Florida day 4

TODAY was the day!  I was so excited and nervous too.  I mean the thought of landing and taking off in the water was a little scary to me.  Let's just say our day started a lot earlier than we planned because the damn fire alarm went off at 4:00am and again at 5:15am; seriously very annoying!  At least we managed to get our parking and resort fees comped but really annoyed that it went off 4 times the 3 days we were there and absolutely NO explanation from the hotel.  I think that is totally unacceptable for any hotel much less one that is considered a four star!

We arrived at the airport to fill out paperwork, sign waivers, get snorkel gear, and board the plane.  I was a little crabby because Colin wasn't being cooperative.  The plane only had 10 seats, and we were a party of 5 so we had two other couples with us too plus the pilot!  Someone doesn't look so happy!

At one point I looked at the pilot's feet and noticed he was bare footed!  OMG, how laid back is that?  Anyway the flight was so smooth and not bad at all!  We flew right over our hotel . . .

We saw loggerhead sea turtles but too far up to zoom in to take photos . . . the water was so blue!

Here we are approaching our destination . . .

How amazing is this view as we approach for a water landing at the Dry Tortugas National Park . . .

getting closer . . .

We quickly did a tour inside Fort Jefferson . . .

. . .  and then it was snorkel time.  I will add that I was disappointed we did not find a park ranger so the kids could do the Junior Ranger book and earn a badge.  I know it was in the middle of nowhere, but I thought they would have had them laying around or something.  We saw a ranger as we were leaving so guess they cater to the ferry passengers.  Oh well it was time to get in the water and have fun.  Someone looks much happier now!

Not knowing we were doing this I did not bring the underwater camera so bought a disposal one for Colin to be snap happy.  There were not too many good ones but I really liked these two!

There are only two ways to reach the Dry Tortugas; boat or seaplane.  If you have a private boat you can dock otherwise you are on a ferry with 150 other people.  It takes about 3 hours each way to arrive from Key West; now you know why we did the seaplane!  We had the place basically to ourselves other than the few campers (yes, you can camp but everything must be brought with you).  I am certain the campers were thrilled when we rolled in very early and very loud too!  We had fun hanging out and enjoying the peace of being so isolated . . . .

. . . and then the ferry arrived with 150 people so we boarded back on the seaplane . . .

. . . and headed back to Key West.  We took quick showers and loaded up the car for the drive to Fort Lauderdale.  It was not too bad, but the kids were starting to press their luck and the adults were ready to have them in a swimming pool.  We arrived at the Hilton . . . our strategy was I stay in the car while M goes and checks in.  Always hope for an upgrade and with three kids in tow your chance goes way down, LOL.  So M checks us in, and I start asking questions about the room to which I get this reply, "they are pretty booked and if we don't like the room then they will move us next door to the W."  Alrighty then this should be interesting.  So M pushes the '25' button on the elevator, and I look at her and she says, "just because it is the top floor doesn't mean it is a fabulous room."  Might I add she has a 'suspious' look on her face . . . I'm becoming more and more curious . . . so this is where we ended up . . .

And when the door was opened this is what we saw . . .

 . . . and the kids went WILD while the adults just stood there gasping in shock.  We were beside ourselves and didn't know what to do.  In the mean time the kids are staking their claim to their room and running wild all over the place; it is a HUGE place.  OMG, I have never seen anything like this room!  We both look at each other and say, "no way in hell we are leaving this joint to explore Fort Lauderdale" . . . and we did not!