Lance and Barb went to "Dry Tortugas National Park" a 2 1/2 hour boat ride (68 nautical miles) out in the ocean. The island is called "dry" because it doesn't have any fresh water source. The island is actually closer to Cuba than it is to the American mainland. The structure on the island is Fort Jefferson, a fort built before the Civil War by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was discovered in 1513 by Ponce de Leon and in 1832 was visited by John Audubon who observed the bird and marine life in the Dry Tortugas. During the Civil War, the island was under the control of the Union and the fort was a prison for Union deserters. It was built by slave and prisoner labor but was never totally finished. Nearly 2,000 people lived at Ft. Jefferson.
It was a rough voyage over and many people got sea sick --- Lance included!! Luckily he gradually recovered when on land.
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