Activities with the Visitor

Though The Mother states she is pretty much a hermit in the winter she has been more than gung-ho to do activities and see things here in the Sunshine State.
Maybe a little too much planned but it can always be cut back to accommodate sitting time.

Tuesday and Wednesday have been action packed days.

Tuesday was a visit to Boca Grande.
It was busy!
The beach actually had a bunch of people on it.
In bathing suits. Sunning. Enjoying the dolphins that played just off shore (literally 10 yards from where we stood).
But the sun was hot.

You'll note the pasty white legs being sunned but the temperature was a bit too much for the head. The Man's shirt helped there. The Mother forgot a hat.

The Man enjoyed the waves, though much smaller than on previous visits.

I had fun watching the dolphins, playing the waves and checking out shells. What an awesome place.

Wednesday was a very busy day with a road trip to Trafford Lake and an airboat ride through the Everglades to see the wild life and then to the Naples Fort Myers Greyhound track for some races.

The Mother desired to go on an airboat. You know, one of those flat crazy boats with a propeller (actually 2) on the back to push you through the reeds and aquatic plants of the glades.
After pouring through some of the touristy stuff I had I decided on one establishment that wasn't too far away. (Just over an hour from home). The comments I found on line were favourable to I decided it was the one for us.

Called Airboats and Alligators it is a little shack just at the edge of the lake with lots of airboats and seasoned pilots (captains?) that know where all the good stuff is.
The tour is over an hour long and boy was it worth every penny ($36 with a coupon).

This is some of the stuff we drove over and through. The Mother and I were in the front seat of the boat. It was an awesome ride. Okay we got a little wet but it was sooo worth it.

If you look really closely at the middle left of the photo you can see some baby gators. They are well hidden, the mother had left just before we arrived to distract us as babies have no natural defences just what the mother does to destract the predator.

This boat is the twin to ours. You can see how low it is to the water. They are really loud too. They had sound cancelling headphones for us but it was still loud.

Can you see the sunning gator? He's keeping an eye on us for sure!

The Mother decided she had seen enough alligators to last quite a while.
We saw egrets (2 different kinds), blue herons, white cranes, little blue herons, tricoloured herons, coots, gallinules, purple gallinules (which have chicken like feet to run on top of the reed beds), belted kingfishers, roseate spoonbills and ibis'.
Really something to see all of them there existing in really a wilderness area.

The lake is 9 miles around and is only 6 feet deep on average and a very mucky bottom. There are pockets of 12 feet in depth but not much more. With the drought they've been having there is even less water. Gators don't mind. More food for them.
When we were heading back to the launch area we saw a gator 'breach", kind of like what a whale does, stick it's head way up out of the water and arch it's back. The pilot said the gator was chasing fish and they get rather energetic going for their lunch.
All I can tell you is I wouldn't want to go water skiing on this lake, no matter how enticing it looked.

At Airboats and Alligators there is also a snake display where Rachel a 30 foot reticulated python lives. She is unbelievably huge. The main part of her body is as thick as my thigh. She was gigantic!!!
She and all her pals are taken care of by volunteers that love and appreciate them. Just awesome!
They also had 8 parrots. One of which spoke volumes and sang! She/he was great! We had a long chat and he/she wanted to be scratched and petted. What a cool bird! Makes me miss my little Snowy a bit. This parrot was a hoot! They are all rescued and they have very happy homes too.

We departed there and headed through the northern part of the Glades to the outskirts of Naples to I75 then up to the Greyhound track.

Dog races are very popular in Florida, like harness racing is in Ontario. For many years the dog races had a bad reputation as the animals were treated poorly. New regulations and better policing of it has made a difference. You can even adopt a greyhound once it's finished it's racing career. The dogs are the most beautiful example of speed. Sleek and just lovely to watch walk but when they run a race it is really poetry in motion.

