Today I visited Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park. It is located on an island named Garden Key, about 70 miles west of Key West. In order to get there, I had to get onboard the Yankee Freedom III.
The fort has six sides, surrounded by a moat, which separates it either from the rest of Garden Key or from the Gulf of Mexico. The only way into the fort was this bridge leading to a gateway in one of the walls. Here are some visitors crossing the bridge, which I did shortly afterwards.
While on the bridge, I took this shot of the outer wall and the adjacent part of the moat.
Once inside, I took this pic of part of the inner wall. The sign warns about "loose bricks". If you look at the second level, you can see where some bricks have gotten loose.
This cell was once occupied by Dr. Samuel Mudd, one of four men convicted of being involved in the conspiracy to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln to be sent to Fort Jefferson. In his case, Dr. Mudd was sentenced to life prison for setting the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, who had escaped after shooting Lincoln. Dr. Mudd later was officially pardoned after fighting an outbreak of yellow fever. (No, the insult "your name is mud" has nothing to do with him. However, my spellchecker rejects his last name.)
Here's another section of the fort's inner wall.
As you can see, there are no safety barriers in the holes in the fort's walls. We were free to explore, but did so at our own risk. I ascended a spiral staircase to the second level and took a look out. Beyond the moat is Bush Key, which is connected to Garden Key, at least during low tide.
Due to the number of pictures I took, the rest of them will be in Part 2. See youz soon.
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