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"We are growing serious and, let me tell you, that's the very next step to being dull." -- Addison

287--Florida: Ft. Jefferson--16 million bricks @ CherieSpotting     Apr 15 2005 - 10:20 PST cherie writes: Rennie, Anne, Greg and I just sailed to the most difficult National Park to get to in the USA. Why is it so hard to get to the Dry Tortugas National Park? There are no roads and it’s too far to swim! Garden Key (one of the Dry Tortugas) houses one of America’s most pristine living reefs and America’s largest coastal fort. Construction of Fort Jefferson began in 1846 and was never completed. Now Fort Jefferson is a brick relic, made obsolete by the invention of the rifled cannon. But in its day, the fort’s cannon’s could hurl shot 3 miles out to sea. Fort Jefferson is located on Garden Key, 70 miles west of Key West. Seven islands make up the Dry Tortugas, which Ponce de Leon discovered and named in 1513 (because of abundance of sea turtles in the area.) Since then, the islands have been a haven for pirates and drug runners, and an inspiration for writers like Ernest Hemmingway and Cherie Sogsti (ha ha!) The most famous prisoner on the Garden Key was Dr. Samuel Mudd, during the Civil War. Click on each picture to see it full size. read comments (0) | write comment| views: 4402    | rated: 0.0    printer-friendly version   Cherie with a few of the 16-million bricks that hold Ft. Jefferson together. That's a big old rusty anchor. The Dry Tortugas National Park. The lighthouse at Ft. Jefferson. There's been canons here. Those are canon tracks. 19th century air-conditioning? The brick arches seem to go on forever. The view from a fort window. This must be where all the cool birds hang out. The lonely pelican. Who was the contractor on this fort anyway? Greg rides the canon bareback. Scirocco in the anchorage. Rennie and Anne. Those two boats arrived on American soil full of Cuban refugees. How would you like to travel 90 miles in that boat? She may not look sea-worthy, but she (and her 19 occupants) survived the 90 mile journey from Cuba. Cherie by the Cuban boat. Those rooms in the fort may be spacious, but they don't have much privacy. That "magazine" is not the kind that you read. Watch out for peep-holes. I guess soldiers had to get their kicks somehow. Fort Jefferson is a fort with a view. Is Fort Jefferson ready for the next hurricane? Greg wonders: what is that building for? Rennie loves forts. This looks like a good place to play hide-and-seek. You're it. In the old days, those canons could hurt shot 3-miles out to sea. Rennie and Anne. The beach. The lonely snorkeler. Fragments of fort washed ashore. On look-out. 16-million bricks can't be wrong. Baja Ha-ha veterans Brian, Lisa, Rennie, Anne, Cherie and Greg reunite at Ft. Jefferson! Ft. Jefferson. As the fort crumbles, flowers bloom. Look up in the sky...it's a bird! It's a plane! It's Super Cherie! Swirls of algae float like a sea of underwater spirals. Now that's a fort with a view! Sunset in the Dry Tortugas.