Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson

When planning to make our first trip to Key West over Thanksgiving to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, one of the main things we wanted to do was make the trip to the Dry Tortugas. These are a chain of islands near the confluence of the Gulf and the Atlantic located 70 miles west of Key West, and is the site of a very large fort that is now a national park. That is how we came to be in Key West checking in to board the Yankee Freedom at 7:00 on Thanksgiving morning.

If you ever wish to make this trip, we can highly recommend the crew of the Yankee Freedom. It is a 2 hour trip to the park, and the crew does their best to make it an enjoyable trip. The boat is an enclosed catamaran, and they serve breakfast on the way out. There is also a naturalist aboard who provides commentary along the way and provides an optional tour of the fort. While you can stay inside the cabin the entire trip if you wish, you are also welcome to sit topside (partially covered) or walk out to the front of the boat during the ride.

Once you reach Fort Jefferson, you are welcome to take the guided tour or to explore the fort on your own. You can also snorkel (equipment provided), or explore the perimeter. Lunch is provided on the boat, and the boat also provides the only restroom facilities as there are none for guests on the island. You arrive at the fort around 10:00 a.m., and leave for the return trip at 3:00, arriving back in Key West about 5:00 p.m. It's a very full day, but very much worth the trip.

Fort Jefferson itself is very interesting. I won't bore you with all the details here, but essentially it is one of the largest masonry forts in existence, with the bricks being shipped in from 3 different parts of the country (as is evident during the tour). It was built to protect the valuable shipping lanes there, and construction took place between 1846-1875. It remained a Union holding during the Civil War, and was used to house prisoners during that time. The fort was never 100% completed, and experienced numerous challenges during the time it was used. There was never a war-time shot fired from the fort's canons. One of the most famous prisoners to be held there was Dr. Samuel Mudd, the doctor who set the leg of John Wilkes Booth after he shot President Lincoln.

The water was a bit chilly the day we visited, but we still managed to snorkel for about 45 minutes by the fort's moat wall. The water was very clear, and while the coral was not nearly as colorful as we expected, it was still very interesting. There were also some very interesting specimens of shells, coral, and sea weeds on the shore lines, but the entire area is designated as "no take". In other words, you are not allowed to take ANYTHING from the property, including shells. Of course, that's also part of the charm of the beach area.

Just as we were leaving for the return trip, we were given the treat of seeing a very small island that is apparently the only breeding ground north of the Caribbean islands for a particular type of bird known as the Masked Booby. We saw several in flight, causing the naturalist on board to point out that it is not everyday that you are able to see flying Boobies. : ) Pictures of the birds and island are below.

This was a much anticipated trip for us. The day began very overcast and chilly, but turned out to be almost perfect weather until we had already started back. A very worthwhile day!


The fort appears in the distance. The Loggerhead Key lighthouse is also seen on the right.

Getting closer to the fort.

A better view of the lighthouse on Loggerhead Key near Fort Jefferson.

The Yankee Freedom II at the dock at Fort Jefferson.

Mary seems to be thinking "I know this is a no-take area, but surely that doesn't apply to this conch shell" : ) Note: she did the right thing and left it there.

A starfish in the water near the dock.

Part of the fort as seen from inside the walls.

The small island where the Masked Booby birds were nesting.

Boobies in flight.

Shipyard Island Canoe Trail

On 11/21, we spent the morning exploring the Shipyard Island Canoe Trail at Mosquito Lagoon. We launched from the boat ramp just inside the north entrance to the Canaveral National Seashore (you are allowed to drop off canoes and kayaks to launch there, but you must then park your vehicle across the street before launching). This is a convenient launch site, as you are directly across the river from the entrance to the canoe trail.

