A Day Trip to Dry Tortugas

Dry Tortugas isn't the easiest National Park to get to - roughly a two hour boat ride on the Yankee Freedom from Key West. You can also get there by seaplane. A bit faster but a lot pricier and tends to book up faster because, obviously, there are fewer seats. (The Yankee Freedom easily accommodates several hundred people, even though it's their practice not to operate at full capacity.) There are some primitive camp sites available (no, thank you). The most prominent feature is Fort Jefferson which was started after the War of 1812 and abandoned by the military after the Civil War before it was completed.  

It's called Dry Tortugas because, there is no water and Ponce de Leon, who first discovered it, caught hundreds of sea turtles.

It has beautiful beaches, tropical fish that can be seen in the water and in the surrounding moat, sea birds (it's a sanctuary for frigates), ghost and hermit crabs, and plenty of history.  If you want to know more, visit the park's website.

We were concerned because it was raining in Key West and for most of the trip. But when we arrived, the sun came out and it was beautiful. And it stayed that way until we were boarding the Yankee Freedom for the return trip.

We had a beautiful day!