What do you get when you combine one of Florida’s most beautiful beaches, a 100-year-old fort, crystal-clear Gulf water, ?
You get Fort De Soto Park—a place where you can spend the morning walking on white sand and, just minutes later, step inside a piece of American military history.
Welcome back to Globetrotting Through Retirement!
Today, we’re celebrating America 250 right here on Florida’s Gulf Coast, at Fort De Soto Park, located at the mouth of Tampa Bay and next the iconic Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
With miles of shoreline, beautiful white sand, clear Gulf waters, and incredible natural scenery, it’s easy to see why Fort De Soto has earned a reputation as one of America’s top beaches.
And our plan for today?
A little snorkeling around the pier.
But the Gulf had other plans.
The water was pretty rough, and the waves had stirred up so much sand that visibility wasn’t exactly ideal for snorkeling.
So we changed course and headed over to the North Beach.
And that’s where this visit gets really interesting.
hidden among all this beautiful beach scenery is a piece of history that’s more than 100 years old.
Just beyond the fishing pier and beach stands Fort De Soto, built in the late 1890s as part of the coastal defenses of Tampa Bay during the Spanish-American War.
The fort was designed to protect the bay from enemy ships, and its massive artillery was positioned to defend one of the most important waterways on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Fortunately, these guns never had to fire in combat.
Today, you can walk right up to them, look down the barrels of the surviving weapons, explore the fort, and imagine what it must have been like to stand here more than a century ago watching the Gulf.
And the views?
They’re pretty spectacular.
Out in the distance, you can see Egmont Key, one of the barrier islands near Fort De Soto.
You can actually take a ferry from Hubbard’s Marina and spend the day exploring Egmont Key.
But that’s another adventure…
For history buffs—especially anyone interested in military history—the fort offers a fascinating self-guided walk back through time.
But honestly, you don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy Fort De Soto.
Along North Beach, you’ll find picnic areas, grills, and pavilions.
And for us, one of the best parts was simply walking along the shoreline, crossing the sandbars, and enjoying that crystal-clear Gulf water.
Fort De Soto has plenty to appreciate—a beautiful beach, incredible wildlife and scenery, and a historic fort that has stood watch over Tampa Bay for more than a century.
A place that was built for war…
but today offers something very different:
peace and traquility.
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We’ve got plenty more adventures ahead as we celebrate America 250.
globetrotting through retirement!
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