Spent 2 weeks of January in the Florida Keys and the weather
was great! Didn't see a drop of rain until the day I left and if it wasn't for
windy conditions on a few days, it would have been perfect. Temps were in the 80's most days and Ronna took 10 days
of vacation time to fly down and escape the winter weather up north.
We stayed at Riptide RV Park on Key Largo, one of the
Carefree chain. This was my first time staying a Carefree Park, although I have
driven through a few others, and I wasn't impressed by any of them. But this is
the Florida Keys in January and finding any campsite can be a challenge. Every RV
Park I saw was just as sardine
packed as ours. Sure, there is some state park camping on the Keys but getting one of those
sites is like winning the lottery. Still, we were close to the water and there
was a nice place to sit and watch the sunsets.
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| The nice part of the campground. We were camped less than 100 feet away! |
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| The not so nice part. Crammed in like sardines. |
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| Sunset at the campground |
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| Campground company. Photo by Ronna |
We decided to have our breakfasts and dinners at the camper
and eat lunch out most days. By adjusting our lunch time to around 2 PM we were
able to eat at dockside restaurants every day without waiting for a table. This
time of year the Keys are a crowded place. Too many people in paradise if you
ask me and way too commercialized. We stopped at the local grocery store a few
times and every time it was like a Saturday afternoon in a major metropolitan
area. Of course US 1, the 157 mile stretch named Overseas Highway, is the only
through road between Key Largo and Key West and should there be an accident it
really can clog things up.
Fresh fish every day! We had Grouper, Yellow Tail Snapper,
Mahi-Mahi, shrimp, scallops, lobster and conch. Of course we had to have Key
Lime pie for desert most days and by the end of Ronna’s stay we were both ready
for a cheeseburger and hot fudge Sunday.
On one day we visited a wounded bird sanctuary; a small but
interesting place with a variety of hawks, owls and other Florida birds that
can no longer live in the wild. But wild pelicans were everywhere. These aren't
wounded birds that are kept in cages; these just fly in for the free pickings. It
was a bit unnerving trying to get past these large birds on the narrow
walkways but mostly we didn't have any problems. I did see one person get a too
close with his camera and the pelican got a bit aggressive with him; charging
and snapping his beak.
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| White Egret. Photo by Ronna |
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| Pelicans everywhere! |
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| More pelicans... |
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| And still more! |
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| White Egret |
A visit to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park was a day
well spent. We had planned on doing some snorkeling or a glass bottom boat tour
of the reef which is several miles off shore. But the high winds and seas had
these tours cancelled. At 69 degrees the water may have been a bit cold for snorkeling
anyway. This is an under water park, encompassing about 70 square miles and featuring
the only living coral reef in the continental United States. Besides snorkeling
and the glass bottom boat there are scuba tours, scuba / snorkel equipment
rentals along with canoe, paddle boat, kayak and power boat rentals. The
visitor’s center has a beautiful 30,000 gallon salt water tank as well as many
other smaller tanks so we were still able to view these beautiful reef fish. The
park does have camping and a beach as well.
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| Visitor's Center |
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| Beach |
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| Shot this in the old lime, avocado, mango orchard. I think few people who come to the park visit here. |
While I've been to Key West many years ago Ronna has never
been so we planned a trip to visit. There is a ferry there that will take you
out to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas (named so because there is no fresh
water to be found there). The ferry leaves Key West at 8AM but you have to be
on board by 7:30AM, and since it’s a 2-2 ½ hour drive from Key Largo we decided
it would be best to go a day early and spend the night before boarding.
It was a scenic drive down the Overseas Highway with its 7
mile bridge and getting to Key West a day early allowed us time to take the
trolley tour. Of course there was time for another dockside lunch and dinner in
the Historic Seaport District, as well as a bit of souvenir shopping. The trolley
was a great way to see most of the key and learn a bit about its history and
architecture.
More on Key West here:
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| The sunset we enjoyed while having dinner in Key West. Photo by Ronna |
The trip out to Fort Jefferson takes about 2 hours but a
continental breakfast is served and there is always coffee and water on hand.
The weather was still blowing 25-30 knots with 6-7 foot seas but the 100 foot catamaran
hulled power boat wasn’t going to stay tied up at the dock. They were advising
everyone to take Dramamine and even selling the stuff for those who didn’t think
ahead. Actually we thought the ride wasn’t all that bad. I’ve seen much worse
sailing upwind in the Caribbean and only a few people ended up feeding the
fish.
It was a beautiful 75 degree day, very sunny but breezy. The
skies were deep blue with white clouds and the water a vibrant turquoise; a
great day to tour this historic, moat surrounded fort. The boat was kept open
all the while we were there and served a cold lunch during the afternoon. The
bar opened at 2:30PM and the snack bar stayed open until docking back in Key
West.
Construction of Fort Jefferson, on Garden Key, one of the
seven isles that make up the Dry Tortugas, was started in 1846 and went on for
30 years without ever being completely finished. It’s the nation’s largest 1800’s
masonry fort and served as a Union military prison for captured deserters as
well as for 4 men convicted of complicity in Lincoln’s assassination. Dr. Mudd
was housed here, probably the most famous prisoner. Mudd was pardoned because
of the medical work he performed here when, in 1867, an outbreak of yellow
fever took many lives, including those of the resident physician and his
family. The Army abandoned the fort in 1874 and it was proclaimed a wildlife
refuge in 1908. Finally in 1992 it was re-designated at Dry Tortugas National
Park. You can actually tent camp here but have to haul in all your food, water and
be totally self-sufficient. The only way to get here is by private boat, the
ferry or float plane.
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| Entrance to fort. Note bridge over moat |
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| Inside the powder room that once was 3 floors |
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| Parade grounds with hot shot furnace in foreground |
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| View through gun port |
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| Detail of hot shot furnace. Used to heat cannon balls that would set ships ablaze |
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| Wall and moat |
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| Gun mount locations along wall |
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| View from top of wall |
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| Another view from top of wall with powder room in far background |
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| Garden Key Light built in 1876 but no longer in service |
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| Ferry |
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| Ronna poses holding imaginary bars in Mudd's cell |
There is great snorkeling / scuba here as well with green
and loggerhead turtles and ship wrecks to see. The ferry supplies snorkeling gear
for no charge but the wind had the waters pretty stirred up in the designated snorkeling
areas and visibility was poor. Still, the fort is very interesting and there is
a wide variety of sea birds to enjoy.
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| Magnificent Frigatebird (female) |
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| Black Skimmer and Royal Tern |
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| Black Skimmers on seawall |
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| Hermit crabs are everywhere on the key |
No one is sure how, but a saltwater crocodile has taken up
residence in the most around the fort. Best guess by the Park Rangers is that he
was blown in by a storm. He’s been there for a few years now and every so often
he is tranquilized and given a physical. We were lucky enough to get a glimpse
of him.
You can read much more about the park here:
We were back at the dock in Key West by 5PM and back at the
camper before 8PM. We had a great trip but I think I can check the Florida Keys
off the bucket list; unless we want to return for some snorkeling.
