I left Dad’s house on May First with the knowledge that his estate was being settled by my sister and she’d found a buyer for the house. It’s bittersweet to think that the house my grandparents bought in 1957 will no longer be in the family but all good things must come to an end. And so did my extended stay on Singer Island—time to get a move on!

The house on the Intracoastal Waterway in South Florida has been in my family since 1957.

First stop…a week in the Florida Keys. I’ve been to Key West a couple times but this time I wanted the laid back, hammock-napping Keys experience and I found it at Fiesta Key RV Resort. Located between Marathon and Islamorada about halfway down the Keys, this 28-acre island is entirely covered by the RV park. My site was right on the Gulf of Mexico but the best feature of this park may have been the bar on the beach with Happy Hour every day. I quickly became a regular and when my birthday came along at the end of the week, the bartender bought me my first Margarita of the day.

My waterfront campsite on the Gulf of Mexico in the Florida Keys.

Sunset from my campsite.

From this central location I was able to take easy day trips to Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, and Key West. There are only two land based lighthouses in the Keys: Key Largo and Key West. The others require a boat or plane. I did, however, splurge on a seaplane ride out to the Dry Tortugas to see that lighthouse.

Key Largo Lighthouse can only be viewed from the water or from a residential street across the canal.

Key West Lighthouse.

The Dry Tortugas are part of the Florida Keys but they’re separated by 70 miles of open water to the west of Key West. You can get there by ferry, seaplane, or personal boat. My plane ride took about 45 minutes and we flew low enough to see sharks, Loggerhead turtles and even a couple sunken ships. The small group of islands are owned by the National Park Service who maintains the 19th century Fort Jefferson and surrounding natural wildlife habitats.

Garden Key (with the fort) and Bush Key (in the foreground) are currently connected by a narrow bit of sand. This connection comes and goes with storms.

Seaplane landing at Dry Tortugas.

The seaplane I took from Key West to Dry Tortugas.

To my immense disappointment, the lighthouse at the fort was being rehabbed and surrounded by scaffolding. But on the bright side, I have the National Park Pass so I didn’t pay the park entry fee…just the $340 plane ride!

Garden Key Lighthouse at Fort Jefferson is being dismantled and shipped to the mainland for rehab.

A shipwreck as seen from the seaplane.

Ripples in the sandy bottom of the ocean.

There’s also a lighthouse on a nearby key but neither the ferry nor seaplanes go past it so my lighthouse venture was a bust. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful place with spectacular white sand beaches and turquoise water. The kind of place people wish they could be stranded on. The kind of place my husband, Mike, would like to have been so I left some of his ashes here.

There was no transportation to Dry Tortugas Lighthouse on nearby Loggerhead Key so I could only get this shot from the top of Fort Jefferson.

The exterior wall and moat of Fort Jefferson on Garden Key.

Arches inside Fort Jefferson.

Sailboat anchored in the cove.

Incredibly clear water and white sand beach that connects Garden Key to Bush Key, a bird sanctuary.

The view from the top of Fort Jefferson.

I had a minor mishap as I was taking photos from the top of a staircase in the fort. I was on the top step, standing in front of the cut-out you see in the center of the photo below. I didn’t realize how close I was to the edge, took a step to the left and tumbled down several steps. All I could think of was protecting my camera! Thankfully, it suffered only a minor dent and scratches to the filter I had covering the lens but I can’t say as much for the arm I used to break my fall.

I took a fall down these stairs while not paying enough attention to where my feet were.

I saved my camera but my arm took a beating. I figured that the lens would have cost a great deal to replace but my skin would grow back pretty quickly.

The Florida Keys have some very nice beaches and natural habitats, many of which are in state parks. I had purchased a Florida State Park annual pass so I made it a point to visit as many of them as possible. Having grown up at the Jersey Shore where the beaches are packed like sardines, I was surprised to find few people on the beaches in the Keys. There were times I felt like I had the place to myself.

Sombrero Beach is a municipal beach in Marathon.

Curry Hammock State Park doesn’t have much of a bathing beach but it is very popular with wind surfers and kayakers.

The beach at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park in Key West.

Long Key State Park.

An egret takes flight at Long Key State Park.

I discovered that socks apparently grow on trees at Long Key State Park.

I met two young ladies at Long Key State Park: Saskia and Diana from Frankfurt, Germany. They were at the park for an hour taking glamor shots around their rented Ford Mustang. They even changed their outfits a couple times. Hmm…I think they might be models.

Saskia and Diana from Frankfurt, Germany were at Long Key State Park taking photos of each other posing with their rented Ford Mustang.

Upcoming post:

Florida’s left coast.

My name is Lindsay Reed and I’m a photographer and retired graphic artist with a passion for both lighthouses and road trips. I am living as a full-time solo RVer in my 31 foot Coachmen motorhome and plan to spend the next few years traveling the U.S. and Canada photographing not only lighthouses, but everything else there is to see in this wonderful land. I hope you enjoy my blog and will follow my adventures in the months and years ahead.