On a recent Key West adventure, I rode the ferry to Dry Tortugas National Park (70 miles offshore from Key West, FL) where many people took advantage of the secluded beaches and beautiful crystalline turquoise and blue waters for swimming and snorkeling. Only two ferries arrive here daily and most people are day trippers like myself. Amazing place. Fort Jefferson has a very interesting backstory - for instance, it is the second largest masonry project in the world after the Great Wall of China - Yankee Stadium would comfortably fit inside. It has a moat that was supposed to function as the toilet...but that didn't quite work out the way the soldiers expected. And the third largest coral reef in the world is offshore. "Tortugas" means turtles because this island was a sea turtle nesting haven before the Union decided to start building a fort here in the mid-19th century to assert America's dominance over these waters. . .and "Dry" was added later by the sailors and traders who traveled this passage as a warning that there is no fresh water on the island.

Take a good look at the beauty. If that oil spill reaches this far outreach, it will devastate this place. I pray that doesn't happen. We need such sacred natural spaces for the rejuvenation of the spirit.

Visit the National Park's official web site for the latest response to the oil spill:

http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

Thank you for viewing my photos! :)