Island ‘Ting with Sebago Watersports

We’ve previously done a few small sailing cruises, with about six guests. This time we did a larger one, “Island ‘Ting with Sebago Watersports”.

We wanted to do a sailing catamaran excursion. This one had snorkeling, kayaking, and a couple of meals and drinks:

Catamaran

Catamaran

A small breakfast:

Breakfast

Dolphin:

Dolphin

Pelican:

Pelican

Main sail:

Main sail

Ladder:

Ladder

Sitting up front:

Sitting up front

Catamaran:

Catamaran

People sitting up front:

People sitting up front

We wanted to do a sailing excursion, but the wind wasn’t conducive to sailing, so they motored all of the way, with a little token lazy sailing:

Token sailing

Underwater pics from the snorkeling stop; these photos from the 360 camera, which didn’t do a great job:

Underwater

Underwater

Underwater

Boat

These photos from my iPhone, which did a better job:

Underwater

Underwater

Underwater

Underwater

Underwater

Underwater

Underwater

A small lunch; they really didn’t have enough food:

Lunch

Ladder to kayaks:

Ladder to kayaks

Kayak

Kayaks

They had enough kayaks for half of the people, so they split everyone up into two groups. We were in the second group, 45 minutes later. But we were right about the weight limit for the two-person kayaks, and moments after we got in, it capsized, dumping us in the water. So we bailed on that part of the experience. Disappointing. (It wasn’t just us, either; another couple also capsized when getting out.)

Portuguese Man of War jellyfish (GIF):

Portuguese Man of War jellyfish

The sister boat of ours at least bothered to raise the main sail:

Other sailboat

Back at the dock:

Back at the dock

Overall, a disappointing experience. We’ll probably stick with smaller tours in the future.

Dry Tortugas National Park

We visited Dry Tortugas National Park, one of the most difficult national parks to get to, requiring a ferry, seaplane, or private boat to reach it.

Dry Tortugas map.

An interactive map:

We opted for the seaplane, since it was much faster than the ferry, and we’d never been in one before. It was a great experience.

The seaplane is offered by Key West Seaplane Charters, flying out of Key West International Airport (a rather small airport).

An info sheet:

Info document

Info document

Our seaplane:

Our seaplane

Jenn got to ride up front, since she said it was her birthday when they asked if anyone was celebrating (we did go on her birthday in February):

Jenn got to ride up front

Just 10 passengers:

Just 10 passengers

Flying fairly low over the keys:

Flying fairly low

Keys

Keys

Sunken ship:

Sunk ship

Approaching Dry Tortugas:

Approaching Dry Tortugas

Approaching Dry Tortugas

A close pass by a nice catamaran when preparing to land; sailing here on your own boat would be amazing:

Catamaran

Our pilot, who flies in Alaska in summer, and the Keys in winter:

Our pilot

Approaching Dry Tortugas

Landing on water:

Landing

Approaching Dry Tortugas

Approaching Dry Tortugas

Handing gear to shore:

Handing gear to shore

Us in front of the plane:

Us in front of the plane

The other seaplane and the fort:

Seaplane and fort

Fort Jefferson, the largest brick structure in the Americas, started in 1846, but never finished:

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Old dock and the beach where we left our stuff:

Old dock and beach

Moat:

Moat

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Cannonball furnace, where they heated cannonballs to slice through wooden ships like butter, and set them on fire:

Canonball furnace

Canonball furnace

Canonball furnace

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dr Mudd was imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth concerning the assassination of Abraham Lincoln:

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Mariners Beware! I was wearing a Seattle Mariners shirt, so found that sign amusing:

Mariners Beware

Dry Tortugas fort

Birds; Dry Tortugas is an important habitat for some seabirds. the adjacent Bush Key was closed for nesting season:

Birds

Birds

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Dry Tortugas fort

Pelicans:

Pelicans

The ferry arriving. Another nice thing about the full-day seaplane option was that we got to enjoy exploring the island for a couple of hours before most people arrived; just the 20 people from the two seaplanes, and a few overnight campers:

Ferry

Once the ferry arrived, we headed back to the beach where we had left our stuff:

Beach

A hermit crab:

Hermit crab

Bricks on the beach:

Bricks on the beach

We went for a swim. Here’s the fort from the water:

Fort from the water

We brought our snorkel gear, but the water was too murky to see much at the time.

Another pelican watching us:

Pelican

We went back into the fort to kill some time:

Dry Tortugas fort

Then back to the seaplane for the return journey:

Back to the seaplane

Departing Dry Tortugas:

Departing Dry Tortugas

Departing Dry Tortugas

Flying

A private island:

Private island

Key West and Fort Zachary Taylor:

Key West and Fort Zachary Taylor

The “Southernmost” Point:

Southernmost Point

Marina:

Marina

Disembarking our seaplane:

Our seaplane

A fun bucket-list experience.

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

While checking out Key West, Florida, we also visited Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park.

I previously posted some pictures of the beach part of the park, but this post is about the historic fort.

