Many people agree that the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park is one of the best in Key West. With a beach and a cool historical fort to see this seemed like a perfect outting for the day. So the kids grabbed their Florida State Parks junior ranger folders and off we went. But before that it was a quick stop to the southernmost point.
I know I’m in the wrong place when there are people lined up to take a picture with a hunk of concrete. So instead of waiting in line we just got our picture taken with other people in the background. Then we went just a couple feet south, behind the concrete and took our picture there…ha, we are even further south and didn’t have to wait in line! Everything in this part of town is southernmost: southernmost house, southernmost hotel, southernmost lobby of southernmost hotel. It was neat to see I guess but I’m glad we didn’t spend very much time there. With that stop taken care of it was off to Fort Zachary Taylor.
At our first Florida state park the kids each got a free pass for one state park. We used one to get into St George Island State Park and used another one today. We gave ourselves the guided tour but noticed a ranger taking a group of people around. We debated whether we should join or not and ultimately decided not to. We got the gist of things by reading the signs but on our way out we stopped to ask a different ranger about the kids’ junior ranger stamps. And this guy erupted with a geyser of really neat information about the fort. He was cool because he was talking to the kids and you could tell this guy loved what he did. And he knew what boys liked…”did you guys see the 10 holer?”. “No” we replied. “Oh, you gotta go check it out! You and nine of yer buddies could drop dueces together!” he told us. And to keep it educational and historical he explained how the latrine was designed for tidal flushing. Remember our hero in the villain story? In this story the hero is stranded on a little ledge and as the tide comes in it drowns him and carries him off to sea.
Key West remained part of the Union throughout the Civil War. The ranger had all kinds of interesting stories about the different versions of the confederate flag and the 34 starred flag that flew on the grounds of the fort today. He told us how the fort was originally made of bricks but only a few years after completion cannons had progressed to the point that they could easily take out brick walls. So they added a layer of concrete to the outside of the fort. To save on concrete and to make use of all the old wimpy cannons they used them as in-fill, like rebar, in the concrete. I should have been taking notes….this guys was a treasure trove of info.
After our little tour we ate our sack lunch at a table in the park before heading over to the beach. It is indeed a nice beach and quite popular. But we carved out a spot on the beach, lathered up with sunscreen and got in the water. This time the kids actually went out and swam in the water instead of their usual wading. Caden and Brielle had fun body surfing the little waves coming in and Dacen and I built a fort out of sand. But, borrowing from the geniuses who built Fort Zachary Taylor, Dacen decided to use beach rocks as in-fill. He used sand like mortar between the rocks and also as a sort of stucco. We used some sticks and leaves for the roof and Dacen found some other stuff that washed up on shore for the cannons and the flag.
While we were at the southernmost point earlier in the day we could see some land that seemed to be slightly further south than the southernmost point. While were were at the beach we recognized that this was the place that could be further south than the southernmost point. If you trust Google earth’s orientation then I believe the beach at the fort is further south…less crowded and less touristy.
After we had enough sun we stopped by the Eco-Discovery Center. We got there at 4:30 and they close at 5:00 so it was pretty abbreviated visit. But Caden asked this lady working there how to properly pronounce conch. She answered him and then went on to tell us a TON of info about conchs and mulosks (octopus is a mulosk believe it or not).
We took a quick jaunt down to Mallory Square…this is supposed to be a pretty cool place. And it is if you like shopping or bar hopping. There weren’t any street performers while we were there so after an ice cream treat and Dacen buying a Key West shirt we took off for home. On our way home we took a detour to see if we could find a less crowded place to take in a sunset. I think we ended up in the parking lot of a community college dormitory. We stayed till golden hour but everyone was hungry and tired (hangry as Steph calls it) so we headed on home.
If there is one lesson I’ve learned today its to ask questions…because very often the people you ask will be thrilled to share their knowledge with you! Oh, and its pronounced konk….like what I do with my head quite often.