Dry Tortugas
Please tell me you have heard of The Dry Tortugas National Park! There are so many people who have never heard of it, and I was one of them. It is an absolute water parade on Garden Key, It’s like being in the Caribbean. The colors of the water itself are a wow experience. Fort Jefferson is super cool too, It is America's largest and most spectacular 19th century coastal. It is a six-sided building, that was built with 16 million handmade red bricks.
There are only two ways to get to the National park, by boat or by seaplane and you basically have the place all to yourself! 68 miles off the coast of Key West and is one of the USA’s least listed national parks. (So we did the most visited National Park and Least this year!) It is Paradise without many people. We took the ferry boat to the island, about 2.5 hours each way! The kids enjoyed it, they saw sea turtles, stingrays, and even sharks on our journey out there. You can enjoy a continental breakfast and they serve lunch as well. Remember to bring lots of water because there is no fresh water on the island. You will also need to bring a beach town, plenty of sunscreen, a swimsuit, and snorkel gear if you don't want to use the ones they have.
The Dry Tortugas has a ton of marine life, The waters are gorgeous and you feel like you’re in the Caribbean. You can snorkel around the entire fort and even inside the moat area. You don't have to snorkel out far either, so perfect for kids who are just learning how to snorkel. Because it is a national park you can't take anything home with you, so even if you find the most amazing shell or sea glass, it has to stay. Trust me, the amount of sea glass I found and the colors were something I have never seen before. Easton had fun snorkeling around finding shark's teeth, while Maci had more fun seeing all the fish. Something for everyone!
You can explore most of Fort Jefferson without restrictions, some areas are off-limits. We walked the perimeter and went up to the rooftop to see the incredible views. For Jefferson has some history, and I will try and not make this all about the history of this fort, but when you think about it, it is mind-blowing. Fort Jefferson was discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513. It was named the dry Tortugas after the large population of seas turtles that live in the surrounding waters. During the Civil War, Fort Jefferson was used as a prison, this included 4 men who were convicted in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. One of the most famous prisoners was Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth. He was imprisoned at Fort Jefferson for conspiring with JWB in the assassination. Fort Jefferson housed close to 2000 people, including the prisoners, employees, and their families. That wasn’t the original intent, it was built to protect the American shipping lanes in the Caribbean. They began building for Jefferson in 1846, it continued being built for 30 years but was never finished. Eventually, the war became and they abandoned the idea of completing the Fort. The cost to main the fort was too expensive to maintain, so the army turned it over to be a quarantine area for a hospital. The size of this fort is insane and the architecture is stunning. When you think about the time and material it took to build this! All bricks were handmade, traveled thousands of miles by boat, freshwater had to be made for the mortar, and 16 million bricks were laid. Okay, that's enough history for this post!
Add it to your bucket list! Also, I don’t think It would really be a punishment to be a prisoner here….. Seriously, look at those views!
