Dry Tortugas National Park

Sarah and I visited Key West to celebrate her birthday weekend!  I won't mention her age - but she definitely looks younger than me.  While she relaxed with a nice massage on Saturday afternoon I took a seaplane adventure to Dry Tortugas National Park.  

This is one of the more remote National Parks but since it's 70 miles from Key West, I figured I just had to visit!  Amazing park and very different from most of the others.  This the 23rd National Park that I've visited (58 total).

After arriving on the seaplane, I was able to take a tour of Fort Jefferson with our pilot.

The fort was never actually used in any battle, but was used as a prison during the Civil War.

The snorkeling in the Dry Tortugas was simply amazing.  Didn't have an underwater camera though...

The above shot is an HDR image from inside Fort Jefferson.  The Fort was always a work in progress but when they realized it had virtually no strategic advantage for battle, they simply stopped building in some areas.  The unfinished brickwork made for some great shots.

On the flight back to Key West we passed a few shipwrecks in the shallow water.

This the resort we stayed at - The Casa Marina.

View Dry Tortugas Gallery

Valley Forge

Allie and I visited Valley Forge after a busy day in Philadelphia. She is now a Valley Forge Junior Ranger too!  We took the hour long CD/Auto tour of the park.  

It was wet and rainy with no blue sky - not the best conditions for photography.  But that's how it goes sometimes during my quest.  I did like the way the black and whites came out of the monuments.

We were surprised to see wildlife actually, especially this close to Philadelphia.  There was an abundance of deer in the park.