Dry Tortugas is the most remote National Park in the country. Located about 70 miles off of Key West, Florida, it is a tropical paradise and home to the historic Fort Jefferson. The Fort is made up of 16 million bricks shipped in from Pensacola and then Maine after Florida seceded from the Union and Fort Jefferson remained under Union control. 20 percent of the labor force that built the Fort were enslaved people.
The crystal clear water is home to incredible coral reefs right off of the fort wall here. I snorkeled each day I camped on the remote island and saw large jellyfish, all types of coral and a myriad of fish. It was a rainbow of colors, reds, blues, purples, pinks, yellows!
Fort Jefferson was built in the 1800s and remained under Union control during the civil war. It had the capacity to house over 500 cannons, one of the most impressive forts in the US at the time. It then became a military prison, holding a Lincoln assassination co-conspirator, Samuel Mudd, who eventually became known for his contributions to medical advancements in the fight against Yellow Fever on the island. Fort Jefferson never used its cannons and eventually became a safe haven for migrating birds and other marine life as well as visitors like me!
The views from the Fort were incredible and the water was around 70 degrees, perfect for swimming on the hot days, even in the winter!
The Fort had hundreds of these openings for cannon fire with incredible views of the moat and water.