So I spent the day at Fort Jefferson which is the main, OK really the only attraction besides birds, of Dry Tortugas NP.  It’s a pretty amazing place.  The fort was constructed from 1845-1874 and is the largest masonry fort in the world,  It consists of over 16 million bricks.  Most brought in from Pensacola, FL, but the upper courses (due to the Civil War), along with the granite all the way from New England.

Today, it’s just a 2 hour boat ride in air conditioned comfort, but would still be a monumental undertaking to construct.  This was built in the mid 19th century when it took a sailing ship nearly a full day to reach this place, 70 miles west of Key West.  Can’t imagine how difficult it would have been to live here – and at its peak there were over 2,000 men, women and children living here.  Amazing!

STS-127 is now on track for a Wednesday morning launch.  So tomorrow, I’m heading back up the coast of Florida to KSC and will hopefully see a launch at the crack of dawn on Wednesday.  Keeping my fingers crossed!