On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Winter Wren
Back in 2019, my wife and I planned an anniversary trip to Dry Tortugas National Park for the spring of 2020. Then Covid hit. After multiple reschedules (including one postponement due to very rough seas), we finally made it 5 years later.
Dry Tortugas ranks as one of the least visited national parks as it is accessible only by boat (private or using the daily ferry) or seaplane. While it is possible to camp overnight, we opted to take the Yankee Freedom ferry out of Key West for a day trip.
The ferry leaves at 8:00 and arrives around 10:15. There is a short presentation in the fort, followed by an optional guided tour at 11:00 and then lunch is provided by the boat (Jersey Mike’s subs). The ferry leaves at 3:00 pm and arrives back in Key West in time for dinner around 5:15. In between, we walked around the fort (some sections were closed for repairs when we visited), explored the coral reef on the outside of the moat wall by swimming from the south swim beach and birdwatched.
Here is the view as we approached Fort Jefferson on the ferry. To the starboard side were several small sandbars and further west the lighthouse on Loggerhead Key (marking the beginning of the Florida Strait and Gulf Stream) could be seen in the distance.
The fort itself was constructed to protect a deep water harbor which could be used to host warships patrolling and protecting the busy shipping lane with traffic entering and leaving the Gulf of Mexico between Florida and Cuba. It is one of the largest forts ever built, but was never fully completed, nor was it ever attacked. It served as a prison during and after the Civil War, most famously hosting Dr. Samuel Mudd (who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth after Lincoln’s assassination). The USS Maine left from its harbor to start its fateful voyage right before the Spanish-American War.
As you approach on the ferry, you pass the “South coaling dock” ruins pictured here, with the campground area behind and the most popular swimming beach on the left. During one point in its history, it served as a coal refueling station for ships.
The seaplanes that other visitors came on would dock near the ferry, but along Bush Key. Bush Key is connected to Garden Key by a sometimes sandbar (while we were there it all seemed part of the same island). Bush Key itself was off-limits for visiting as it was nesting season for the large breeding colony of Sooty Terns.
Here you can see the ferry from the small bridge which is used to enter the interior of the fort. The back of the ferry hosted open air showers, which I think are well appreciated by the campers.
Garden Key Lighthouse pictured here is inside the fort. When we visited, a large gathering of dozens of Magnificent Frigatebirds were soaring largely stationary above the fort. Perhaps looking for a tern to harass so that they could steal its catch. The interior of the fort has a few scattered trees, but is mostly short grass.
There isn’t much shade anywhere on the island, but the interior of the fort was relatively cool and can give a respite from the strong mid-day sun.
A view from one of the fort windows over the moat toward the south coaling docks.
The moat surrounds the fort and is connected to the ocean. In the moat, we saw a few small sharks like this one (less than 3 feet), a puffer fish and some other fish that might have been red snapper. You are not allowed to swim in the moat unfortunately.
You are allowed to walk a small portion of the moat wall, which is great for trying to spot fish in the sandy moat or denizens of the coral reef on the ocean side. Earlier in the day, we swam the ocean section here using tight fitting swim goggles (instead of snorkeling) and were able to see a few fish like sergeant majors and various corals. A snorkeler we passed had an encounter with a barracuda. Unfortunately, my underwater camera battery was dead, so I was unable to take pictures in the water. I took this picture during a brief passing midday shower, but most of the day was bright and sunny.
The western side of the fort and moat, looking toward the North swimming beach. The North Coaling dock ruins are to the right, as is Bush Key.
Part 2 highlights the bird life on Dry Tortugas during the breeding season and early spring migration.
YY_Sima Qian
Nice photos!
Dry Tortugas is such a strange place. A Civil War fort in a paradise setting.
Can’t believe it has been nearly 20 years since my visit.
Baud
Very cool.
sab
Nice photos.
@YY_Sima Qian: I have heard that there are Spanish or Portugese built forts off the coast of China with a similar appearance to the forts in Florida (St Augustine and Dry Tortugas.) Do you know if thIs is true?
Gloria DryGarden
Delightful photos. Thank you for sharing these.
eclare
Interesting, thanks!
YY_Sima Qian
@sab: There are old Dutch forts near Tainan (Fort Zeelandia & Fort Provintia) in Taiwan that date to the 1600s, built to the pseudo/proto Italian “star” bastion style. It proved a tough nut to crack for the Ming loyalists under Koxinga that came from across the Taiwan Strait, hoping to escape from the Manchu onslaught & establish a regime in exile. They had to resort to starving the garrison out, & the Dutch trading post had no support from Batavia due to some kind of obscure intra-colonial politics, which contributed to its eventual fall.
The old Portuguese fort in Macau (Fortaleza de Monte) & the old Spanish fort in Manila (the Intramuros) are of similar vintage & style. The old British fort in Penang (Fort Cornwallis) came later, as did the late Qing Dynasty fortifications (such as the Taku Forts) inspired by the Europeans ones, after the traditional bricks & earthen rampart fortifications proved utterly inadequate against the modern European artillery of the age, during the First Opium War. Most of the Taku Forts were dismantled by the imperial powers in the wake of the Boxer Rebellions, but a couple of sites remain.
However, I am aware of no fortifications in China, or E/SE Asia that follow the early American Civil War style of brick faced construction. The vertical walls aren’t great against artillery.
YY_Sima Qian
@YY_Sima Qian: Wikipedia says Fort Jefferson is also an example of a “star bastion”, as are many/most of the US forts built from the colonial era to the Civil War. I think it is a stretch in the case of Fort Jefferson.
J.
Wonder when the Trumps or Kushners will turn it into a resort.
stinger
Wonderful photos!
Trivia Man
Thanks, an intriguing park that most of us will never visit
sab
@YY_Sima Qian: Thanks. That’s a lot of information.
Torrey
Very cool! Thank you for these pictures and the commentary.
All I knew about the Dry Tortugas was that they were used as a prison by the U.S. during the Civil War. The men of the Second Maine (the unit whose remnants were eventually incorporated into the famous Twentieth Maine (Joshua Chamberlain commanding) shortly before the battle of Gettysburg) had been sentenced to the Dry Tortugas for an earlier mutiny. I don’t think they ever actually got there: Lincoln commuted their sentence because they were an excellent veteran unit and he felt it was more important to have them on the battlefield.
Van Buren
If you go to Key West, a day spent here is worth it.
frosty
We made that same trip in 2023 when we spent two weeks in Key West. I had two goals: check off another National Park and see a Brown Noddy tern, and hit both of them. According to eBird reports, we got there the day after the Brown Noddies arrived.
What struck me most about the Park was the beautiful blue Gulf waters. Your pictures captured it really well.
Winter Wren
@frosty: Agreed about the beautiful blue waters – very striking. Next post is bird focused, including some brown noddies.
It’s a special place; we have been to Key West many times now and it is great by itself, but as Van Buren notes, this day trip is well worth it!
Citizen Dave
Thanks for sharing, and all the great background. Aside from the coolness factor, this place is a great goal for mapheads…
If Orange Man hears about this place, he’ll want to reopen it as a prison.
grb
Me and the Ex got married there. We took the boat out (I got seasick on my wedding day), then dressed in tux & gown to do the deed on the fort rampart. Most of our wedding party then hit the beach including our Key West preacher – who fell asleep after a few beers and got horribly sunburned. Unfortunately, by the time the photographer was done we got the call to reboard the boat.
WaterGirl
@grb: What a memory!
Welcome!
Paul in KY
I took a 3 day fishing trip out there back in 1984 or thereabouts. We anchored off the fort for night sleeping/fishing. The stars were awesome!