On my drive home from Alabama after visiting family for the New Year, I wanted to stop at a couple State Parks. I started with the most westerly and furthest away from my home—Perdido Key State Park, which according to the State Park website is a “favorite destination for swimmers and sunbathers” with “white sand beaches and rolling dunes covered with sea oats.”
I knew that Hurricane Sally in 2020 had caused devastating damage to the park and forced it to close. I was thrilled to see that two of the three entrances—the middle and east entrances—were now open with beautiful new boardwalks at both entrances and a new restroom at the east entrance. Construction crews worked on the west entrance.
Although the beach and dune areas were closed to protect an “environmentally sensitive area,” it was a beautiful site from the boardwalk and an uplifting promise for a New Year of great beginnings.
(Perdido Key State Park. 15301 Perdido Key Drive, Pensacola FL 32507. Website: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/perdido-key-state-park. (850) 492-1595.)
Footprints and Ripples 