Key West Journals

Camping in The Dry Tortugas

An August 2000 trip to Key West by prego25

Approaching Garden Key Photo - Key West, Florida More Photos
Quote: Key West, even before I visited it, was appealing in its profligate way. A Margarita city, a city to drink in like Hemingway or Jimmy Buffet and then write about, still drunk. This aura of hazy intoxication extends 70 miles west to Garden Key, an island in the Dry Tortugas.

Camping in The Dry Tortugas

Overview

Approaching Garden Key Photo - Key West, Florida
Quote:
My friend David worked as a Grounds Keeper on Garden Key. He has a lot of unpleasant cleaning-up-toilets-after-tourists stories. A lot of ghost stories, too. (Generally, the two types are unrelated.) I have so many fond memories of this trip. I suppose what stands out the most are the hours I spent fishing from the pier. Here`s an excerpt from my journal about my Garden Key fishing experience: `Last night I went out to the dock with my can of beans for bait (all afternoon had been an unsuccessful attempt to fashion a makeshift net from a scuba gear mesh bag and a stick--couldn`t even catch one damn minnow) when an old man, very brown, Buddha belly, beer in hand, smell of alcohol and sweat, offered me ...Read More
Quote:
The view is gorgeous: blue water, ideal for snorkeling. Bring a hammock, find two trees, and loll away the afternoon. At dusk, cook a dinner of red beans and rice, then night-fish off the pier.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 18, 2002

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Key West, Florida 33040
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