The Keys!!!!

Its been a while so I thought I better open with the hot sunshine, but cool breeze from the Keys.  Joe and I drove to Homestead to spend 3 nights and 4 days at the Hampton Inn there- new and very accomodating. We ventured to Key Largo and had linner at the Sundowner which was very good and then took a glassbottom boat ride to the Molasses Reef to see the corals, fish and what-not.   It was very rough out there... It took the boat 45 min to get to the reef.  I managed to stay down below and view the sights through the glass bottom for most of the time but... just had to go up for some air earlier than some.

Later  in this venture we spent a whole day in Key West... We should have planned to stay over night, because many of the attractions closed at 5:00 which made it difficult to see them.  We did see Truman's Little White House and took a tour.  Very informative about the man and what he was up against at that time. The place was just as it was in the 50s and 60s, but in disrepair... hopefully the ticket costs will be used for it.  We only got a visual of Hemingway's house- too bad! and missed the trolley ride back to the parking area.  Thats okay... we were able to walk it with ease.  Before we left... we had someone take our picture at the Southern Most Point of the United States.  Hope it turns out okay.  The ride back to Homestead was ver-y---y long!  Next time, we will stay at least over night---there are some really quaint places to hang one's hat.

Sunday, we left for Summerfield to relax for a few weeks for minimal cost to our pocketbook before we travel back home.

Sanibel Island

Monday started relatively cool and sunny.. best to start out early for Sanibel.  With our swim suits, hats, towels and shell bag ready, we left around 8:00am. Beat the shellers? I doubt it... We found the beach in short time and to our dismay, we had to pay $2.00/ hr to park What! never the less, we stayed 4 hours..  Four wonderful hours in the sun,  with a steady breeze and of course shells, yes... shells, lots of them of all sizes.. There were all ages shelling on the beach and in the water.   Everyone seemed to be having alot of fun including Joe and I. We realize we will have to soak them for a long time before they go home because they stink badly!. Even though we were in the sun for 4 hours, we were well protected and just received a bit of color.  No more sunburns for me if I can help it.  Cancer can come in all types of packages....

We ate a late lunch at the Lighthouse on the Water ( I think). Then we continued our jaunt to the connector island, Captiva.  We went as far as we could and ended up at a cute bar/grill called Mucky Duck.  The wait for dinner was crazy so we just had a libation and sat outside on a picnic bench with two women from Jersey- interesting! They left and we did so too and we said good-bye to these islands and waited and waited in the traffic to get back to Ft Myers. 

Tuesday was "stay out of the sun" day,  they predicted the possiblity for rain and partly sunny so it was a good plan.  We spent a good part of the day walking around the neighborhood by the Hotel and well as the Tanger Outlet Stores... bad idea. Yes, we did pick up a few things that were much needed, "ha, ha" They will be well used, you bet.  Later on, we stopped for an early dinner at the restaurant, Blue Point Oyster Bar and Grill at the Bell Tower shopping center - Yum! I love the coleslaw they had; much different from what I have had in the past. I will need to look up the recipe sometime. What a pleasant day and no rain...  

Well, this blog thing is a learning experience for me. I attempted to write about yesterday's events and lost it. Soooo, I'll try again.   Saturday, the 24th, was the day to visit the Shell Factory and Nature Park. It sounded a little cheesy, but actually, we enjoyed the visit. Seeing shelves of many different shells from all over the world, various corals, semi-precious stones and fossils along with items for Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving was quite stimulating to see. The nature park was separate from the store and for a small fee one could stroll along the path to see peacocks, parrots, fish, snakes, alligators, camels, etc all up close and personal. I don't think I have ever been sooo close to the alligators as I was there. Of course, they had children's areas too.

 As we traveled back to the hotel, we took a detour to investigate a Gelato shop. We looked inside and felt that we entered a fairytale-like place filled with many kinds of Gelato and dish combinations containing delectible add-ons such as choc. truffles, cookies and chocolate designs. The place was called  Artisan Gelato by Norman Love. He had a wonderful and quite expensive candy shop.  We were told the Easter candy comes out this week. Thank goodness we won't be around there. We had to sample the gelato or more than sample.... My sundae became my lunch and dinner- geez! I will have to find a "Y" somewhere...  Sunday, we go to visit some friends ( a friend from the cancer experience) in Bonita Springs for the afternoon.

Ft Myers

Joe and I spent our first full day in Ft Myers visiting the winter homes of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. We spent most of the day listening to the history of these men's travels and triumphs. Its amazing how far we have come since the early 1900s.  We enjoyed walking around  their homes, gardens, especially the moonlight garden created by Mina Edison.  Although these men were intense and thoughtful individuals, they knew how to enjoy life... such vagabonds! They camped all over in a makeshift camper designed from an early Ford model.
 After we finished the tour, we traveled through Ft/ Myers to Cape Coral. For an early dinner, we decided to stop at an interesting place called Leapin' Lizards  Bar and Grill. It appeared to be a place plucked right out of the Florida Keys;  colors, decor and people, wow! We enjoyed the warm weather sitting outside on the open-air bar eating a great salad topped with grouper fish. This is what life should be like....nice.

We left this morning, later than our past trips... in the daylight. Yea!  I actually could see the countryside as we traveled down toward Lexington Kentucky.  I am liking the "slow as we go" style for traveling.  Does that mean we're getting old? or that we savor looking around, taking a walk here or there and actually getting some good nights sleep.  Getting up early, rushing down the interstate and dragging yourself into a 'hotel' for the night doesn't appeal to me as a mode of living anymore.  I have learned that there is much more to life than fighting rush hour traffic and pushing our limits to reach the our final destination.

Tomorrow, will be day number 2 on our travels to Fort Meyers Fl.  Lets see what is on our route to Macon Georgia that we haven't seen before... slow as we go..

Hi World! We are traveling to Florida!