This is an interesting trail, and an especially great place to paddle in salt water. Once you cross Mosquito Lagoon from the boat ramp, you will be paddling in canals throughout Shipyard Island that motor boats are unable to reach. The trail is very shallow in many places - we even ran the canoe aground once. It's almost as if you have gone back in time on parts of the trail. We saw many species of birds this day, in particular several woodpeckers. We also observed from a distance something in the water in one of the canals, but could not catch up to determine if they were otters, manatee, or something else. Once back in the lagoon on the way to take out, we also passed several dolphin that were fairly close.

Once securing the canoe, we explored the Turtle Mound for the first time. This is a Timacuan Indian Mound, and the park has built a walkway to the top of the mound (the last picture below was taken from here). There is a nice view from the top of the mound, and we saw several varieties of butterflies from the walkway.

We also hiked the short trail to the Eldora Statehouse, and then walked on the beach for an hour or so. All in all another great day in Central Florida!


View from the canoe on one of the many canals making up the canoe trail.

Woodpeckers - taken from a long distance and cropped, so not very clear.

View from the Turtle Mound of Shipyard Island - you can barely make out the entrance to the trail in the middle of the shore line marked by 2 white poles.

Turtle Beach at Siesta Key (Sarasota area)

The weather promised to be almost perfect today (11/15), and we took full advantage to spend a day at the beach. Although it takes a bit longer to get there, we much prefer the Gulf Coast beaches. We have been wanting to visit the Siesta Key beaches since Siesta Beach was named the Number One Beach in America earlier this year.

We decided to begin the day at Turtle Beach, which is on the south end of Siesta Key. We had heard that the shelling there is excellent. There is a decent parking area, along with rest rooms and covered picnic areas. From the parking area, there are several access points to the beach, so you won't have to walk far from any point in the lot. Walking south, there are a few condominiums and private homes along the shore. The sand here is brown, course, and very soft, making it a bit difficult to walk on. Once you near the end of the county owned area and enter the section known as Palmer Point Beach, the beach becomes much more secluded, with very nice private homes scattered along the shore (mostly back from the beach). Toward the end of Palmer Point, the houses get a bit closer to the road, but it is still very nice and we saw only a handful of people on this stretch. We took our time, walked to the end from the parking area, and it took almost 3 hours. As far as shells, they were plentiful. They are mostly common varieties and on the smaller side, but we did find a few interesting ones to bring home for our collection.

After lunch we decided to check out Siesta Public Beach. It was easy to see why it is so popular. The sand here is pure white, and as fine as sugar. It also one of the widest beaches we have ever seen. So wide that it was quite a hike to the water, and very crowded even this time of year. It has many amenities, including picnic areas (some covered), food concessions, rest rooms, volleyball nets, etc. We have heard that it is not unusual for there to be 15,000 people there on a typical weekend. As nice as the beach looked, we opted to return to Turtle Beach for the rest of the afternoon, because we just wanted to sit and enjoy the day and it was much less crowded there today.

Siesta Key is easy to find from the Orlando area, and is about a 2 1/2 hour drive. Simply take I-4 to Tampa, and go south on I-75. Take exit 205, and go west on Highway 72 (Clark Road becomes Stickney Point Road). Go about 8 miles to Midnight Pass Road. Turn left (south) and drive about 2 1/2 miles to reach Turtle Beach. Turn right (north) to reach Siesta Public Beach.


Mary took some great photos today - here is a sampling:

"me and my shadow . ."

Needless to say, there were a few birds around today.

we see a lot of herons, but rarely on the beach

Bird dives for a fish . . . .

. . . . and he gets one

Now that had to hurt - yes, this lady has an entire tree tattooed on her back

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park - Gainesville

Sunday (11/8) was a beautiful day for hiking, and we spent the day at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville. We recently learned of the preserve, and were looking forward to seeing a wide variety of wildlife during the hike. We started the day at the Visitor's Center. The center itself is a very interesting design, and is staffed and well done. A short walk from the center is a 50-foot high observation tower. Although we did not see much this particular morning, it provided a great view. We were told that at times the bison and / or horses will come close enough to get a good look.