The track is a groomed, damp sand and is soft to the touch. The puppies feet won't get hurt! The whole track experience is much like the ones in Ontario for the horses. Pick your "winner" (knowing nothing about how they run us rookies go by name only) and place your bet. Okay, last of the big time spender here I put down $2 to win, place or show (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) so I paid $6 for one race. Wouldn't you know it. My dog came in 1st! I won $17.00! The race lasted 30 seconds. That's it that's all. There are 12 races a day and each dog only races once. They are born to do this and I was glad to see them all waging their tails at the end of the race!
The Mother faired well in her picks too. One puppy provided $28 in winnings! As it had only been 50 odd years since she'd been there it was a good return.

After a few races we headed out as it had been a long day, it was very warm and the nice pool at home beckoned.
So The Mother's last few days here are planned. With golfing today, a trip to Fisherman's Village and a tour of the aquarium in Sarasota on Saturday. Phew!

So, there you have my latest excursions!

Off to do what Snowbirds do....

Well, The Mother arrived a few days ago, tired but happy to be in Florida after a fast flight from Toronto. A few adventures at the airport but nothing too out of the ordinary. She met The Bro, The Man and I at the little Ft. Myer's airport and was eager to get settled, see the area, get some tee times and get some sun.
She said she had an awful January and was looking forward to a change. Well, this is the best place to hang out and do/see something different.

A few days of shopping, roaming around and seeing different golf courses to decide on what might work. Many of the courses down here are "executive length" meaning they aren't very long at all.
That did not please The Mother.
She is used to a long course with some obstacles that aren't usally full off water.

Welcome to Florida!

There are water, canals and huge sand bunkers everywhere on every course!
Oh the lady protest too much!
The water on one course we looked at was on every hole and most of them you had to drive the ball OVER the water.
Oh dear, The Mother is not happy with this fact.

Off to find a more suitable course for the 85 year old that hasn't lifted a club in 4 months.
Can we say our eyes were bigger than our stomach? In this case larger than the ability we currently own.
Hmmmm

We settled on a course that was short but perfect for a start. Kings Gate.
First we decided a trip to the driving range was in order. The Mother is using clubs that belong to the house owner's girlfriend so they aren't to her usual order. Practice was a good idea.
Other's thought the same as there were 5 Ontario licence plates in the parking lot when we got there! After practice The Mother was very pleased that we had chosen the short course.

Kings Gate is a community of houses with a golf course stuck in between. The cart path takes you through all the houses and some of the holes are literally in a bunch of back yards.

The green is on the right hand side of the picture to the right of the brown house.

The greens were NOT flat. In fact they were the most challenging part of the course. Hard as rock and not a level part in any of them. Now, if you got a good bounce off of the berm surrounding it you were home free. The course may not be long but the greens certainly challenged you. The Mother grumbled profusely at the number of 3 putts she had. Ho hum!

You'll note the water.
The fairway is to the left.
The pin is to the extreme right by the large tree you see in the distance.
This was the 18th. The longest hole on the course at nearly 300 yards.
The Mother still doesn't like water but didn't fall into this pond.
We both lost several balls on a few holes by adding the plastic content to the waterways.
Ho hum.
Found a ball though! Yay!

This hole was the worst.
This tee box, in the left of the picture is the white and blue (for the boys).
They have to clear the swamp and head for the green that is over the trees to the right.
The women's tee is half way down the cart path built on a wooden platform to the left of the path.
Yup, lost a ball there.
Even put one in the water behind the swamp off the drop area.
I truly should not be playing this game.
Tried though.
Got on the green finally and did a lovely job putting. Ha! Redemption.
For a  moment....

Oh yeah, the price is certainly right too.
$35.00 with cart.
Huh???
Yep, you read right.
Gotta love the prices here.

So, we've been off touring around just about everyday. The Mother is fascinated by the whole area and today we're off to an orange grove and Punta Gorda.

The Man is happily sitting reading a book by the pool (he's on his 11th book!) and having some quiet time, he'll join us for some of the travels. Only a couple of weeks left in his time here. Now it seems to have flown when you're looking at it from the other end. He's got an awesome tan though!

So, wildlife update.
This dude was climbing up the downspout the other day. Love his big sticky feet!
Cute!

And did you know that mockingbirds, in mating season NEVER SHUT UP even at night??? Who knew???