A sign at the start of the path to the fort:

Sign

Cannon:

Cannon

Blacksmith:

Blacksmith

The fort:

Fort

Building

Fort

The courtyard inside the fort had a bunch of tents from re-enactors:

Tents

Tents

Tents

Fort

Fort

Fort

Re-enactors with cannons:

Re-enactors

Fort

Tents

Tents

Tents

Tents

Tents

Fort

Fort

Fort

Fort

Re-enactors

Tents

Tents

Tents

An old sail ship, flying a pirate flag and firing cannons, and the re-enactors:

Ship and re-enactors

Ship

Ship and re-enactors

Re-enactors

Another ship:

Ship

Ship

They were probably going to re-enact a sea battle, but we didn’t hang around for that.

A fun array of cannons:

Fort

Fort

Fort

Fort

Fort

Fort

Fort

Another fascinating historic fort.

Key West, Florida

We did a quick visit to Key West, Florida.

Lots of golf carts on the roads:

Lots of golf carts on the roads

And tour trams:

Tour trams

And bikes:

Tour tram

Also lots of free-range chickens (mostly roosters):

Chickens

Rooster

We visited the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, which will be featured in subsequent blog posts. But we also stopped by the beach in the state park for lunch, which I’ll include here.

This beach is one of the southernmost points in the continental US. Quite a nice and popular beach, too:

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Direction sign on the beach:

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

We grabbed some lunch at the cafe on the beach:

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Another rooster:

Rooster

We had considered visiting the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum and other touristy places, but had enough of walking around, so drove by them instead.

Houses with nice Caribbean paint jobs:

House

House

The aforementioned Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, with a bit of a line outside:

Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum

Why did the chickens cross the road? No, really, why?

Chickens

The famous Southernmost point buoy, which as mentioned isn’t actually southernmost, but is a popular spot for selfies, with a long line of people waiting their turn:

Southernmost point buoy

Southernmost point buoy

Really not our kind of town; way too crowded.

Robert is Here fruit stand

We stopped by Robert is Here, a longstanding fruit stand in Homestead, Florida:

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

We tried several interesting fruits we hadn’t encountered before:

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

An interesting way to package pineapples:

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Chickens:

Robert is Here

Robert is Here

Trying some of the fruit:

Fruit

Fruit

Some strange tastes, but we liked most of them.

Biscayne National Park

Biscayne National Park is one of the rare national parks that is mostly water, on the coast south of Miami, Florida.

We visited for a sail, paddle, and snorkel trip.

Entrance sign

Our boat:

Our boat

Heading out:

Heading out

Birds:

Birds

Map; we sailed out to Coon Point on Elliot Key:

Map

Sailboat

Snorkeling; I used my 360 camera, but had some technical difficulties, so didn’t get many pictures:

Snorkeling

Snorkeling

Snorkeling

Water

Other boats:

Other boats

Other boats

Raising our sail:

Sail

Sailing

Sailing

Sailing

Other boats

Other boats

Sailing

Below

Some paddling into the mangroves:

Paddle

Sitting up front on the way back:

Sitting up front

Sitting up front

Lighthouse:

Lighthouse

Sailing

Sailing

Sailing

Sailing

Sailing

A fun excursion.

Everglades National Park

We explored several areas of Everglades National Park in Florida.

A map of the park:

Map

A map in a visitor center:

Map

Entrance sign:

Entrance sign

The Royal Palm area of the park was closest to our campsite, with some nice walks:

Bird

Water lillies

Water lillies

Can you spot a turtle?

Turtle

Here it is:

Turtle

Turtle

Tree

Also nearby is a relic of the Cold War: the HM69 Nike missile base:

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

HM69 Nike missile base

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center:

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center

Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center

Gulf Coast Visitor Center was under construction, so they used a modular building:

Gulf Coast Visitor Center

Gulf Coast Visitor Center

Gulf Coast Visitor Center

West Lake:

West Lake

West Lake

West Lake

Tree

Guy Bradley Visitor Center:

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

Guy Bradley Visitor Center

We were amused by Rock Reef Pass, elevation 3 feet:

Rock Reef Pass

Universal Studios Florida Theme Park

On the other two days, we visited the Universal Studios Florida Theme Park.

Universal Orlando

Universal Orlando

Universal Orlando

The Simpsons characters:

Simpsons

Characters

Spongebob Storepants:

Spongebob Storepants

Jenn in a pineapple under the sea:

Jenn in a pineapple under the sea

Coming soon:

Coming soon

Shrek

Springfield:

Springfield

Springfield

Springfield

Springfield

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter:

Harry Potter area

Knight Bus:

Knight Bus

Diagon Alley:

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

San Francisco:

San Francisco

New York:

New York

On another day, we started at Starbucks for some coffee:

Starbucks

The Brown Derby Hat Shop:

The Brown Derby Hat Shop

Beverly Hills:

Beverly Hills

Cars

Kings Cross Station:

Kings Cross Station

Diagon Alley:

Diagon Alley

We did the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride:

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

Frozen butterbeer:

Butterbeer

Butterbeer

Diagon Alley dragon:

Diagon Alley dragon

Diagon Alley dragon

Selfie

Back to the Future:

Back to the Future

Back to the Future

Finally, we got some Voodoo Doughnuts on the way out:

Voodoo Doughnut

More fun stuff. We’re not so interested in Universal properties, other than Harry Potter, so we basically went to the parks just for that, but enjoyed exploring the other areas too.