Wow. Wow. Wow. The Dry Tortugas. I hardly put the camera down, which makes life a little tough the next couple of days, but so so worth it. This place, completely disconnected from all technology (thank goodness) is one of the most naturally beautiful places we have ever been, not to mention that the fort itself is an amazing structure, built almost entirely from brick hauled from New York, and drenched in very interesting history.

Breakfast was prepared for us on the boat ride out, and Dramamine is sold for a dollar a dose (some folks, actually a lot of folks were wishing they had spent that dollar wisely before boarding the boat). Because the ride out was abnormally rough, we were dodging victims of sickness the entire ride. “Take cover! Duck” Poor folks. Thankfully, we were perfectly fine on a moving vessel, so we enjoyed the morning.

We arrived on the island around 10:30AM, after a 2.5 hour boat ride (on the most beautiful blue water we’ve ever seen). Lunch was available between 11:00AM-1:00PM. An hour-long fort tour was available upon arrival and of course, self-exploration of the entire island is perfectly fine. If you’d like to snorkel, you have the entire island to do so. I tried the snorkeling toward the end of our stay, but found that the water was choppy- making visibility less than prime, plus, I noticed there was a 4.5-5 ft. barracuda patrolling the area near where I was swimming. Good thing I am extremely intimidating.

After taking several hundred photos and plenty of footage, it was time to board the boat for a departure at 3:00PM back to Key West. We were pretty sure we heard crew members saying they had sold all of the Dramamine, so needless to say, the ride back to Key West was much less eventful and much more sleepy- especially for Ant and I who made a cheers for the official day one of this awesome experience with a couple of Coronas on the boat ride back. Cheers indeed to an awesome day one!