Off to do more Snowbird research at the orange grove today.

Cheers to all of you from 28C Port Charlotte.


r.i.p: The Ubes 1 year ago

All is Quiet....For now

The Boys are having a late snooze in and I'm the only one up! Who would have thunk it!
The Bro gets up pretty early and with coffee and puzzle he is out by the pool enjoying the morning sunshine.
This morning there is sunshine but it's not sitting weather outside.
The cold front that has hit Ontario came all the way down here too.
For just one day I'm told.
At time of writing (10am) it's about 45 F with a strong wind outside.
Supposed to be 60 F later.
BRRRRRRR!

Tomorrow it's supposed to be back up to 70 F (20 C) which is much better then 80 F (27 C) on Tuesday. Phew. Much better.
Other than one day for His Pasty Whiteness to work on removing that nickname (he did well) we have been touring around. We experienced the Chubby'z wing night, the Fisherman's Village over in Punta Gorda where we bought the coolest t-shirts that change colour in the sun and The Mall where The Boys bought new shoes.
Today is The Bro's last full day here and I don't know what's up. I know they aren't even out of bed yet so it's going to be a playing it by ear thing.
The Bro likes maps so when he found a Port Charlotte Beach Complex we decided to head over there to have a look.
What a neat place.
Pool, tennis courts, launching ramp for boats, swimming area and a little bit of beach. Nice.

The Bros walking back from their stroll on the pier. Note they both have their hands in their pockets when they walk. Family trait I guess.

There was even pink seaweed to look at on the shore. Very interesting.

In our travels Friday we decided to play some mini-golf at the interesting looking place on Route 41 heading out of Port Charlotte.
Okay.
So playing with 2 brothers that tend to compete just a little bit was amusing to say the least. This course wasn't the easiest thing on the block either!
 Not to mention the iguanas that kept running around distracting you!

Yeah, he's real and can move really FAST!

Also it's really hard to putt well when the scene is so pretty.

The Man won after 36 holes of some of the craziest holes but only by a few strokes. It was surprisingly close.
The Bro was very focused. I think that is because we were at the fountain of youth earlier that day.
For all the complaining about "We're not getting any younger you know..." they are both quite spry and youthful and they make each other laugh.
The Man and I thought that The Bro might like a little charge up of the youthful fuel tank and went to Ponce De Leon's Fountain of Youth. The Man and I have been there before and wanted to share with the Bro.

See, doesn't he look so much more youthful???

All the visits have been good to what ever venue we've been to and there is so much to see and do.
The weather has been awesome and it's been fun to check things out that we've enjoyed and find some new things that we haven't.

I'm still working on finding out what all the birds are that we see and did find a Florida Bird Book at the bookstore and am madly checking off what we find. I'm having a terrible time identifying the flowers and plants. Some are native but some aren't and it's hard to tell what's what.
Like this one.

The plant itself is about 7 feet tall. This flower was right at eye level. Yes, it's real in case you're wondering. It was at the Fountain of Youth so it's anyone's guess as to what it is. It gets warm water all the time and maybe the minerals made it all very happy to grow. Who knows but it's really something.

So I guess that's all for now.
The Bro is up now, The Man still snorking away. Guess The Boys are tired from all their goofing around...

Cheers all!

Excuse me....your guest has arrived....

After nearly an hour delay The Man's Bro arrived at Southwest Florida International Airport ready to rid himself of his pasty whiteness and see what all the enjoyment is about here in Port Charlotte.
Of course the day he arrives we have the first real rain storm of the winter.
Natch.
Now I'm worried the weather will be less than favourable for his quest to get "a good base then work on a tan for the rest of the week".
Yikes.
We'll adapt as required.
We arrived home about 2:30 am and had a beverage by the pool and unwound from the journey (his unwinding required, ours just enjoyed).
After a few hours sleep it was up to investigate the area, do some shopping and enjoy some wings and "happy hour Port Charlotte style".

