soooo. biscayne national park is pretty much mostly underwater. we did some research to try to figure out the best way for our family to experience the park, given our varying degrees of swimming abilities, adventurousness, curiosity, and enthusiasm. we settled on a boat ride out to one of the keys, where there was a […]
national parks
big cypress national preserve.
originally, i had absolutely no desire to drive the 1:40 over to the northwest corner of the everglades and into big cypress national preserve. i figured it was likely more of the same, but probably a bit more wildernessy. but, when we got our ranger books for the everglades, we realized if they did activities […]
everglades. anhinga trail and miscellaneous.
our campground in everglades was sort of in the middle-ish of the park, at a no hookup site in long pine key campground. thankfully the power of the sun helped us to not have to run our generator too much, but the extreme heat and mugginess sometimes necessitated a bit of air conditioning and generators […]
everglades.flamingo & pontoons.
our second day in the everglades took us down to the southside of the park to pretty much the southernmost tip of the florida peninsula (not counting the keys and their claim to that famous location). the flamingo visitor center was closed, due to some extensive damage by hurricane irma, but there was a makeshift […]
everglades. shark valley airboats and trams.
after the sunshiny, beachy, florida keys, we stopped at the muggy, buggy florida everglades for a bit of exploring and learning. i won’t lie, i wasn’t super excited about this park, but it ended up being pretty interesting. our first adventure was to head to the north side of the park, for an airboat ride […]
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 […]