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March 2026 (Part 04)

South Florida Trip –Day 5: Key West

The next day, we headed on foot from the Truman Annex to nearby Fort Zachary Taylor.  This was built at the same time as Fort Jefferson, with construction beginning two years earlier in 1845 along with two nearby supporting Martello artillery towers.  The fort was named for the president a few months before his death in office.  The fort was also constructed using slave labor and freemen, who built a two story fort on the limestone base.  The sea-facing wall was lined with casements and filled with 42 guns on three levels including the roof.  The land side had a small gorge with troop quarters embedded in it.  During the Civil War, the Union garrison at Key West occupied the fort a day before a Confederate force arrived, who left assuming the Union troops were fully equipped and armed.  The fort then provided an important threat to enforce the blockade of southern ports.  Like Fort Jefferson, the fort never saw hostile action even though it was manned continuously from the Civil War through the Cuban missile crisis.

The fort was positioned next to the shipping channel, but still overlooked the harbor behind it.

We enjoyed a walk along some of the trails in the park.

After some lunch in town, we headed to the Shipwreck Museum and climbed its tower overlooking the harbor.

We then Ubered to the other side of Key West and the Butterfly and Nature Conservatory.  Lot of orchids and exotic plants.  Hadn't really thought about it, but they aren't allowed to have the specific plants any of the butterfly breeds would lay eggs on to prevent a vector for an invasive species to gain a foothold on the island.

They must have had a recent hatching of these amazing Blue Morpho Butterflies with almost iridescent blue on their wings.

Several Monarch Butterflies.

They had a pair of flamingoes.

Along with some other fun birds.

The Conservatory was across the way from the buoy marking the Southernmost point in the Continental US.

You could see up the beach to the Navy pier at the Truman Annex, the reverse view we saw from the beach the night before.

We then walked all the way back to the other end of Duvall Street to make it to Mallory Square in time for the daily gathering for the sunset.