The Man and The Bro hoisting a cold frosty one.
Wings were awesome. Beer was cold (in a frozen mug no less) and we even tried GATOR. Yup, those prehistoric things that crawl around, we had 'em battered and fried.
Really though, not much to write home about. Didn't really taste like chicken as some people said but was interesting to have.
Okay, been there, done that.
While out for a walk in the morning I saw my neighbour out trimming his (what I thought was grapefruit tree) so I went over to talk to him. Thought it would be interesting for the Bro to get grapefruit right from the tree and I figured I'd ask of we could get some.

Turns out these fruit were lemons.
The biggest, hugest, heaviest lemons I've ever seen.
Ahhhh you know what they say about life when it gives you lemons....

Lemonade!!!

Boy did we get lemonade. About 4 litres of it! We had two shopping bags full of lemons!
We are not going to get scurvy for sure now. Fortified for life.
My hands and nails are a little soft from squeezing these things (I did half, the Bro did half) and the house smells great but it was soooo worth it. They are so soft that they can be squeezed by hand. Cut them in half and squish away. Awesome.

Today we took the Bro to Boca Grande. Just a little taste of the rich and famous sea shore and the Gulf of Mexico. The Bro has to take shells and sand home to his daughter and I figured this was the perfect place to go. Armed with a bottle for sand and a bag for the shells we set out.
The skies cleared, it was sunny, hot and a great breeze. The pasty white guy won't be so for long.
Shelling has it's own name here in Boca Grande. You're not going shelling, you're doing the Boca Bend!

The Bro demonstrating the Boca Bend at the Boca Grande Lighthouse. (Note his pasty whiteness.)

The Boca Bend is demonstrated by many people on this day and it is an activity for young and old, though the young were few and far between as this is not the season for that demographic.
There are people at the beach here. The picture above doesn't show it.

The Boys, as I call them, enjoyed their time at the Gulf of Mexico.

The Man and The Bro at Boca Grande beach (Note the Man is not pasty white)

And we picked up a huge haul of amazing shells.

I know the Bro's daughter will like them. We got quite a selection for her. They are drying in the sun after a thorough washing

After practicing the Boca Bend for over an hour and hanging out watching waves, birds and fish (a shore fisherman caught a sting ray!!!) we headed into town for a late lunch at The Loose Caboose. This building was the old rail way station. Awesome lunch with excellent Key Lime Pie (hey, it's been over 2 weeks since my last piece) and then we were on our way back to the house for some pool time and resting in the warm Florida evening.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring. There is always a plan with options when there is a guest but this guest is family so just hanging out is good too.

It was a good day! If not a little windy at the beach but sooo lovely. Ahhhhh

In a Routine? Maybe....

Regular life (the life I have when I'm not on my Pilgrimage) has a routine.

Up, work, home/volunteer then bed and it repeats itself until Friday when home is 250 km away for a few days then it's back to the routine of the city.

I've been out of my routine for a while and where ever I am or what ever I'm doing it takes a while to get into a routine. Even when I'm travelling around there will be a routine. Up, pack, check map, breakfast, crossword puzzle during breakfast, check out of room, and drive to the next scenic thing.

In Port Charlotte I think I've finally found a routine. Yeah, I fell into the trap of staying up late watching some dumb program on TV, okay, maybe not dumb but mindless. Like Gold Rush or Undercover Boss or my favourite, Diners Drive Ins and Dives. Then I don't get up until 10 am and I feel like the day is mostly gone! Gotta change that!

New routine. Up around 8, breakfast with a crossword puzzle and/or Suduko and out for my mile walk. It's just around two of the streets here but I've paced out a mile with the car and I'm walking it every morning. I saw a Facebook post from my cousin N who said "anything done for 21 days becomes a habit". Well, I'm up to 5 days in a row. Not much but I do feel much better when I get back and I see all sorts of people and things when I'm out there.

Like...
Did you know the roads are set on a bed of crushed shells and not gravel as is in Ontario! Now that's neat.

And that the county has "posted" that a home is abandoned or vacant. Meaning that they have to cut the lawn. The owners are gone, no one pays anything and the house just sits there. This is quite a frequent thing after hurricane Charlie 5 years ago and the economy many people literally walk away from their homes. They can't afford to fix them after the damage caused by the hurricane and the economy has left them with little choice but to leave. It's sad but there are 3 homes in this little area that it has happened to.

