Fort De Soto

2 Chicas Fortify the Camp

At the far end of St. Petersburg, FL is Fort De Soto Park, often ranked as one of the best beaches in the United States by Dr. Beach! 2 Chicas don’t know Dr. Beach, but we have been coming to Ft. De Soto for quite some time and agree with his assessment.

Pristine water, beautiful views of the bay and the gulf as well as incredible panorama of the Skyway Bridge make this the place to come decompress. The fact that it isn’t real crowded is an added benefit.

Fort  De Soto is also a prime area to fish, sun, bike, kayak, swim, birdwatch, hike, explore an old fort, and camp.  This chain of five interconnected islands has parks, beach areas, two fishing piers, and a ferry to Egmont Key. 2 Chicas decided to stay close to the action and set up camp for a few days worth of adventures! There are no hotels or other accommodations here, but St. Petersburg Beach and Pass a Grille Beach are quite close nearby if camping is not for you.

Chica 2 has become quite the camp designer and set up expert. She had the tent pitched in just a few minutes and this is no small abode.

She waterproofed it a few days before and also checked the seams to secure our temporary home from traditional late summer storms. It’s so nice to find Chica 2’s true strength. Tee hee he

Sure enough, early in the morning, a storm rolled through and we didn’t have as much as a single drop of water inside our tent.

She placed the tent so we had a perfect water view. It was a million dollar scenic overlook from a hundred dollar domicile!

Then a few critters from the wild came lumbering up the path to our campsite. A group of raccoons who were all too comfortable around humans rolled out the welcome wagon.  It was obvious they were looking for any invitation to join. Chica 2 said they were so cute, until one sat down and started to scratch.

Please don’t feed the wildlife! They become dependent on human handouts, which only invites danger. After a few loud “gits” (get), they quickly scurried off to another campsite, but they weren’t done with 2 Chicas.

Setting up camp made everyone hungry. Chica 1 always cooks a traditional cowboy steak for dinner on the first night. Paired with potatoes and broccoli, these happy campers are satisfied.

2 Chicas Reach the East Beach

Time to explore! Outside of the camp, 2 Chicas took the kids down to explore the East Beach, a much quieter and secluded area. There was one fisherman wading out to try his luck at catching dinner.

2 Chicas captured a tricolored heron looking for dinner as a snowy egret seemed to watch the fisherman in hopes that he would generously share his catch.

Chica 1 looked out at the Skyway Bridge and marveled at the how gorgeous the pointy sails looked in the distance. Like a large sailboat frozen in time. Chica 2 said it looked like pointy Mickey Mouse ears; two very different perspectives wouldn’t you say?

Back to the campsite to tell stories and roast marshmallows over an open fire. No s’mores tonight because Chica 2 forgot the graham crackers.

It wouldn’t take long for us to move to no campfire stories, because Chica 2 is so scary, but the kids purified small palm fronds over the hot firewood then roasted marshmallows.

They felt so special making their own skewers. Tomorrow would be filled with adventures that would fill the day and exhaust the evening!

Chica 2 took the kids to the beach to swim, but Lil’ Chica discovered a new passion, searching for sand dollars. A kind lady on the beach taught her how to wade in chest deep water and shuffle her feet to find these beautiful creatures of the sea. Lil’ Chica spent the better part of two hours blissfully in search of her new best friends.

2 Chicas Cannonball!

A short hike to another portion of the beach brought exploration of part of the fort. Chica 2 threatened to call an ambulance if Chica 1 didn’t stop breathing so desperately after climbing to the top. The hike up really wasn't that bad.

Chica 2 could not imagine early Spanish explorers in full armor marching around this fort. Neither could anyone else Chica 2, as this installation wasn’t constructed until almost 1900. You were only off about five hundred years (Tee hee hee)

The canons were large and stationed all over the fort. Fort De Soto was only active for twelve years from 1898 until 1910.

Chica 2 said she knew a few girls from home who saw more action than this fort! Chica 2, we do have a young audience too! Many of the rooms in the fort are open and mostly empty.

Explore the fort, climb to the top and enjoy the views, and take a picture by the cannons. Don’t forget to yell cannonball!! If anyone complains, tell em 2 Chicas told ya to do it!

2 Chicas and the Case of the Daring Bandits

After hanging out at the fort, we headed back to the campsite. We briefly stopped to see how much it would cost to take the ferry over to Egmont Key. It was reasonable, but the return trip was four hours later. 2 Chicas had too many plans, so maybe next time.

As we came down the driveway to our campsite, we noticed something was awry. A head quickly peeked out of our food cooler, then another head, and yet another!

Chica 2 I thought you put the cooler away. Chica 1 I thought you stored the cooler! Oh no!! Those little bandits got away with fajita wraps, hamburgers, and some butter.

We rounded up as much as we could and placed it in the garbage cans onsite. Those little thieves didn’t go far, waiting in the bushes for us to make another oversight and leave something out. Ughhh, it is a good thing we had bleach spray to clean everything! 2 Chicas made sure the coolers were hereafter stored in the trunk!

2 Chicas Fishing or Floundering?

Soooo, Chica 2 decided she was going to take the kids fishing. Off the team goes to a picturesque canal to cast fishing rods out into the deep and see what we would catch.

Almost immediately, the fish were biting. The group spent hours casting and reeling! At times the fish were small and other times they were even smaller.

The kids learned the importance of preserving resources by returning the little ones to their home to hopefully grow bigger.

Chica 1 caught a sizable flounder, which provided much joy for the entire group. For hours, the entire group enjoyed feeding the fish shrimp and every now and again, getting a fish to bite on the hook.

There is something about the anticipation and hope of fishing that reaches deep into the soul. Often we feel we could never get a child to spend time doing something that may or may not reap an immediate reward. 2 Chicas were thrilled to see so many children out with their parents fishing. Some were catching, some were not, but

2 Chicas caught some serious bug bites. In our excitement to fish, we forgot to spray ourselves with bug deterrent. What a major mistake. Days after leaving Ft. De Soto, the remnants of the fishing excursion lived on in itchy, scratchy skin.

It was finally time to leave our little bit of paradise. Chica 2 broke down camp and before you could say hop skippity wobble, we were back on the road to home.

2 Chicas are so lucky to know that Ft. De Soto will be around for another much needed respite visit. Bring your bike, fishing pole and swimsuit. You’ll be glad you did!