when we were in the florida keys, there was no shortage of options for aquariums, and it was hard to sift through all of the reviews and choose a good one. but, when we were at dry tortugas, one of the staff members at the bookstore gave us a coupon and recommended a place near […]
anna
dry tortugas.moat wall chronicles.
so. the second coolest reason to visit dry tortugas (aside from the snorkeling) is the epic views. anyone who follows any national park type folk on social media has seen the iconic pics of the aqua waters and the moat wall. anna and i spent a lot of time on the beach and the moat […]
dry tortugas.snorkeling.
one of the main activities for visitors of dry tortugas national park is snorkeling. the islands take up something like 1% of the actual park, the rest is marine life. the waters around fort jefferson and garden key are normal crystal clear and filled with excellent coral reefs, especially for beginners such as anna and […]
dry tortugas.fort jefferson.
most of the little island (key) we were on in “dry tortugas” was consumed by fort jefferson, built in the early/mid 1800s, the largest brick structure in the americas, and left unfinished because of worries about the ground shifting or settling, as sandy keys are wont to do. when we first arrived, it was super […]
dry tortugas.ferry, camping, miscellany.
so. pretty much the main reason we came to the florida keys was so anna and i could take a ferry out to dry tortugas national park, for a few nights of camping and exploring. we were able to snag a two night stay, thanks to a timely cancelation, and began preparations. dry tortugas is […]
de soto national memorial.
while we were at fort de soto county park on the north side of the tampa bay, we pretty much laid low. but on one particularly beautiful day, we packed up for a trip across the skyway bridge to bradenton, to check out the de soto national memorial. it made for an easy transition back […]
disney detox at fort de soto.
after our time with all of the millions of people and music and chaos and bright lights of disney, we were more than ready for a little detox. after a weekend moochdocking with my stepdad’s sister, karyn, and her family, we made our way to peaceful, tranquil fort de soto. originally, we only had a […]
disney world. day four.magic kingdom. again.
with a good night’s rest under our belts and after sort of slow morning, we arrived back at magic kingdom for our fourth and final day of disney world mania. the kids all decided on magic kingdom, so we could go on some of our favorites again (i’m looking at you aladdin’s magic carpets) and […]
disney world. day three.epcot.
whew! day three. we were pretty much dragging at this point. we got out the door around 8 or 9, rode two buses, and rolled into the park with what seemed like the entire state of florida. derek waited in the bag search line with all of our stuff, while the kids and i walked […]
disney world. day two.hollywood studios.
we got off to a decidedly slower start for day two of our disney adventures. we hopped one bus, to take us to another bus, to drop us off at hollywood studios. we stopped out front for our obligatory photo shoot, and then we were off… our first stop was “voyage of the little mermaid”. […]