I am starting to see various homes have occupants for a time, then they head out again. The home beside mine is a rental. A company owns it and rents it out. Interesting.

Today we welcome The Man's brother to Paradise for a week. Even though the forecast isn't the blazing sun we've had it's still 80F (26 C) out by the pool at 10 am and there's just a slight breeze. It's lovely, let me tell you! A little humid but still very nice. It will be nice to have a guest to show around. I'm sure he'll enjoy himself.

Enjoying yourself here isn't hard. We decided to go to a bistro called "JD's Bistro and Grille" with initials like that we couldn't pass it up. It was nice to go to a "nicer" place. There was a singer with piano and bass accompiment and the food was outstanding but it was the drinks.
Oh yeah, a Key Lime Pie Martini. You guess it. And it even has a Graham Cracker glass rimmer. Oh yup it was good.
The Man especially liked it.

There's a smile there, really there is.
I think this was his second. They were yummy.
I was particularly enjoying the Margartinis. Think of it as a marguerita without all the ice. Just the booze.
They were lovely too.

The menu included wild boar. Which was super! The place kind of reminded me of a place in Southampton, Grosvenor's. Interesting food and nice servers. Our's, Laurie, was a hoot. We has so much fun there, partly because of her.
We've already made a reservation for my birthday. There's supposed to be a really cute singer there that night. Oh yay!

So, the routine is starting to come together and it's been good to get one going. The Snowbird life without a plan is rather hap hazard. But sitting by the pool all day is part of a routine isn't it??? I've even added daily laps in the pool to my agenda. I've been a sloth way too long. 

Cheers from the Snowbird try-out team.

What's that in the sky??? Could it be? No way!!

Yes folks.
It has happened.
Finally.
After 32 days in paradise.....

It was a dull, cloudy day!
No!
Really!

Proof....

Isn't that truly amazing?
A fully cloudy sky AND it even rained enough that I had to use the windshield wipers for at least 25 seconds while I was out running errands. This is a total turn of events.

Life may change as we know it. Oh dear? Will my tan fade?

Doesn't the pool look sad all covered up with no toys in it to play with? Every day the pool is uncovered and given a couple of balls and a pool noodle to play with in it's current until the humans come in and swim around. It just looks so lonely....

Oh, wait, new day.
New sky.
And it's blue! With some puffy clouds floating by.
Phew, all is well.
Thought we might have had a crisis there. Thankfully averted. Life can now continue....

As we hear of the storm battering Colorado (news of Canada is non-existant) we are remembering what it's like to have a change in the weather. I can tell you it really doesn't down here. The humidity may come and go ( it's here right now and wow does it feel like August in Toronto outside at times) but there seems to be a breeze for the most part. Even when it was cloudy yesterday it was still humid. Like a storm wanted to come through and clear it all out but couldn't. I guess that's what it's like down here all the time.

Plants are in dormant mode right now and don't seem to mind being in a drought but what is starting to send off shoots are the huge palm trees. At this time of the season they start to send out huge spike like things straight up in the air. In a couple of weeks they'll start to open into new fronds. Right now they look like Excalibur swords sticking out of these gigantic trees. Kind of neat.

Messy trees to have are citrus trees unless you live here full time. Citrus trees ripen their fruit now and the same problem exists as with apples up north, they get all wormy and gross. Then they fall on the ground and the bees and wasps go berserk. They look cool and are fun to have if you have time to tend them. The neighbour has a limonfruit tree. This is a created hybrid of a lime, lemon and grapefruit tree and each branch gives off a different fruit. Guess it was kind of the norm to sell these things a few years ago. Now they're just weird. Again, if you don't tend to them then the fruit gets all bumpy and inedible. Strange.

So, the weather continues to be a source of amazement here in Port Charlotte. I can really see why Snowbirds come here. There is no stress of a) what to wear as it's always shorts weather and b) what the roads are like because they're always good. There are other weather related stresses but not at this time of year, at least I hope not!

