Our first official National Park to visit was the Dry Tortugas on May 15, 2017.  This is a group of islands about 70 miles west of Key West.   Sue and Dave Jones joined us at Bahia Honda State Park and we drove to Key West to catch the Yankee Freedom for a 2 hour boat ride to the Park.  Once there we toured Ft. Jefferson, a 19th century military fort that was never quite finished but very impressive.  Then we had lunch on the boat and did some snorkeling off of the beach in the refreshing waters.  The snorkeling was not very impressive, just a few fish, but it was good to get into the water.  We got back to the dock at around 5:30 and had a nice dinner at Fogerty’s on the main strip in Key West.

The Yankee Freedom is the only way to get to the Dry Tortugas by boat (unless you go by private boat) or you can fly there on a sea plane.