The Yankee Freedom II heading out to Garden Key where Fort Jefferson is built.

Inside of Dry Tortugas National Park Fort Jefferson is visible. Loggerhead Key can be seen in the background on the right with a tall lighthouse built on it. Loggerhead Key is not connected to Garden Key. For a map of Dry Tortugas National Park go here….

Loggerhead Key closer up. The only think on this island is the lighthouse.

As Fort Jefferson gets closer you can see the different in brick colors resulting from the different locations materials came from while this was being built. This beach is where we snorkeled from.

The Fort Jefferson Lighthouse. This is built inside the fort walls.

The Courtyard of the fort. Officers quarters are visible at the far end.

Fort Jefferson had many cannons. Here is an example of how they were set up. This fort was never fully armed due to the weight of the cannons which would cause Garden Key to sink even further.

Some of the many frigate birds that reside near Garden Key.

Bush Key is the closer island with Long Key  further out. Long Key is where the frigate birds reside and is closed to public exploration in order to preserve the bird habitats.

As the Yankee Freedom II returned to Key West you can see the people beginning to gather to celebrate the sunset at Mallory Square.