Honeymoon in Key West, Part 2: Fort Zachary Taylor

November 18, 2023

Emily and I on the ramparts at Fort Zachary Taylor. - <i>Photo by the author</i>
Emily and I on the ramparts at Fort Zachary Taylor. – Photo by the author

The historical highlight of today was the trip over to Fort Zachary Taylor, a third system fort on the west side of the island. Sadly, it was heavily modified during the Endicott period. It was shortened, and several of the big seacoast guns were dumped into the new concrete as fill. You can still see several of them poking out. It’s a little sad.

A panorama showing some of the old guns poking out of the concrete. - <i>Photo by the author</i>
A panorama showing some of the old guns poking out of the concrete. – Photo by the author

Luckily, there has been some preservation work done to recover some of the pieces after the fort was incorporated into a state park. Those recovered guns are on display in the fort today. It’s a cool collection of Columbiads, Rodmans, and Parrotts.

On the day we were there, a living history group was camped out with some artifacts. That was pretty cool.

After scoping out the history, we walked over to the other side of the park and enjoyed some time on the nicest beach on Key West.

A little beach time was relaxing. - <i>Photo by the author</i>
A little beach time was relaxing. – Photo by the author

Dinner that night was at an Argentinian steakhouse on Duval Street. It was really good.

I ordered Milanesa Napolitana for dinner. - <i>Photo by the author</i>
I ordered Milanesa Napolitana for dinner. – Photo by the author

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