When we first started talking about making an edges of Florida trip, DH immediately said he wanted to go to Dry Tortugas National Park and see Fort Jefferson. So as soon as the booking window opened, I made reservations through the Yankee Freedom ferry to take an all day trip over to the island.
If you have been following this blog, you will know that visiting forts is something we do frequently. For this trip, Fort Jefferson was the one all the others were leading up to.
We started the day by walking the mile from our hotel to the Key West ferry terminal. It was either that or pay $40 to park. We saved the $40 for a t-shirt, book, and magnet from the national park bookstore. We had to be there to check in at 7 AM so it was a nice, cool, early morning walk through Key West. We went by the cemetery on the way.
Once we arrived at the ferry terminal, everything went smoothly for the 2.5 hour trip to Dry Tortugas. They provided breakfast and lunch as part of the tour and were able to accommodate my medical need for a gluten-free diet.
Our tour guide provided a lot of information on the way over. Once there, we had the option to self-guide or do a guided tour of the Fort. Or go snorkeling. We of course chose to do the 1.5 hour guided tour.
The tour took us through much of the lower level of the Fort and provided information about how and when it was built. There was a presentation on how the Fort was and wasn't used. We took a lot of photos.
After the tour and lunch, we were able to explore the upper levels of the Fort and see where Dr. Mudd was imprisoned. He was involved in the assassination of President Lincoln. And take in the spectacular views from the top!
Here's a video I found on YouTube that provides a good overview.
We reboarded the ferry for the trip back to Key West. On the way back, we struck up a conversation with another retired couple from Michigan who just happen to snowbird in Carrabelle! That's in our neck of the woods!
We made it back at 5:30 PM, so we stopped for dinner at Conch Republic Seafood Restaurant. We finished with just a few minutes to spare before sunset, so we missed the big show, so to make up for it, we stopped at Kermit's for Key lime pie. They have a gluten-free one! It was a nice ending to full day.
I forgot to take my National Park passport book with me and they were out of park-specific stickers. You can bet I made sure to have it later in the week for the Evergldes!
~ Cindy D.
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