There are numerous trails throughout the park, several of which allow pets, bicycles, and / or horses. We randomly chose the Jackson's Gap trail to walk first. This was a nice hike through shady hammock and pine flatwoods. It was a short hike of only about 2.5 - 3 miles round trip from the visitor's center parking area. We then drove to the Lake Wauberg area, had our picnic lunch, and took the short walk to the boardwalk over Sawgrass Pond. Here we spent an incredible hour or so amazed at the amount of wildlife in such a relatively small spot. We observed 3 grown alligators, a group of about 10 alligator hatchlings, several snakes, turtles, multiple water birds, and more. You also have a nice view here of the University of Florida facilities across Lake Wauberg, and this day there was several sailboats and canoes on the lake. The park has a boat ramp for non-motorized boats only. Most of the pictured below were taken from the boardwalk. This area alone was worth the trip.

We has also heard from other park visitors that we should visit the La Chua Trail, which required leaving the park and driving about 11 miles in toward Gainesville (the visitor's center provides excellent printed directions). This 3 mile round-trip trail takes you past the Alachua Sink and to the center of the prairie marsh. There were more gators than you could easily count, many of which were as large as we have seen anywhere. At the end of the trail, there is an observation platform at the end of the trail providing a nice panoramic view of the basin. Here we saw many birds, as well as a long distance glimpse of some of the wild horses. There were also this day many beautiful wild flowers in bloom across the prairie.

All in all, another great day at one of Florida's many excellent state parks. Admission is now $6 per vehicle, but there was no charge to park at the La Chua Trail area. Also, we found nearby the trail head for a 16 mile paved bike trail, the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, that we look forward to trying very soon. More information available at http://www.floridastateparks.org/ and http://www.prairiefriends.org/.

Alligator hatchlings

Osprey taking off with a snack.

Anhinga

Gator hatchling swims under the watchful eye of a parent

Look closely - this snake obviously ate recently

Gives me the shivers, but pretty colors.

Double crested cormorant

Historic Micanopy, FL

Mary and I traveled to Micanopy, FL on Sunday (11/1/09). Honestly, we had never heard of this town until a few weeks ago when we saw that one of Steve Rajtar's historic walking tours would be held there on 11/1, and that there would also be a craft festival in town the same day. It sounded interesting, and we're glad that we took the chance to go.

Micanopy is a very sleepy and quaint town, and is the oldest continuously settled "inland" town in Florida. It is a small town (pop. ~653) , most of which is listed on the National Register since 1983. After taking the one and a half hour walking tour with Steve - about 3 miles round trip - we spent several hours visiting the booths set up for the fair, several of the stores in town, and the museum in the old Thrasher General Store building. There are several antique stores, at least 2 used book stores, a few restaurants, and stores selling arts, crafts, and collectibles. It is also home to the Herlong Mansion, which is a popular bed and breakfast that is also on the National Register. Micanopy also boasts that 2 movies have been shot in the town - Doc Hollywood and Cross Creek.

After leaving the main part of town, we drove out past the old cemetery that we passed during the walking tour. Here we stopped and spent another few hours. Mary and I both enjoy walking through old cemeteries, and the earliest recorded burial here was in 1826. It continues to be used today.

We plan to return for the day sometime soon when there is not a festival happening to get a better feel for the town and to visit more of the stores and sites. We also plan to visit the Paynes Prairie State Preserve at the same time, which is located in the same general area. This is well worth the trip if you are either a history buff or just want to browse the antique and collectible shops.

One of the fine old homes in town. You will find a wide variety of architectural styles here.

Old commercial building now housing an antique store.

The gate and fence fronting a former estate in town - the previous homes have since burned. Built from bricks used as ballast in old sailing ships.

The former Baptist church - now used as apartments.

Stewart-Merry house. Has been expanded several times, but the base structure is the oldest existing home in town.