Dry Tortugas National Park, Key Largo, the Coral Reef

View from the Fort; color variation is about water depth

While we were staying in Key West, which I freely admit right now, I was sorry to leave, we took a day trip to Dry Tortuga National Park. It's about 70 miles out to sea, and it takes about two and a half hours to get there on a boat run by the National Park Service. It's called Dry because there is no
source of fresh water there (and not much shade either, I would add), and Tortuga means turtle, and I
guess there were a lot of sea turtles there at the time. Almost the entire island is covered by a fort,
which was  put there to protect the shipping lane, and it was a Union fortress during the Civil War. It also served as a prison during that time, and boy it's easy to see how that worked,  because you'd have a heck of a time getting way.

One of the things that is great about touring a place like this is that the Park Rangers give you a lot of detail. It's easy enough to notice that it pretty hot there--and we were there in January -- but when you start hearing about the place, you can see why it might be a place they would send someone to do life at hard labor. You really feel for the Union soldiers, too. For instance, the only way to fire a cannon ball was to put the cannon ball into a blast furnace, and take it out with tongs, and hold it away from your hot self, and run like hell (it was really heavy and red-hot) to whichever cannon was ready. Then do it again. In a WOOL SUIT. With no fresh water.

This is the place that Dr. Mudd, whose first name I can't remember--but I'm sure it wasn't Roger--the
doctor who treated the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth (which he broke by falling off the balcony
after shooting Our Man Abe) was taken to serve a life sentence for his crime. He was chained with leg irons to a brick wall.

The mosquito problem there was really bad, partly because when they originally built the moat around the fort, they made the walls of the moat just slightly too high for the tide to come in and replace the water. In addition to the stagnant water, the fact that the water didn't get replaced was further complicated by the fact that this moat was their only sewer plan. So you can see you've got a mosquito situation. Someone arrived who had Yellow Fever, and of course the mosquitoes bit that guy and then bit everyone else. Pretty soon they had a raging epidemic, and they needed Dr. Mudd in the worst way. They let him out of his leg irons and he saved the lives of many of the men there. Eventually I think he got a commuted sentence. I forgot to ask the Ranger if this guy is the source of the phrase "your name will be mud," but if he is, it doesn't seem fair.

Inside the fort

One of the other parts of our day excursion was the opportunity to go snorkeling. The water was
fabulous, and we did see some nice fish, but the whole thing was rather embarrassing. First of all I
kept getting afraid I'd get way out there and forget the rhythm of clamping my teeth onto the tube and breathing into the tube without using my nose or opening my mouth; and then when I was in the shallows I found it impossible to walk with the flippers on, and kept almost falling down. I miss my friends and family, but I have to admit I'm glad none of you were witness to this display. Although you would have had a good time, I'm sure!

Since we left Key West, we have spent three days in Key Largo. These have been mostly spent riding
our bikes around looking for a town (there isn't one), and doing bike and trailer maintenance, laundry, grocery shopping, and so on. Bob is a great person to travel with in this way, much like he is at
home, because he just sees that something needs to be done to a bike or the trailer, and just sets about
doing it.

At John Pennekamp State Park

The highlight from our Key Largo time is that there is a state park here that is mostly underwater, and includes one of the worldbiggest coral reefs. Yesterday we went out in a glass bottom boat run by the park, that takes you out about forty five minutes away--but still inside the park-- so that you can look at the reef through the floor. It was really cool! It was pretty impossible to take any kind of picture, but this will give you some kind of idea, and maybe if you enlarge the picture on your computer or phone you might see something.

Today we are off for a few days at the Everglades. I'm looking forward to it, but also dreading it a bit. In addition to the part time job of trying not to get sunburned, the mosquitoes love me. We didn't have problems in Key West, but in the last few days I've gotten a lot of bites. And the Everglades is a SWAMP, for goodness sake.  I'll keep you posted.