We first visited the Dry Tortugas National
Park many years ago and wondered if our return visit would live up to our expectations,
it absolutely surpassed them.
Accessible only by boat or seaplane,
the 7 islands that make up the Dry Tortugas National Park http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm
are 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico in a protected marine area.
This was our view of Garden Key and
Fort Jefferson as we arrived on the National Park Ferry.
Fort Jefferson was used as a Union
prison during the Civil War. Dr Mudd, the
physician who treated John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Lincoln
was imprisoned here.
The only campground (in the trees) in
the park is on Garden Key, it’s a very primitive campground and you really do
pack it in and pack it out, including all your water.
We strolled the 6/10 of a mile round
the moat and saw some lovely fish on the way round.
This is how the walls of the Fort
looked until they were restored, unfortunately funding has run out so it is not
known when restoration of the final wall will be completed.
The powder magazine.
The lighthouse on one of the
bastions, there is also a path around the top of the fort.
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