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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

Heading in from the Homestead Base area, you might think you are in a scene from CSI: Miami, driving around the canals, seeing the dog racing track in the background, it’s the kind of place Horatio and the gang are often seen pulling people out of the water. But once you get to the coast, you’re in a whole new world.

This is truly one of the beautiful places here in the United States. Problem is, most of it is underwater! The only parts you can visit if you don’t have your own boat are the Dante Fascell visitor center area (beautiful views) and the docks around the center. We won a calendar from the ranger here, because we were able to answer trivia questions about the park after viewing the museum exhibits. There is also a glass bottomed boat, which we had a reservation for, but it was too choppy that day to be able to see anything, so they changed it to a tour of a nearby Boca Chita Key – and the beautiful lighthouse that a rich man made for his wife who then died falling down the staircase. The key is beautiful, and was well worth the trip to this magical place.

My favorite things to do here

• Boca Chita Key
• Kayak the mangroves in our trusty inflatable “Sea Eagle”

Things I want to come back to do

• Come with a boat and explore the other keys (especially Elliott)
• Get PADI certified and dive the area reefs (most of this park is Underwater)

Fun Facts

• 95% of the park is water
• You can rent kayaks here

National Park Service Website: http://www.nps.gov/bisc/

NPS Map: http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=bisc

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

I have not visited this site yet. But please feel free to add a comment!

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

You want out of the way? This park is a fort on one of the Florida Keys. 70 miles west of Key West that is! The only way to go is by private boat, tour boat, or float plane. We used the tour boat – which was pretty affordable (they also gave a discount for national parks pass holders, so try that out). As soon as we got there we were told the weather was iffy so we could cancel and get a full refund (which you normally could not do). But it looked ok to us, and we had ample supply of dramamine, so off we went.

The boat ride over is great, super views of Key West on the way out and then a really pleasant sunny southern Florida experience. When you get there, you have several hours to explore and recreate. And you’ll need those hours. After touring the Fort Jefferson, which is quite unique, we went to the South Dock Ruins to do some snorkeling (you can bring your own equipment or rent it off the boat). Lots of fish here in between all the abandoned dock pilings.

Because access is so limited, the beach ends up to be quite private. The fort boats stunning views of the Carribean like ocean, and some really interesting history.

The way back was a bit more interesting. The weather that they had warned us about came upon us, and the seas were up. Many people were sick. We were ok though, and would totally do it again.

My favorite things to do here

• Tour the fort
• Snorkel

Things I want to come back to do

• Float plane

Fun Facts

• The fort never saw conflict, was used to imprison war deserters

National Park Service Website: http://www.nps.gov/drto/

NPS Map: http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=drto

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

Gators. If you love em, here’s where to go. Oh, and mosquitos. Did I mention the mosquitos? The first time I went to the everglades we drove in the the entrance station and they had a “mosquito” level chart, the way some parks have a fire danger chart. It was on “low”, the lowest on their scale. When we got to our campsite and set up, we were beseiged by more mosquitos than we had ever seen in our lives. So you have to wonder what it’s like down there when it is “high”. In any case, during the day, things die down considerably and you can really enjoy this park. There is tons to do here, with many different and distinct sections of the park, which comprises most of the southern tip of Florida.

The easiest to get to from I-95 is the Flamingo area. This area boasts a great auto tour, numerous pull offs with short interpretive trails, a modern campground, and a marina area with a lodge (note: lodge destroyed in 2005 by Katrina – not slated to be rebuilt) and boat concessions. We opted to take a narrated boat tour out into wilderness waterway, and it was well worth it – scenic and informative. They also rent houseboats here if you want to make a few days of it, which I’d really like to do someday. You can also, of course, bring your own trailerable motorboat, kayak, canoe, whatever you have. Much of the everglades is accessible via “land” but much is also out in the water. I’m thinking a canoe would be the best, because there are many “canoe trails” that look like they are tons of fun, and I would rather be in a canoe than a kayak with all those gators around. There are also tons of primitive campsites that you can only get to via small boat.

My favorite things to do here

• Hiking
• Boat Tours

Things I want to come back to do

• Canoe trails

Fun Facts

• Third largest park in lower 48
• The Flamingo Lodge was destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane  Katrina and is not scheduled to be replaced

National Park Service Website: http://www.nps.gov/ever/

NPS Map: http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=ever

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

I have not visited this site yet. But please feel free to add a comment!

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

I have visited this site, but I have not done a blog post yet. I started with the National Parks. I’m then going to work through the Monuments. Then the rest. Stay Tuned! Add a comment if you like.

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By Ari, 09/12/2009 8:56 am

I have not visited this site yet. But please feel free to add a comment!