Fran Sonne photos
Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
One of the least visited national parks in the US because you can only get there by boat or seaplane. The fort was built in the civil war but only used to house criminals/ prisoners If I recall correctly, this is where John Wilkes Booth was sent after he shot Lincoln. A doctor there named Mudd saved many prisoners in a malaria outbreak including Booth and that's how the phrase, "Your name is Mudd" came about.
We wanted very badly to go to the Tortugas while we were in key West but all the National Parks were closed because the federal government was in a deadlock over the budget. Finally, on our last day there, they made an exception and allowed us and one other couple to go over to the Tortugas. We went there by seaplane, which was quite exciting. The flight was very close to the ocean and we could see manta rays and sea turtles - the windows on the plane were open.
Sadly, three weeks after we did this and were back home, we read in the newspaper that one of the seaplanes from this company crashed into the ocean and the pilot and a family were killed. I think about this to this day and feel very sad.
Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
One of the least visited national parks in the US because you can only get there by boat or seaplane. The fort was built in the civil war but only used to house criminals/ prisoners If I recall correctly, this is where John Wilkes Booth was sent after he shot Lincoln. A doctor there named Mudd saved many prisoners in a malaria outbreak including Booth and that's how the phrase, "Your name is Mudd" came about.
We wanted very badly to go to the Tortugas while we were in key West but all the National Parks were closed because the federal government was in a deadlock over the budget. Finally, on our last day there, they made an exception and allowed us and one other couple to go over to the Tortugas. We went there by seaplane, which was quite exciting. The flight was very close to the ocean and we could see manta rays and sea turtles - the windows on the plane were open.
Sadly, three weeks after we did this and were back home, we read in the newspaper that one of the seaplanes from this company crashed into the ocean and the pilot and a family were killed. I think about this to this day and feel very sad.