- 113.9 miles
- 10 hours 23 minutes
- 11 mph average speed
- 7 – 15 mph winds
We had originally planned to anchor at Shark River on the way to Key West but weather delayed us in Marco Island for two additional days so we decided to make the full run to Key West. Steve and Kevin took turns at the helm and everyone was on crab pot spotting duty which was quite a job.
It was a long day with mostly pleasant conditions and we were all happy to finally be settled safely in Key West.
Stock Island Marina is lovely! It has 288 slips, The Perry Hotel, three restaurants, two heated swimming pools, very nice bath houses and laundry facilities, fuel, weekly pump outs and much more. They also have a free shuttle to Key West, Higgs Beach and Publix which we took full advantage of during our stay.
Darci and Steve would only have one full day in Key West before they had to leave so we spent the day walking around and visited the Hemingway House. The Hemingway House was built. in 1851 and was home to Ernest and Pauline in the 1930’s and where he wrote several books and short stories. It is now home to about 60 cats, many of whom are polydactyl (six toes on each paw).
We had a lovely farewell dinner for Darci and Steve at the Grand Cafe on Duval Street.
Higgs Beach is a nice bike ride from the marina and the shuttle also stops there. It is a nice beach and also has a great restaurant, Salute!, where we ate a few times.
Fort West Martello, a Civil War fort built in 1862 and also used during the Spanish American War as well as World Wars I and II, the Cold War and the Cuban Missle Crisis, is next to the beach and maintained by the Key West Garden Club with beautiful plants and trees filling the remains of the fort.
Our second week in Key West was very special in that Ellen’s daughter, Lauren, son in law, Michael and grandson, Luke, came to visit and celebrated Luke’s 1st birthday on the boat.
We enjoyed touring Fort Zachary Taylor and the rest of the state park which included “Key West’s Best Beach”. We went back to the beach the next day with a picnic lunch and Ellen and Michael snorkeled just off the beach.
One thing we really wanted to do while we were in Key West was visit the Dry Tortugas National Park but, to our dismay, we learned that the ferry was sold out through March. As Lauren and Michael had decided that the trip might be too much for Baby Luke, Kevin and I planned to try to get on standby after they left. We left the marina around 5:30AM to wait until 8:00 to see if we could get on the ferry. As luck would have it, they only allowed two additional guests and, since we were the first ones there that morning, we were able to board the ferry. We could not have been more excited! It was about a two hour ride to the Dry Tortugas with about 4.5 hours of exploring time before the trip back. The whole trip was very well run, the staff was amazing and we had beautiful weather for our excursion. Once we got to the park, we went on a guided tour of the amazing fort, had a picnic lunch and snorkeled around the outside of the fort’s moat.
The Dry Tortugas National Park is 100 square miles of water and islands, one of which is home to Fort Jefferson which is the third largest fort in the US. Ponce de Leon discovered the area in 1513 and named it Los Tortugas after all the turtles in the surrounding waters. The name was later changed in the 1700’s to Dry Tortugas to indicate to mariners that there was no fresh water. The largest barrier reef in North America stretches form Biscayne Bay (just south of Miami) to the Dry Tortugas. Construction of Fort Jefferson using 16 million handmade bricks began in 1846 but was never actually completed. The plans were to build it to hold 420 cannon and 2,000 people able to sustain themselves for up to a year if they were attacked although the fort never saw angry fire.
The fort was used as a prison during the Civil War and its most famous prisoner was a man named Dr. Samuel Mudd. Dr. Mudd was sentenced to life in prison for being a coconspirator in the assassination of President Lincoln. After having shot Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth’s leg was fractured during his escape from Ford Theater. He subsequently ended up at Dr. Mudd’s home where Mudd set the injured leg. During Mudd’s imprisonment there was an outbreak of Yellow Fever. The prison doctor succumbed to the illness and Mudd ended up taking over caring for the sick prisoners and staff as well as trying to find out how the disease was being spread. Thanks to a petition by the soldiers in the prison, Mudd ended up being pardoned by President Johnson after serving only 4 years but the stigma of his crime remained. Legend has it that this is where the phrase “Your name is Mudd” originated.
Summarizing our time in Key West would not be complete if we did not mention the CHICKENS! They can be spotted, and heard, everywhere in Key West!
Kevin’s daughter and son in law, Emma and Andrew, were very creative at Christmas and gave us a gift certificate to a wonderful restaurant in Key West, Azur. We had a delicious meal there our last night. in Key West.
