Dry Tortugas National Park
In the Spring of 2023 I traveled to Key West with a group of friends and had a blast exploring the town. We visited some of the typical tourist spots on Front Street, the Southernmost Point in the US marker buoy, and did a little exploring of the town itself. I decided to fly into Miami and drive down to Key West, and while I ended up not taking very many pictures on the drive, it was a very cool drive. I did drive into Long Key State Park, and stopped to look at different spots when I saw something I thought was interesting. It was an experience driving through the different Keys and the long stretches of road over the water between them. It was so bright and sunny, and the road was so low to the ground that it was difficult to take pictures that really showed the different amazing colors in the water. While in Key West we stayed at Margaritaville and took a Jetski trip around the island.
Large picture chair at Long Key State Park.
View of the beach at Long Key State Park.
Photo of the Overseas Highway on the drive to Key West.
I think this is a White Ibis, seen in a gravel parking lot.
Sunken sailboat.
Paragliding on the water.
Big sandal at margaritaville.
Interesting car at margaritaville.
Lots of Chickens and Roosters around town.
Statue of Albert Kee, who would great visitors coming to the Island.
Southernmost point in the continental US buoy.
Pelican in the harbor.
Lots of fun flags on the local boats.
Front Street signs.
Famous Fat Tuesday on Front Street
Random street that I thought looked nice.
Mural near the shuttle stop.
Waterfront restaurant near the harbor.
Famous Key Lime Pie shop.
Beginning of Highway 1.
Mural on a transportation container near my hotel.
Interesting tree.
I had heard that sunsets were beautiful at Key West, but didn’t really plan on checking it out. I was at Mallory Square to check out some of the vendors, and just happened to be there as the sunset. It was amazing, I guess there are sunset cruises where you can go on a sailboat and sail between the islands. I didn’t do those, but I did think it was cool to see them sail by as I took pictures of the sunset.
After exploring Key West with my buddies, I decided to check out Dry Tortugas National Park. The only way to get to the park other than a private charter is to take the Ferry. The tickets sell out pretty quick, so I made reservations as soon as I knew I was going to be in Key West. The ride was beautiful on the Yankee Freedom III to Fort Jefferson. Fort Jefferson was built to help defend shipping and expand military presence in the Caribbean. During the Civil War it was used as a prison for Confederate mutineers, eventually including those such as Samuel Mudd. I decided to take the 45 minute walking tour of the Fort and thought it was really interesting. After the tour I continued to explore the Fort myself before spending some time snorkeling in the nearby reefs. I also took a lot of pictures of the birds, although I’m not very knowledgeable about birds, and definitely do not consider myself a birder, there were many species flying around that I thought were fun to look at.
Ferry to Dry Tortugas.
Interesting knots.
Approaching Fort Jefferson by water.
Approaching Fort Jefferson by water.
Bird hanging out inside the Fort.
There were some cannons still preserved at the Fort.
Brickwork of Fort Jefferson.
Brickwork of Fort Jefferson.
Moat through a hole in the wall.
The different blue hues of the moat, shoals, and deeper water were stunning.
Trail on top of the Fort.
View of Fort taken while walking along the moat wall.
Lighthouse on Loggerhead Key.
Birds of Dry Tortugas.
Birds of Dry Tortugas.
Birds of Dry Tortugas.
Birds of Dry Tortugas.
Birds of Dry Tortugas.
One last view of the entrance to Fort Jefferson.
US Flag with Fort Jefferson in the background.
The water was so flat calm it looked like glass.