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!