Cheers from the Southwest Florida coast.

Wing Wars and Book Reviews

Greetings northern clime inhabitants.
Here is another report on the goings on of Snowbird world in Southwest Florida.

First, Wing Wars.
What, you may ask are "Wing Wars"?
I will tell you.
It's a serious thing down here just to let you know.

The Tamiami Trail, also known as Route 41 is a long stretch of highway that, in Port Charlotte contains many stores, strip malls and restaurants.
A few of these restaurants are of the "sports bar" variety.
They are fairly busy when there is nothing much going on but when it's a) a major sporting event night or day ie. Superbowl or b) wing night WATCH OUT!
It's packed.
Beyond packed.
They set up extra picnic tables to accommodate the overflow.
These places are the sites of Wing Wars.

Chubby'z has 30 cent wings on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Happy hour is a happy time with 2 for 1 drinks. This is a happy thing that we don't see in Canada. But it's the wings that bring them in too.

Half a mile up the road is Gator's.
It has 25 cent wings.
ON THE SAME NIGHT as Chubby'z.
Oh my goodness what a bottle neck of parking and traffic around each place. Thankfully they are on opposite sides of the street.

YIKES! It's a Wing War!
Last night we thought we'd go for wings again as Chubby'z was such a positive experience. We couldn't get near the place.
Thought we'd try Gator's.
Holy Cow! It was worse! Packed like sardines they were quaffing brews and munching on chicken appendages.
Both places were making a killing.
We abandoned the quest on Route 41 and headed to another place the pool guy suggested.
(Always ask the locals where good stuff is!)

We headed to Buffalo Wings and Rings. It's a few miles to the east and not nearly as busy. Of course it wasn't.
No Wing War here.
Got a booth, happy hour drink (oh yeah) and great wings.
To The Man's enjoyment there was trivia on one of the TV screens and he was enjoying the challenge. I was watching basketball on another screen (way too popular down here).
The restaurant was very busy, not packed but busy.

This area truly loves it's wings and so does the population judging by the Wing Wars. When I am next in Chubby'z or finally make it into Gator's I will ask how many tons of flappers they go through on a Wing Night.

Truly crazy down here.

The other thing that's crazy is the books The Man has devoured on his time here.
He does not, as a rule, read books. It may take him months to read even a few chapters.
Give him a pool, sunshine and not much else to do (the old movies on Turner Classic Movie channel keeps him occupied at night) he goes NUTS on books.

These are the ones he's FINISHED. We actually had to go to the bookstore here (what a place that is!) and buy some more.

Getting easily intimidated by large volumes he did decide on the latest Stephen King book, which surprised me as it's huge!

I'm still shocked that he actually got into it as it's not quite the same genre as the others. Never ceases to amaze me how fast he can read when given the chance.

Me? I've read Anne Murray's biography (oh yes, The Man read that TOO!), a Clive Cussler suspence, a book on Rin Tin Tin, a quaint Amish based story and many, many crossword puzzles (hence the reason I haven't read quite as many books as The Man). It's been so much fun to lose myself in a book and really get into it without any mental distractions. I haven't read that much on any of my other travels, usually because my eyes were tired from all the driving but I just didn't feel like it.

I guess that's what Snowbirds do too. Read a lot. Not a bad thing really. It is fun to "catch up" on the stories I've missed.
While at the bookstore I found the final installment of the Clan of the Cave Bear series. The author Jean M. Auel, hadn't written anything for ages to finish off the series that she started years ago. I have all the other books in Toronto and this is the final one. It was published in July but due to travels I never picked it up. It's weird when you find a book that you're actually excited about reading. Glad I got it though!

Tonight it's warm enough to go for an evening swim! That's nice!
There have been record temperatures for January down here with only 15 tenths of an inch of rain (instead of the nearly 2 inches average) but then there have been near record temperatures up north too. So maybe we're sending warm weather north afterall and not even trying. Hope everyone likes it.... :-)

Right, so, there's my report for now.
As developments continue to arise in all these stories I will be happy to report!

Cheers all