Jacqueline’s Jaunts

15 May 2025, Catamaran Echo Snorke Day, Key West, Florida Jeeps- 6 Today is Catamaran Echo Snorkel Day. Our snorkel cruise was scheduled for 1:30 PM today.  The Navy jets woke me up. We are close to a Key West Navy Station and see jets flying in and out during the day. Barry says some are F15s. They are loud, so we know when to look for them. It's cool seeing them circle above us. I think they were practicing takeoffs and landings today. They must have made a dozen circles above us. A few locals have informed us that residents often become tired of it, and some have even relocated due to it. Key West has the Navy base and the International Airport flying over it. We dropped off our belongings at the Echo early and headed to the Boathouse Bar & Grill for some small plates and margaritas. Once done, we took the short walk to our catamaran and boarded. We waited for a couple who went to the wrong boat on Stock Island. Once they arrived, we took off. Our captain is Joel, and t...

12 May 2025, Boyd's Key West Campground, Key West, Florida Jeeps-12 We were up before the roosters today. Today, the four of us visited Dry Tortugas National Park by boat, and we had to board the ship between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. It is a three-and-a-half-hour ride, seventy miles off the coast of Key West. Our ship, the Yankee Freedom III , served us breakfast and lunch. At 1:45, the bar opened. They also provide snorkeling gear.  Jan and I took Dramamine, just in case we would get nauseous. We were OK on the trip there and back. Once we arrived and disembarked the ship, we went inside the fort to wait for Ben, our tour guide. He gave us a twenty-minute introduction about the place, which was very informative. He also did an hour tour, but we decided to go independently.  We followed the National Park signs around the fort. We walked all three levels. I cannot imagine living on the island so far from everything. When the fort was active, it had 100 cannons that protected Key Wes...