Key West and Dry Tortugas National Park
Trip Start
Jan 31, 2009
1
Trip End
Feb 01, 2009
Where I stayed
Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Saturday, January 31st at 7:30am I head South on my bike to Florida City where all the riders are scheduled to meet up at the Mobil Quick Mart on 16 North Krome Avenue at 8am. I arrive there well on time and meet up with Paulie and his girlfriend Mary. While there I got introduced to bunch of nice people like Doug from Orlando and Dave from Jacksonville (ZZR 1200 riders), and Tito and his daughter from Fort Lauderdale. There were several people from the North East US that were down for the "summer". Hey, compared to the weather the Northern states are experiencing this is summer weather for them. We just had a cold front come through the day before so the temperature was in the low 50's, but the strong winds made the right South a chilly one.
As we departed I witnessed a rider a few bikes ahead of me go over the median, which caused both his tires to explode. He was very lucky to be able to keep the bike up and pull it over safely. Regretfully for him the ride was over when it hardly had begun.
The group split up immediatelly with some taking US1 while others, including me, took Card Sound Road southbound. We arrived at the Half Shell Raw Bar (http://www.halfshellrawbar.com/) around 11:30am, where we all had a nice lunch and got to know each other a bit better. After lunch we all split up and went our own way.
I opted to go check in to the Days Inn motel (http://www.daysinn.com/DaysInn/control/Booking/property_info?propertyId=06582&cid=carat_search-Days_Inn) where I would spend the night, and then headed out to revisit all of Key West. Although I had been here several times already I actually got to see some new places that I did not know of, so that was worthwhile. I ended up at the Flying Monkey Saloon on 227 Duval Street where they serve the best Banana Breeze frozen margaritas - yummy yummy yummy - had me about 4 of the large ones :o)
Sunday morning started off at 7:15 am when check-in for the Sunny Days boat trip to the Dry Tortugas commenced. Cousin Dougie and family (Viviana, Derek, Craig, and Megan) joined for the fun. They drove down the night before to Marathon (http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/), where they spent the night, and got an early start in order not to have depart from Miami at 4am. Boarding of the Sunny Days happens on the corner of Green and Elizabeth streets. We departed at 8am.
The cost for the outing is $135. A continental breakfast is provided onboard the 2 hour trip to Fort Jefferson. At the Fort a 45 minute walking tour is provided as well as a picnic style lunch onboard the boat. Snorkeling gear is provided for those that wish to go swimming. The coral reef is located 50 feet off the shore of what I can only describe as a beautiful white sandy beach with crystal blue water. You should bring your own camera, towel, bathing suit, and sunscreen.
The Dry Tortugas is one of the most inaccessible U.S. National Parks. It is located 70 miles off the shores of Key West, the Dry Tortugas is a group of seven small islands and isles. Fort Jefferson is the largest coastal fort in the entire country with over 16 million bricks making up its structure and taking up a total of 11 acres out of Garden Key's total of 16 acres.
The Islands were first discovered by Spaniard Ponce De Leon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n) in 1513. First named Las Tortugas (The Turtles) due to the abundance of sea turtles. The word 'Dry' was soon added to mariners' charts to warn of the lack of fresh water. Since the days of Spanish exploration, the reefs and shoals of the Dry Tortugas have been a serious hazard to navigation and the site of hundreds of shipwrecks.
In 1846 is when the construction of Fort Jefferson began. The construction of the fort was long and arduous and, even after 30 years of work and construction, the fort was never fully completed. The long process was in part due to the number of bricks that had to be delivered, from New York and Maine, by boat for the construction of the fort.
By the time the fort was ready for some sort of action, military battle equipment had changed and evolved, and the invention of the rifled canon made the fort almost entirely useless as a military base or fort. Instead, during the Civil War, the fort was used as a prison for war prisoners. Four of the men convicted with complicity in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln were held there including Dr. Samuel Mudd. Dr. Samuel Mudd has provided Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, with medical help while Booth was on the run after Lincoln's assassination. Most of the other prisoners included army privates and officers who were accused of desertion and other civilian prisoners accused of robbery. During those years, there was an epidemic of yellow fever. Dr. Mudd was actually able to help a lot of the soldiers and prisoners on the island during this epidemic. In part because of his useful help during the epidemic, President Andrew Johnson pardoned Dr. Mudd in 1867. By 1888, after several hurricanes, the Army gave the fort over to the Marine Hospital Service where they used it as a quarantine station.
It was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who in 1935 designated the fort a national monument. In 1970, the fort was listed on the national register of historic places. And in 1992, the Dry Tortugas including the fort were designated a national park.
After exploring the fort I went snorkeling. The water was cold, but quite comfortable, once you immersed yourself completely in it. At 2:30pm the boat departed from Fort Jefferson and we arrived back at Key West at 5pm. The boat ride was a bit slower as we traveled against the ocean current, which made our ride back a little bumpy. The 8 foot waves we navigated through felt like a roller coaster ride.
Then it was time to jump on my motorcycle ride and make the three hour ride back to Miami, where I arrived just before 9pm to catch the final 5 minutes of the Super Bowl :o)
Until next time.
Comments
Great pictures Adrie...
you really get a sense of where you were...
So many people told me that the beaches are not that great in Key West....guess you have to go to the actual keys and surrounding islands because I did get a glimpse of a beautiful beach. I was really on the look-out for them when I was living in Miami, never really found something that compared to the beaches in Curacao.
Re: Great pictures Adrie...
The mainland keys (those connected by US1) have no decent beaches. However, if you get out on a boat and visit some of the more remote keys (which today is hard to do because most are considered sanctuaries for wildlife) such as Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas then you find beautiful beaches
finally
Dood! Great to finally meet ya in the flesh. No BS, yer reports & pix are truly outstanding.
Keep up the good worky & hope to ride/meet up again soon. My next cruz will be to TrailerWeek then Tally to visit my goils at FSU.
FSU
Paulie,
Let me know when you have in mind to go to Tallahassee as I may want to join you riding up there. I want to go visit some caverns in Mariana, FL, and those are just west of Taly. I have a high school friend living in Taly too who I will then visit. So please keep me in mind and I will ride with you if you would like the company. Take care