We got to the lighthouse just as it opened and there was already a line waiting to get in. There is a great gift shop which was built in 1992 from the 1883 blueprints of a keepers house which was planned but never built at that time. We browsed a little first to see what we might want to buy later, then got our tickets and headed out to climb the tower. We passed the Woodshed Video Theater and Privy exhibit, then The Boatyard area where historic vessels are displayed. Currently the F. D. Russell tug boat is exhibited and, to the right, is a picture of the tug taken from the top of the tower.

We climbed the 203 steps to the top, pausing frequently to admire the view down to the black and white marble tiled floor below where we could also see the weight well, designed to catch any items falling down from above. When we finally made it to the top, the views were wonderful. We could see our boat docked at the end of the pier (since it's the smallest one there it's rather hard to see in this picture!). I also took a picture of the oil house with it's brick path and two anchors out front, an interesting perspective from the top.

This impressive lighthouse is listed as a National Historical Landmark. The tower is built on a brick foundation which is 12 feet deep and 45 feet wide. The bottom of the tower, where the walls are eight feet thick, is 32 feet in diameter, but the top of the tower is only 12 1/2 feet in diameter with walls one and a half foot thick. It's a long way up - this is the second tallest tower in the U.S. after Cape Hattera and the tallest in Florida - with 9 of the 203 steps to the top being the granite steps outside the tower leading up to the door. That looked like a good place to rest before we headed off to see the other buildings surrounding the light.