If it is Solitude You Wish...come with me for a visit...

Dry Tortugas National Park
Fort Jefferson
Dry Tortugas, Florida

A bit of history:


While the red brick fort is a beautiful contrast against the blue-green water it is the water and the isolation I love.

The first recorded visitor to Garden island was Ponce de Leon in 1513. He caught 160 sea turtles and the island was called Tortugas (turtles) .  Pirates used the island for a base from which they attacked merchant ships passing from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.  In 1821 the United State purchased Dry Tortugas.

After the war of 1812 it was to become a fort of protection for the United States.  In 1846 construction began on the fort.  The officers quarters were completed in 1850.  It wasn't until 1862 the walls reached the current height of 50 feet.  Construction of the fort took 30 years.

Dry Tortugas was used as a prison for deserters and later a quarantine station.  After an outbreak of yellow fever the island was deserted by the military until 1908 when it was designated as a bird reserve under the management of the Department of Agriculture.  President Franklin Roosevelt designated it Fort Jefferson National Park.

A four hour boat trip will deliver you across the Straights of Florida from Key West to the Dry Tortugas.  The island of Cuba lies 90 miles to the north of the Tortugas.

Arched Walkway inside Courtyard

View Inside Courtyard

Moat and Walkway

Burrowing Owl

Bathing Warbler

A gift, Brain Coral Dry Tortugas Beach

This far away island would be a dream visit for me.  To go there the first of April and stay in one stay in the solider quarters.  Rise early to experience the sun rising from the eastern Atlantic and across Straights of Florida.  Swim the warm gulf waters at will and collect sea shells until I drop.

Feast on grilled, fresh grouper or red fish, or shrimp, onions, mushrooms and bell peppers.  Mango, strawberry and banana fruit cups for desert.  Gallons of iced tea and sparkling chilled water.

I envision long slow walks on the beach and around the mangrove edges of the island.  And before the dark night begins meeting up with friends to watch the blazing red sun slip beneath the gulf  at sunset.  Listening to, and loving, the silence of the night.

Dream a little while with me.    

"Nature is just enough: but men and women must comprehend and accept her suggestions."
~Antoinette Brown Blackwell~

(Side note:  If you enjoy a great mystery one set in the Dry Tortugas, I recommend "Flashback" by Nevada Barr.  I've read everything she has written to date.)