This week's nominee for Florida's Special Places comes from Annelise Reunert of Francis M. Weston Audubon Society. Annelise has nominated Big Lagoon State Park in Pensacola as her special place. What is your experience with this beautiful piece of natural Florida? A big thank you to Annelise for her wonderful nomination! Enjoy:

The water is warm along the shallow beach. A handsome conch shell moves along at a good clip propelled by its resident hermit crab. Across the water I see Johnson Beach, the narrow eastern tip of Perdido Key - just sand dunes with a fringe of sea oats. Right now  Johnson Beach is teaming with Least Terns. A little sailboat tacks elegantly against the wind. A mullet jumps clear out of the water attracting an Opsrey looking to feed its family. I follow the beach to a sand spit. It changes size and shape according to wind and currents. A single Black-bellied Plover winters here watching the visiting ducks. A tall look-out tower named for the Pensacola naturalist, Francis Weston, affords a gorgeous view of this special place.

In the distance tall condo buildings rise above the Gulf. Inland the dead and falling pine trees are reminders of the 2004 Hurricane Ivan. Eden? Perhaps not - but my favorite, special place in North West Florida, the Big Lagoon State Park on the Gulf Coast.  Come share it.