This a.m. before I wrote this entry, I checked the local papers from back home. Whew, you are dealing with some weather. It is hard to imagine your challenges given the setting that we are in. It is 6:30 a.m. The sun is about to come up and the temp is 71 degrees.
Yesterday, we drove the 60 miles to Key West and arrived before sun up. We boarded the Yankee Freedom to travel the 70 miles out to sea to visit Dry Tortugas, a National Park. Originally named by Ponce de Leon in 1513, this island was named for the turtles that were numerous in this area (now few are seen, overhunted). The “dry” was added later when no water was found on the island. In
1825 a lighthouse was built to guide sailors through the deepest channel in the area. Then in 1846 a fort was built to protect the channel. The fort stayed in Union hands during the Civil War and aided in the naval blockade of the South. After the war it became a prison and the most famous prisoner was Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg as he was fleeing after assassinating Lincoln. He was later given presidential pardon by Andrew Johnson after Mudd worked to cure yellow fever that took so many lives in that era.
The day was spent with new friends, Liz and John Rupp who live in Richmond,VA. Jo
hn is a retired attorney, Liz a retired social worker. John is a Civil War buff and I especially enjoyed our conversation regarding the historical sites that we had seen on the trip. Richmond, as it turns out, is one of the cities that we regretfully drove past (skipped) due to scheduling concerns. The Confederate capital, it is rich in history and architecture, a place we hope to visit some day. As we disembarked the boat at the fort, one could hear a din from a nearby sandy shoal (key). The ranger explained that 40,000 sooty turns migrate through here this time of year and lay their eggs on that key.
The fort was like many other in shape. It was much larger and it took up the entire island except for a few small sandy beaches. The largest brick structure in the western hemisphere, it dominated the island set in a turquoise sea.
After touring the fort the four of us snorkeled in a nearby lagoon until the boat was ready to leave. On the return voyage we motored by the site where Mel Fisher is currently working to retrieve sunken treasure. It was in this area in 1622 that a fleet of Spanish galleons were
sunk by a hurricane. The ships contained prized booty (gold). Recently, one of Mel’s projects retrieved $450 million in previously sunken treasure from one of the ships.
As we returned to Key West, the sun was low in the sky. Barb and I boarded our bikes for the 8 block ride to Mallory Square. At each sundown, street entertainers (many are very good) display their craft (jugglers, tight rope walker, unicyclist, escape artist, magicians, evangelists, etc.) at the large square filled with tourists and food and drink vendors. We watched the sun set again then had dinner on the
board walk.
Yesterday, we drove the 60 miles to Key West and arrived before sun up. We boarded the Yankee Freedom to travel the 70 miles out to sea to visit Dry Tortugas, a National Park. Originally named by Ponce de Leon in 1513, this island was named for the turtles that were numerous in this area (now few are seen, overhunted). The “dry” was added later when no water was found on the island. In
1825 a lighthouse was built to guide sailors through the deepest channel in the area. Then in 1846 a fort was built to protect the channel. The fort stayed in Union hands during the Civil War and aided in the naval blockade of the South. After the war it became a prison and the most famous prisoner was Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg as he was fleeing after assassinating Lincoln. He was later given presidential pardon by Andrew Johnson after Mudd worked to cure yellow fever that took so many lives in that era.The day was spent with new friends, Liz and John Rupp who live in Richmond,VA. Jo
hn is a retired attorney, Liz a retired social worker. John is a Civil War buff and I especially enjoyed our conversation regarding the historical sites that we had seen on the trip. Richmond, as it turns out, is one of the cities that we regretfully drove past (skipped) due to scheduling concerns. The Confederate capital, it is rich in history and architecture, a place we hope to visit some day. As we disembarked the boat at the fort, one could hear a din from a nearby sandy shoal (key). The ranger explained that 40,000 sooty turns migrate through here this time of year and lay their eggs on that key.
The fort was like many other in shape. It was much larger and it took up the entire island except for a few small sandy beaches. The largest brick structure in the western hemisphere, it dominated the island set in a turquoise sea.
After touring the fort the four of us snorkeled in a nearby lagoon until the boat was ready to leave. On the return voyage we motored by the site where Mel Fisher is currently working to retrieve sunken treasure. It was in this area in 1622 that a fleet of Spanish galleons were
sunk by a hurricane. The ships contained prized booty (gold). Recently, one of Mel’s projects retrieved $450 million in previously sunken treasure from one of the ships.As we returned to Key West, the sun was low in the sky. Barb and I boarded our bikes for the 8 block ride to Mallory Square. At each sundown, street entertainers (many are very good) display their craft (jugglers, tight rope walker, unicyclist, escape artist, magicians, evangelists, etc.) at the large square filled with tourists and food and drink vendors. We watched the sun set again then had dinner on the
board walk.Pictures include the fort, the island (shoal, and key were also used in the Ranger's presentation) with the 40K birds, the beach at the fort, the treasure locating ship, Key West port, and sunset at Key West.
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