Dry Tortugas

We had to catch the ferry early in the morning around 6am. The tour guide, Hollywood gathered everyone in the terminal to give us a quick informational speech before we started loading. He was a very energetic and lively guy. He seemed really passionate about his job, nature, and the dry tortugas.

Caitlin and I got some seats and settled in the for the 2.5 hour boat ride. They served us a breakfast buffet of bagels, cereal, lunch meats, fruits, and drinks. Throughout the ride Hollywood gave us little tidbits about islands and landmarks that we were passing and well as some information about the island and what to expect.

There were about 250 people on the boat with us and the majority of them were day trippers. That means that they took a 2.5 hour ferry ride from Key West to Dry Tortugas. Hung out on the island and explored the fort for about 3-4 hours, then took the same ferry boat back. We felt bad for all of those people.

When the boat arrived, we were instructed to wait for a campers orientation with the park ranger. There were 8 campers showing up that day. The park ranger gave us some basic information, like to be careful because the only hospital is 60 miles away and the only way to get there is by helicopter.

Once we were done we started the race for the best campsites. There are a limited number on the island, and there are some campers already occupying good ones so we had to race for a nice shaded one. Caitlin, and I were speed walking next to this woman for about 100 yards to try and beat each other, while trying not to be to obvious.

She ended up getting to a good spot just seconds before us. Luckily we were able to find the last shaded spot available. Phew.

We started to get camp set up and explore the island. I think we also went back on the ferry and got some of the lunch buffet too. Oh yeah, if the day trippers want to each lunch and waste more of their limited time on the island they have that option as well. They served some really good potato salad, so we took advantage.

This place is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Every American has to see this place at least one time before they die. I’d like to camp there once a year.

We took the first few hours to get our lay of the land and try not to get in the way of the day trippers too much. It was a bit chilly when we went, low 70’s and really windy. Hollywood said that after Hurricane Matthew the winds hadn’t stopped. He said that he was freezing, but he was wearing shorts because “you people want a tropical vibe”.

There were people everywhere. The island is probably less than a mile in circumference. And all of the day trippers were running around like chickens with their sun-burnt heads cutoff trying to squeeze every last minute out of their trip.

When the day trippers finally piled onto the ferry and left the whole vibe changed. All that was left were around 20 campers and roughly 10 sailboats. It got very quiet and everything seemed to slow down.

We went and explored Fort Jefferson, the gift shop/nature center, walked around the island and considered snorkeling but it was too cold and getting dark. We ate our thanksgiving dinner of turkey jerky, cold Campbell’s chunky soup, and white cheddar popcorn!

The next morning we ate breakfast and set out to get a good sunrise photo. We walked down the beach a ways towards a nesting island for an endangered species of bird that only nests at dry tortugas, which is really cool and also kinda sad.

Once I found what I thought was going to be a good angle for the sun we began to wait. I found that Caitlin’s new iPhone 7 took fantastic pictures. I’m talking unbelievable pictures. I had my camera and my tripod but I began just pointing and shooting with hers by the end of it.

We had a few hours of alone time before the Day Trippers arrive. Then that’s when the craziness started again. We took the opportunity to eat some food from the buffet and take the Fort Jefferson tour.

Hollywood was working again and he gave the tour. That fort has some really great history. It was the biggest, baddest fort the USA ever built. It’s located in an extremely important Deep Water trade route. It’s also the only deep water sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico.

I never knew that the World’s second or third largest coral reef stretches from the southern trip of Florida to the Dry Tortugas. It’s not possible to drive through it in a large boat without getting stuck or sinking. If you want to drive a boat from the east coast to the Mississippi River you are forced to go around the Dry Tortugas. That’s why the USA build such a powerful fort there. It was a very important trade route.

The fort although never completed is extremely impressive. At one point It had the capability of shooting over forty, thirty pound cannon balls at the same target every minute. No boat dared get within it’s range. It also was a very important fort during the civil war. I forget the exact details that Hollywood taught us, but as I remember it the North sent a general and a crew to occupy the fort, 13 days earlier from Boston when they felt the shit hitting the fan with the South.

At that time only slaves and workers were occupying the fort. Upon the North’s arrival sometime that evening 13 days later, they began getting comfortable and didn’t have any cannons setup yet. The next morning a war ship from The South arrived on shore of the Dry Tortugas. The southern general declared that they surrender the fort to him or else he would have 4 war ships there in the next few days to take it by force.

The general from the North had no defenses setup. He was dead in the water if the other war ships arrived. But, he told (lied) the Southern general that the only reason that his ship wasn’t sunk was so that he could sail back to Florida to tell all of his friends that the North owns Fort Jefferson and any Southern ships that come within range would be sunk on site. He did a quick turn and walked back into the fort. His bluff worked, and the North occupied the fort throughout the war. This tiny interaction could have had such a huge impact on USA history. Crazy.

There are other stories about the fort, like the the story of Dr. Samuel Mud. But, I won’t bore you with any of that. I just suggest that you find out a way to make it to the Dry Tortugas and learn about it yourself.

After the very fascinating and well done fort tour we did some snorkeling around the metal pylons. There was all types of sea life and coral reefs. It was really quite spectacular. We took some underwater video with Caitlin’s camera.

At the dock we heard multiple reports of a few of Goliath Groupers that were upwards of 300lbs. We didn’t end up seeing them. But, I would imagine it would be quite startling to catch a glimpse of one of those monsters under water!

We stayed on Dry Tortugas for two nights. We ended up talking to so many nice people during our stay. One of the most fascinating couples was one from Great Britain who were there on a sailboat. The wife wasn’t very into sailing. But, the husband had some intense stories about sailing near South America where he got caught up in some rough waters where he was sliding down a 30 foot wave going 2 times faster than his sailboat was rated to move.

We met a mother and son who were from Atlanta that we very nice. Also, a father and son who were very nice and offered for us to use their Kayaks. All in all everyone that we talked to was very friendly and personable. In my experience I find that people who respect and enjoy nature, generally are very kind and accepting people.

After a few days of fun in the sun Saturday finally came and our boat had arrived. It worked out that Jaclyn, Anthony, and the Kids were on that boat. They were going to stay for the next two nights. Luckily they didn’t have to race and fight for a good camping spot, we were able to just give them ours. It would have been nice to be able to stay on the island at the same time, but I think it was a bit more relaxing without the kids.

We jumped on the ferry, had another lunch buffet and headed back to the mainland. We spent a majority of the trip home near the rear of the boat talking to Tree a park ranger who Caitlin enjoyed chatting with. I ended up seeing a Sea Turtle on the way home!

I drove Caitlin north near Fort Lauderdale and we stayed at an Air BnB. In the morning I drove her to the airport. 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