November 14
I did not make it to the hotel until 10 PM, so will add comments tomorrow.
Nov 15 - Already 10:15 PM at tonight’s hotel. Was able to get photos of Fort Jefferson added, but not blog comments. Tomorrow.
Nov 16 - Finally, an early end to the day. Unlike the last two days where I still had 4-6 hours of driving after the last park, today the hotel was just 20 minutes down the road from Tuskegee Airmen NHS.
Okay, back to Tuesday. The sole objective today was to reach Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas NP. It is one of seven (or maybe 8) islands in the park. Ranger Terry told me as the 175 people were reboarding the Yankee Freedom III to leave the fort that he had read by blog about Biscayne NP. He used to work over there. I had mentioned the park was 95% water. Well, he wanted to make sure I knew Dry Tortugas is 98% water. Take that Biscayne. Regardless, both are wonderful parks. But you had been like water. Speaking of water, if you do not want to swim 70 miles, you can take the Yankee Freedom III from Key West to Fort Jefferson. There are also companies who fly float planes out of Key West. For most of the time we were at the fort, two planes were anchored at the beach.
The boat ride begins early. Check-in at the office on Key West starts at 7 AM. Boarding at 7:30 AM with departure at 8 AM. Then 2.75 hours of either smooth or rough sailing. All depends on the weather. We were doing fine until we crossed the boundary of the park. That is when I heard about ten people losing their breakfast. And that was on the main deck… I do not know what was happening on the top deck. The tour guide offers a short-version and long-version of a tour in the fort upon landing. Many folks seemed to like the short-version, then headed off for snorkeling. There are a couple of great spots with beach access. I met many people this day as folks kept reading my Quest tee-shirt. The boat provides lunch between 11 AM and 1 PM, so people were coming and going to the boat, with many taking the food out to the picnic tables. One thing to note, there are no garbage cans on the island… pack out what you pack in. And no seashell collecting. I thought this odd since other National Parks allow this practice, as long as the shell is empty. Maybe the thought is the NPS does not want people kicking out a resident. I came across one hermit crab which seemed happy to have a shell for protection.
If you like forts, and big ones at that, this should be on your bucket list. It is the largest masonry fort in the world. Bricks, bricks, and more bricks. When the Civil War began, the Union had to bring in bricks from Maine since the supply out of Florida was now in Confederate hands. When the war ended, the fort was used to house prisoners, one being Dr. Mudd, the physician who attended to John Wilkes Booth after he shot Lincoln. Though he was sentenced to life imprisonment in this fort, President Johnson pardoned Mudd in 1869 since he had helped stop the spread of deadly yellow fever in the fort. The area of Mudd’s cell is highlighted for visitors to see on the 2nd level of the fort.
When I visited this park in 2009 there was water between Garden Key (which the fort is on) and Bush Key. But Nature likes to have fun when it comes to oceans, currents, and sand. There is now a “land bridge” between the two keys, and Long Key. A number of visitors were walking on the beach all the way out to Long Key.
The return trip to Key West begins at 3 PM. The wave action of the sea was worse than the morning. But everyone survived. When I reached my car I tried to forget the $40 parking fee (plus $2 service fee) for the day. For those of you who have been to Key West, you know that real estate is about the only asset which matters there. If you want to have a car on this small plot of island, you had better be ready to afford it. The hotels and restaurants also know folks will pay since demand is high and supply is relatively constrained.
A suggestion is to try Fort Zachary Taylor (on Key West) for snorkeling. This is Fort Jefferson’s “sister fort”. I have snorkeled in this park, and it is a good time. Of course, stop at the Southernmost point of the Continental USA for a photo-op. And there is so much more to do in town. Just bring your credit card and close your eyes.