Florida Day 10

I didn’t sleep well last night. Even though the other campers were quiet after they were reprimanded by the staff, I only managed to weave in and out of sleep, but mostly I was awake listening to the rustle of the palm leaves in the breeze and the occasional chirp of a bird. The temperature wasn’t bad. The breeze kept me cool, cooler than I would have been in a tent and luckily there were no bugs so I didn’t have to slip into my sleep sack. We were up before six again so we could get back to Key West in time to check in for our ferry ride. This morning we are heading to Dry Tortugas National Park, a key 70 miles west of Key West. While I am looking forward to seeing the park and snorkeling, I am not looking forward to the boat ride. In fact, it’s safe to say, I am dreading it. I will take Dramamine but I’m not optimistic since it didn’t help all that much in Alaska.

I survived the boat ride. The dramamine knocked me out. I got lucky. There were empty seats on the boat so I was able to lay down and I must have slipped into a deep sleep because two and a half hours passed in  a snap. I ate breakfast, even though I didn’t necessarily think it was a good idea but I was able to keep it all down. G3 and Kati said this boat ride wasn’t as rough as either the trip from Isle Royal or the one we took last month in Kenai.

I am really glad we splurged on the boat ride out here. This was definitely the best day of this Florida trip and probably one of the best days this summer. Considering how much we did, that says a lot. This might even be one of my favorite National Parks. But I am often partial to anything in or around water. Ninety-nine percent of Dry Tortugas is underwater. It is ninety-nine square miles and it contains nine keys. Back when the Spanish first explored this area there were thirteen but four are now below the water’s surface. East Key is home to the only nesting boobie birds in America. Unfortunately, we didn’t stop at that key so I didn’t get to see any. Another key is home to frigate birds. We didn’t see any of them either. We docked on Garden Key, the key with the fort.

The ferry departed at 8:00 this morning and arrived at Fort Jefferson around 10:30. G3 and I went to walk around the fort while Kati headed for the water. At 11:00, we joined the tour of the fort. It is massive. The first thing G3 said upon entering the fort was, “This is the biggest fort we’ve ever seen.” It is the largest masonry fort the US ever built and it is the largest masonry fort in the Western Hemisphere. It contains sixteen million bricks from two states. The lighter bricks came from Pensacola. During the Civil War, the fort remained in Union hands but since Florida had seceded, they could no longer get bricks from Pensacola, so they got the darker bricks from Maine. The fort’s construction began in 1846 but the work was terminated thirty years later. The fort was never completed. By 1876, weaponry had advanced so much that forts were obsolete. Since the fort was built on soft limestone, it has started to sink into its foundation.

Since we started planning this trip several months back, I  had two questions that I never quite got around to googling: Why is there a fort in the middle of nowhere? And why is the park called Dry Tortugas when it’s surrounded by water? Both questions were addressed on the tour in the form of a timeline that I will share with you incase you were wondering the same.

1513–Ponce de Leon (apparently you can’t discuss Florida’s history without mentioning him at least once) was the first European to chart the keys that now comprise Dry Tortugas. He named Florida “La Florida” meaning “land of the flowers.” He named the Dry Tortugas “Los Tortugas” meaning “the turtles” because of all the sea turtles swimming in the water. The Spanish didn’t think of them as cute animals that need protection the way I do. To the Spaniards, they were food—food they could load onto the boat fresh, throw water on them periodically to keep them alive and from spoiling, and then kill them for meat when necessary. It was bloody and cruel, but the Conquistadors had an affinity for killing. By naming the keys The Turtles,” Ponce de Leon was alerting future sailors to a food source.

1600s—The British begin navigating through Los Tortugas and while the keys are surrounded by salt water there isn’t a single fresh water source. To warn sailors that no drinking water was to be had, they began referring to the Keys as dry tortugas

1803–The Louisiana Purchase doubles the size of the country and expands it westward. The Mississippi River becomes a vital waterway for transporting goods. To reach the Mississippi by water from the East Coast, boats need to go around Florida and the keys. The keys are a natural barrier. Boats couldn’t cut through them because the water wasn’t deep enough.

1814–The US is  at war with England. The British have a much stronger Navy. The British also burn D.C. since the capital lacked a fort to protect it. However, even with a superior navy, Britain fails to capture Baltimore because it was protected by Fort McHenry.  Following the war, the government realized if it wanted to be safe, if it wanted to better protect itself, it needed more forts. They begin constructing them on the coast.

1821–The US acquires Florida from Spain increasing the length of the coastline that needed to be defended. This coastline included all of the keys.

1846–The government decides to build Fort Jefferson. They need to make it bigger than other forts because it is too remote to connect with other forts. If under siege, they wouldn’t be able to rely on help. Therefore, it needed to be big enough to be self sufficient for up to eighteen months while under attack.

1876–Construction of the fort is aborted.

1910–The Army abandons the fort.

1935–Franklin D. Roosevelt declares Fort Jefferson a national monument.

1992–Congress created Dry Tortugas National Park to protect marine life, including birds, fish, and the coral reefs. Fort Jefferson in now park of the National Park.

After the tour, G3 and I picked up snorkeling equipment and lunch—sandwiches, chips, soda—from the boat and then went to meet Kati on the beach. Kati, we learned, had been so excited to jump in the water she forgot to take her phone out of her pocket. She realized it after it had been submerged. Before checking to see if it worked, she turned it off and put it in her bag to dry out. I will let you know tomorrow if she needs a new phone. Last month, G3’s phone plunged into water in Alaska. Now, Kati’s phone dove into water in Florida. I suppose my phone is next. G3 had the advantage of fresh water which is less corrosive than saltwater. However, Kati’s phone was not under water for as long.

The water was blue and clear and gorgeous. I have not gone swimming in water that looked that clean since Kati and I were in Honduras eighteen years ago. We were in the water snorkeling from the time we finished lunch—around 11:45–until we had to board the boat—2:30. That was almost three hours in the water and I’m not entirely sure how my face got sunburned since my face was in the water the entire time. The back of my legs also got burned—as did Kati’s and G3’s—but at least that makes sense.

The coral was fascinating to see. Some of it looked like a brain. Some looked like fancy flowers. And some looked like pasta shells. Most of the coral blended in with the sand but some was pale pink, light yellow, or purple. Swimming through coral were all sorts of fish. Black fish that looked like a shimmering blue in certain light. Yellow and black striped fish. Yellow and blue fish. Green fish. And fish I almost didn’t see because they were the same color as either the coral or the sand. Most of the fish were small enough they could have fit in my palm, but a few were bigger, longer. G3 saw a stingray. I did not. I did see a crab that was camouflaged to look like a moving rock.

We would have liked to have stayed longer but we needed to get back on the boat. If we had planned this trip further in advance we could have camped on the island which would have been fun. But, by the time we decided to go to Florida the limited campsites were already booked. On the way back, I took more Dramamine. About a half hour into the boat ride I started to feel sick, but I started to feel groggy at the same time. There was no room to lay down so I leaned back on Kati and passed out again. Oh, but before I felt sick, I was standing at the front of the boat,

the wind whipping me in the face, and I saw a sea turtle swimming in the water. Both the boat and the turtle moved too fast for me to get a picture.

When we got back to Key West, I wanted to walk around but Kati and G3 did not want to walk. So, we headed to the campground instead. When we got there, it was still light out so G3 wanted to go swimming and, like yesterday, he insisted that I join him. I did and we both had fun playing on the water trampoline.

The other campers are being rude and playing their music again. To get away from them I came down to the beach to write. The breeze is blissful. It’s very comfortable sitting here, so comfortable, I am struggling to keep my eyes open as I finish this.