KEY WEST - LAST DAY - 7/28/14

Today is the last day of my two week adventure in Key West.  It has been a wonderful trip with great memories made.  There is one more place, B.O.'s Fish Wagon, that I want to eat lunch at and a little more last minute shopping before the day is up.  The flight home tomorrow is a long one, but I can say I am looking forward to being home.  I have never stayed in one place on vacation, for this long, before.  It actually was a little too long, perhaps.  I think 7-10 days would have been perfect.  I miss my little dogs and I miss not feeling sticky all of the time.....I think Stefani has several painting jobs lined up for us, plus we have to finish Tanner's new house, so it will be back to work as soon as I return.  

Yesterday was not quite as humid as the past few days have been.  We did the Duval Crawl and some shopping.  As usual, Kristi and I laughed until we cried.  Tanner chimed in with his usual smart remarks.  It was so much fun.  I do think that KW would be a great location for my 60th bash.  My birthday is in February of 2017.  I can't come during that time because of work, so the trip will be either the middle of June or after testing in July 2017.  Key West is easy to get to.  You can fly into Ft. Lauderdale or Tampa via Southwest, United, or American and then you take Silver Airways to KW.  If you fly United, your bag is checked straight through....not sure about SWA or American.

I will get a list of hotel options together, so everyone could be close together, but, also, be on their own at the same time.  KW is great for all interests....calm or otherwise.  I hope many of my friends and family can make it!

Until then.....24 more hours of island time.......

JULY 24 & 25, 2014

Tanner's birthday, skydiving, and Dry Tortugas NP

This wonderful trip was planned around Tanner's 40th birthday.  For his birthday, his friends Carl and Jaime gave him a skydiving jump as a birthday present.  On his birthday, the 3 of them did a jump. Kristi and I opted out and were able to get some shots from the ground.  These are tandem jumps. The instructors are also outfitted with GO

 Then, it was Carl and Jaime's turn.  Carl jumped first followed by Jaime.

 After a little bit of a reprieve from the heat and humidity that greeted Kristi and I when we first arrived, Thursday was a hot and humid nightmare.  We were pretty wiped out.  We spent the evening at home.  Tanner and Carl cooked the rest of the fish that Tanner had caught when he went deep sea fishing at the beginning of the trip.

THE DRY TORTUGAS

The Dry Tortugas are a group of small islands located about 67 miles west of Key West.  These islands were named Tortugas by the Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon, during his first visit in1513.  His men took about 170 sea turtles off of the islands during this visit.  The word dry was later added because there are no natural spring...meaning no fresh water.  The construction of Fort Jefferson on Garden Key began in 1846.  It was intended to be an advance post for the defense of the waters of the Gulf Coast.  It was in active use as a fort and a prison from 1860-1930.  In 1865, four special prisoners arrived.  Dr. Samuel Mudd, Edward Spangler, Samuel Arnold, and Michael O'Laughlen had all been convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  In 1888 the military turned the fort over to the Marine Hospital Service to be used as a quarantine station.  Today, it is a National Park and a beautiful tourist attraction.  It is remote and there are no services, but you can camp there overnight.  You must take everything with you and pack it back out.  We snorkeled, explored the fort and relaxed at the beach.  The Yankee Freedom Ferry provided us with a wonderful on board lunch.  I would highly recommend this day long excursion for visitors to the area.  

We boarded the Yankee Freedom at 7:30 am and departed for the 2.5 hour ride at 8:00.  We were provided a breakfast and a beautiful, scenic ride.  We did see a few sea turtles.  We did not see any whales.  I asked about this and was told that the waters are too shallow for whales in most of the area. I could actually see the bottom of the sea in many areas.  There are a few shots of sea turtles, but they are not very good....

GARDEN KEY, FORT JEFFERSON 

IN DRY TORTUGAS NATIONAL PARK