’s road trip to the American South during the winter of 2023 (December 2023-February 2024), we made a conscious effort to visit historic forts throughout the South.  By the end of December, about 2 weeks into our 8 week long trip, we had already visited  Fort Pulaski National Monument and Fort Frederica National Monument . We were gunning to see more forts whenever the opportunity came up.  When mapping out our potential list of places to visit during our trip to Destin (Florida) , we made sure to include our next fort, Fort Pickens at the Gulf Islands National Seashore . One of the primary reasons for us wanting to visit these national monuments or seashores was because we had purchased (again), the America the Beautiful Pass , which allows entrance to all National Park Service  (NPS) managed areas including national parks, national monuments, national seashores, etc.  We really wanted...
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Is it safe to travel in the United States of America these days? Tips and observations from a retired nomad who has been traveling the USA for the past 4 years…

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  City of Detroit as seen from inside the hotel room at MGM Grand Detroit Lately, it seems living in America is a dangerous business.  How could you not be concerned when there are so many reports of major US cities like Chicago, San Francisco, New York going down the drain in terms of safety and crime statistics? We seem to encounter crime related news, seemingly almost every day: of looters & thieves robbing stores in broad daylight, of mentally-ill people assaulting subway riders, thieves targeting catalytic converters in vehicles, and idiots sucker punching unsuspecting victims inspired by TikTok or other social media platforms. What is going on these days??? Even my dad had his bout with crime when his catalytic converter was stolen right under his nose, right in front of his apartment, costing $500!  It seems we just can’t get away from crime and we should rightfully be worried about safety living or traveling in the United States.   Right?  Maybe, ma...
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Must visit places in Destin, Florida: Great beach town with plenty of things to do!

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  Sunset from Henderson Beach State Park, Destin, Florida When I was thinking about places to visit for my wife and myself’s 8 week long road trip through the American South, we honestly didn’t know much about Destin, Florida .  It looked to be just another beautiful beach town on the Gulf Coast, and there are so many of them. My opinion of the place started to change when I read that Destin was listed as one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Florida, with emerald green colored ocean and fine, white sands.  It seemed like a perfect place to visit on our way over to points west including Gulf Shores (AL) and Biloxi (MS) . We booked a two night stay at the SummerPlace Inn , situated on the main thoroughfare, Emerald Coast Parkway .  The unassuming but affordable hotel (paid about $95 per night with breakfast) was a fine place to bunk for two nights and we even had a nice balcony overlooking the main road with a peek of ocean in the distance. We spent several hou...
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Top must visit places in Jacksonville Florida suburbs: Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary, Kingsley Plantation, and Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve

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  Kingsley Plantation, Jacksonville Florida  During our second major road trip since our early retirement in 2020, which was to travel through the American South/Deep South/Central South, we found ourselves spending 3 nights/4 days in Jacksonville Florida .  This was of course intentional, as we wanted to really get to know the city that was so easily missed on our previous trips driving along the I-95 corridor. Compared to many other destinations during our 8 week long trip, Jacksonville is where we really got to push ourselves to visit more than our usual share of places.  Why is that, you ask? Well, for one thing, there are just so many neat attractions in and around the city.  While planning for this particular destination, I really got busy figuring out our must visit places from a list of potential candidates.  Luckily, the city and the suburbs had so much to offer! We narrowed our list down to 3, all within an easy driving distance of roughly an ho...
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