Dry Tortugas, FL

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We boarded the Florida Fish Finder on Tuesday evening, which is a Fishing Boat converted into a tour boat that would take us to the Dry Tortugas.

The Dry Tortugas is National Park located almost 70 miles west of Key West in a group of seven islands formed by coral reefs and sand.  The area is mostly know for it’s incredible marine life and bird migrations… hence, why I was accompanying a group of about 30 birders out to the middle of now where.

Loggerhead Key, Dry Tortugas, Florida

The main island, Garden Key, is where Fort Jefferson was built. This awesome fort is the largest all-masonry fort in the United States, built between 1846 and 1875 to protect the nation's gateway to the Gulf of Mexico.

The boat was scheduled to depart on Wednesday morning. We spent the night on the boat, in our cozy bunking accommodations. We had an awesome group of people on the tour, including Greg Miller (who’s true story inspired The Big Year movie with Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson), Adrian Binns (Photographer and Guide for the Wildside Nature Tours), and James Currie (TV host for Birding Adventures TV Show on NBC). Fantastic group of people and lots of good laughs!

Click here to check out this awesome bird video from the trip that James Currie put together.

We spent Wednesday thru Friday out at sea, swaying back and forth, and going to both Loggerhead and Garden Key to explore the fort, go snorkeling, and of course… spot some special birds.

Some highlights of the trip include, walking around the moat of the fort, seeing a barracuda while snorkeling, watching the Antillean Night Hawk and drafting a script for a horror movie that takes place in the “haunted” Fort Jefferson.  Did you know, the fort served as a prison facility, and Dr. Samuel Mudd who was convicted for the assassination of President Lincoln stayed there? The reason why the fort was shut down is because everyone started dying due to Yellow Fever.

White Sand on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas, Florida

Since this was my FIRST National Park on my Yoventure Road Trip, I bought a National Park Passport that I can stamp as I drive across the country.

Next stop… more goodbyes in NYC.