Fort DeSoto Park

Fort De Soto is in Pinellas County and has been named the America’s Top Beach for the past two years. We, however, did not get to enjoy those beaches very much during our trip as it was a bit on the cold side. The park itself consists of 1136 acres made of five interconnected islands.
It may not have been the greatest weather for the beaches, it was really nice weather for walking around the Fort for which the area is named. The fort is deserted of all furniture, equipment, etc with the exception of two British breech loading, rapid-fire rifles of 1890 vintage (installed in 1982) and four 12-inch M 1890-MI mortars (the last four remaining in  North America and original to this location – others are located in the Philippines). 

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The eight 12-inch M 1890-MI mortars, manufactured at Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, New York, were breech-loading and rifled. The weapon had built-in safety features, such as a device which kept the mortars from being fired until the breech locks were secured, and the weapons were elevated to the minimum 45 degrees. Each gun had a 12-man crew to manually load and aim it. The crew would choose an 800-, 824- or 1,046-pound projectile, along with a powder charge in a silk bag weighing 54 to 67 pounds. After the powder bag was put in the mortar, the sergeant would hang a fuse containing 1.25 pounds of black powder on the breech end of the powder bag. The fuse was ignited by the electrical primer, which fired the powder bag charge. The minimum range of the mortar was 1.25 miles at 70 degrees and a maximum range of 6.8 miles at 45 degrees

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” – Fort De Soto historic guide.
Once we had walked around the Fort a bit, I found a tree that was really neat looking, though pretty typical to Florida. I went and got Dave and we took some portraits in it. I even allowed him to take some photos of me.We then walked along the pier for a bit. We saw some wild dolphins, but they were unfortunately too far away (and too quick) for me to take any photos of them.
We weren’t able to stay at Fort De Soto very long as we had a very full day in the area, but it was really nice to visit. I would like to go back, perhaps when the weather is a little warmer and actually get a chance to experience America’s Top Beach the way it is meant to be experienced.