Key West, FL

Key West is one of those locations in the US that most everyone has heard about and wants to visit. Unfortunately for us, we have been stuck in a constant thunderstorm since we entered Florida and Key West was no exception. Tropical storm Alberto fully formed over Cuba and brought even more wind and rain to the keys while we there. However, we were able to get out to do a little sightseeing and hit some of the hot spots. We were able to visit the Dry Tortugas National Park by seaplane during a rare break in the weather. The park is a small series of island 70 miles west of Key West. It is the home of Fort Jefferson, which was an old Civil War era fort protecting the shipping lanes in the area. The plane ride out gave us amazing views of Key West and the smaller keys to the west. We flew at 500 feet and saw countless sea turtles, sharks and rays in the crystal clear waters of the keys. The key draw for us at Dry Tortugas was the snorkeling, but the water was rough and cloudy, so we only had 10-20 feet of good visibility. We snorkeled for an hour before touring the fort and the rest of the island. This is one of the least visited national park in the lower 48, but I would still highly recommend it to anyone staying in the Key West area. Our second day in the Key West area was spent walking around the southernmost point of US and touring the Ernest Hemingway home. The house tour was very interesting and they gave a lot of information about "Papa" and his love for the Key West area and Cuba. Our last day out and about was spent doing a bus tour of Key West. As sadly touristy as they sound, we learned a lot about the area, their history and the landmarks around the island.