Did you ever hear of the Dry Tortugas National Park?

We never heard of the Dry Tortugas, but when our friend Dixie asks us if we want to do something or go some where we know that we should say YES! Dixie‘s plans are always fun.

Dry Tortugas National Park is located almost 70 miles due west of Key West, so off we went to Key West.

The El Patio Motel had rooms for all eight of us. The location was good, and they even had a nice deck on the roof for watching the stars.

It was a windy day and we knew the ride would be rough, so we were ready with our Dramamine. Before we boarded the boat the crew had a little presentation and warned us about the heavy seas. That news scared us and we took more Dramamine!!! None of the eight of us in our group got seasick, but many, many people on the boat did. The next day we heard that the sea conditions were actually 6-10 foot swells!

The boat was a 100 ft. Catamaran, so I felt secure, but some of the swells really made that boat rock. There’s got to be sharks in that water!

This is Dixie, our fearless leader, enjoying the view before we set sail.

Our first view of Fort Jefferson. Fort Jefferson, the Gibraltar of the Gulf of Mexico, was begun in 1846 to defend the Gulf from potential enemies and to safeguard U.S. trade routes between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River.

It was a windy day, and cool for the Keys, but we were all happy because we made it and none of us got sick!!!

The Fort is huge! It was designed to support 450 guns and garrison 1,500 men with a protective moat surrounding the 3 foot thick walls.

Experts estimate that approximately 16 million bricks were used in construction of the fort, the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere.

There are still a few cannons on the island. None are loaded, of course.

Just look at that beautiful blue water!

Remember, while this island is surrounded by beautiful water it does not have any palatable water on it. Hence the name: Dry Tortugas!

Dr. Samuel Mudd, the man who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assasin, was sentenced in1865 to life imprisonment at the fort. While here he treated prisoners sufering from a severe outbreak of yellow fever and, after serving four years of his sentence, was pardoned by then-President Andrew Jackson.

Our trip back to Key West was just as exciting/interesting, but we returned safely.

Of course we had to visit the Southernmost point of the Continental U.S.A. which is only 90 miles from Cuba.

Chickens are welcome everywhere in Key West, and they reminded me of home, even though these chickens are a bit fancier than my sweet little hens.

We did a bit of biking while we were in Key West, and the food was excellent, but not one of us remembered to take any pictures of those adventures so just use your imagination here.

So, it was a fun time in Key West with good friends, and when Dixie has a plan for another adventure we’ll be sure to say “yes, count us in!”