it's very early it's 5:07 am to be precise at the moment which is why it's like oh Dark
Thirty and we are going to a very very special place and this is a place that has literally
been on our travel bucket list for a long time so you're definitely going to want to
come along for this one because there's some tricks of the trade that you need to know
if you want to go which is why this took a lot of advanced planning and it's been on
the bucket list for a while because you've got to know some things before you go so we'll
be sharing about those tips later on but gotta leave here at 5 30 so we can get there by
seven to get on the boat but I'm excited for what today has two three four [Music] typical
Key West with the roosters everywhere so we're here we're in the parking garage and then
we're gonna go get on the boat to go to someplace super special but first we need to go over
a for parking and then get down seat there he is again okay that's where the boat is
but we got all of our snorkel gear I think we're booted and suited did you lock the Jeep
uh not yet all right I will here and then let's go and walk over there go to the bathroom
get on the bus yes all right are you excited Little Miss oh I can tell the excitement what
about you oh you're you look excited too
just do 12
passes we are ready to go to Dry Tortuga National Park she said that orientation starts
in five minutes so I guess we'll go have a seat and then find out what to expect but
this is gonna be a fun day how are you good thank you sir thank you dude
[Music] after we boarded the boat we were served a light breakfast and given some basic
instructions for the two hour ride to Dry Tortugas
[Music] once we could no longer see any land I know how Avid Sailors must feel being surrounded
by just the vast ocean it's both scary and amazing all at the same time
since we woke up early the final part of the boat ride was the perfect time to get in a
quick nap being rolled to sleep by the rocking of the boat on the water once the fort came
into view it was an amazing feeling knowing we reached our destination but it was also
awe-inspiring seeing this amazing structure surrounded by water in what felt like the
middle of nowhere [Music]
thank you [Music] so welcome to Fort Jefferson National Park this is one of the more remote
national parks that is part of the national park system we are 70 miles off the coast
of Florida right now so it was a two and a half hour ferry ride to get out here to Fort
Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas so if you want to go few things that you need to know and
that is you have to book well in advance and depending upon the time of the year Well
three to four months in advance in some cases I booked our particular trip about two months
in advance of when we were going to be here so I'll put a link in the description below
for the website to book the fairy that comes out here the other way to get out here would
be be a seaplane now that is about twice the cost of the ferry so with a family of four
we opted for the ferry ride instead but this is an amazing National Park and you definitely
need to put this on your bucket list especially if you're a travel family or or just somebody
that wants to be able to see all of these types of Wonders this is the third largest
sea Fort structure that's ever been built in the United States so it's definitely something
that you want to come see dates way back to the 1800s lots of cool history here but obviously
not an active Fort anymore and they did abandon construction of it just because it was a logistical
nightmare is the long story short it's very remote it's hard to get people it was hard
to get materials it was hard to get food it was hard to get all of that out here and then
of course as times evolved and Technology evolves well really didn't need it as an actual
Fort as far as being able to guard the Gulf of Mexico Waters anymore but it's a beautiful
area to come visit and there's some great snorkeling here that we're going to be checking
out here soon too so if you come you definitely want to plan on getting in the water
where'd you get there hermit crab hermit crab yeah I found it oh did you guys just let him
be put him back [Music] Joshua 2 gives us my new favorite National Park I love the amazing
snorkeling that this place has to offer we saw a lot of fish in plant life right there
see it
[Music]
as we got closer to the walls there was a lot more sea life to look at the water was
so clear and warm if you visit this National Park make sure to grab a mask fins and a snorkel
and swim around to see all of the amazing things under the water
so behind me here is a boat that actually washed ashore on to log your head key in 2007
now loggerhead key is one of the many keys or islands that make up Dry Tortugas so here
were Fort Jefferson sits this is actually considered garden key but there's a lot of
keys or islands that make up this whole particular area so this boat washed up on loggerhead
key with some Cuban immigrants that were aboard that were wanting to come to the United States
and because there was a law that was passed in the 90s that basically said if you have
one foot on dry land that you could essentially immigrate into America so Florida and the
keys and the Dry Tortugas have actually been an area where there's been a lot of Cuban
immigration because we're not that far from Cuba where we are right here in the Dry Tortugas
this is really super cool there are these staircases now there's five of them here for
Jefferson that you can go up to the top now support is very very old was built before
a lot of things like OSHA and those types of things so it's one of those things where
you've got to be careful there are no guard rails there is really nothing to protect you
from your own stupidity if that's what you choose to call it so you can come up here
and oh my gosh the views amazing foreign
[Music] I went to the bakery which is in one of the um bastions over there I did some of
my junior ranger book and one of the parts it's like a letter it says imagine yourself
stationed at Fort Jefferson in 1864 how would you describe life at the fort one of the things
I looked over there and it said one of the prisoners which is actually um Lincoln's assassin
who was here he said the bread was a mixture of flower bugs sticks and dirt so yeah and
then I was listening a little bit to the guided tour because they were over there by the chimney
thing and they said that they would shoot red hot cannonballs out of that thing and
try to skip them across the water because they're so hot that it would boil and they
can bounce on a cloud of steam the whole way and they don't want to they only had like
half a thing of powder so that they would stick it in the middle of the boats like where
the gunpowder in the boats were so then they could just blow up the boats basically instead
of shooting The Cannonball through the boats they make it get stuck in the middle so that
it blows it up that's interesting cool so lunch is part of the ferry out here so we've
got lunch we can take out on the island it's just and we'll get some chips and just have
a nice picnic lunch after spending about four hours of exploring the fort and snorkeling
it was time to head back to Key West it was an amazing Sunset Cruise and they promised
to have us back in time to enjoy Key West evening festivities
[Music]
but it's cool
[Music] too bad we couldn't I couldn't keep any of the conch shells that I found I know
they were everyone and then I grabbed it and it was like a weight I know they're beautiful
yeah they were they're with you I really wanted to take them but it's a national parks here
not allowed to yeah so we entered a raffle which is basically in on the dry Tortuga oh
there's much we do indeed have a winner today [Applause]
or underwater cameras you can get a hat you can have a shirt a fluffy towel whatever makes
you happy go ahead and pick it out and that is yours we got the winning number so I got
a dry Tortuga turn around let me see oh what does it say oh that's so cool I love it sweet
they'll keep you from getting sunburned too it's a nice long swim shirt yeah love it looks
good on you
so the boat got back about 5 30 so we decided to come down into Key West because we love
this place and there's two places in particular that we really always want to go to when we
come here number one Ron Jon Surf Shop so first stop and then permit's key lime pie
cause we got the best quinoa and fire but first watch off
you looking for another shirt you just got a shirt this is the Clarence Rack you're always
looking it's actually not bad yeah actually what's that surfing thing
if you're trying to smooth you out of another shirt she is she really got a shirt and she
wants another one but you know it's Ron Jon so yeah I can't blame her I'm gonna get this
shirt okay oh I love it Florida all right let's go check it out let's go check out and
then get our key land pack so stop
stop Kermit's key lime right here here we go let's go let's get some key lime pie yeah
bye
all right you can get some candy this sugar food candy will last me a lifetime really
lifetime okay what is it five five right here so Tim and Melinda with faith family and a
fifth wheel have been super gracious with letting Alaska out today while we've been
out so I wanted to get them some coffee we're gonna stop in at Cuban Queen and I'm gonna
bring back a bag of coffee it's just a thanks for helping out with the dog
[Music] thank you [Music] ready for this yeah nice you guys are silly look at the sign behind
you what this is my happy face foreign [Music] from Dry Tortugas National Park and of course
I'm exhausted but it was a really fun day we snorkeled explored the fort and we got
to learn some information about the fort as well and we had four hours of Long Boat Ride
two hours there two hours back and then we hung out in Key West for a little bit and
they had a lot of fun oh my I think if they gave an award for the messiest campsite we
would totally win that one this morning yes my gosh look at this and I actually have already
put away a couple of things
or no we had an eventful time here we did it was a fiesta oh my gosh it was the best
and I'm glad that we have all of this because that meant we had extra for friends so that's
always fun when you can bring friends along but now today is travel day we have to be
checked out in a couple hours if we have all of this nail biter what's gonna happen are
we gonna make it [Music]
can we come back to the Florida Keys
[Music] [Applause]
foreign
[Music]
you can't sit there you can't sit there come on move okay so our time here in the Keys
has sadly come to an end something that we took away from this week that we highly recommend
for everybody is travel in community so we actually shared with our insiders where we
were going to be and we had some insiders join us here in the keys so if you'd like
to become a grapefruit lamper Insider I'll have a link in the description below we do
share where we're going trip plans things like that because we would love to hang out
with more of you guys
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