11/02-04/2024 – Squish the Fish!
The 2nd of November saw us head towards Fort Meyers, but first a detour. We headed off to Canaveral National Seashore to see the sand and beaches and the beautiful coastline. Oh, yeah, and the rain.While we did not see much of the coastline, we did see some of the impacts of the hurricane that recently came through the area. Heading back from the seashore we stopped at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service where a very helpful interpretive ranger helped us find a place where we could see some floating rocks, aka manatees! We saw a lot of manatees. While the water was murky and it was hard to view them through the water, we managed to see them when they breached the surface or floated along the top. Kathy’s bucket list now has one more item checked off. Seeing the floating gentle giants was a nice beginning to the day. Soon we were on our way to find the next stop, the hotel in Fort Meyers.
As we approached Fort Meyers we made a tactical decision: church first, then dinner, and then find the hotel. It worked out perfectly! A nice mass at St Leo’s with a beautiful homily by the priest was a nice respite from the chaos of the cities. While contemplating his words of wisdom, Kathy was grateful for his message of compassion and love of neighbors during this chaotic time. Deciding that hopping into the car did not sound fun, we instead opted to walk along to find dinner. A nice diner, Mel’s Diner, was a perfect choice. A good home style meal that did not break the budget was a nice treat.
The hotel was soon found and we settled in for the night. Hopefully, tomorrow will be just as great.
The 3rd started out quiet; breakfast and a walk before we went to meet with Mike (Dave’s brother) and his significant other, Tracy, at a local sports bar to watch the Bill’s versus the Dolphins. It has almost been 40 years since they have watched a game together. Soon we were all seated around a table, drinks in hand and began chatting before the game began. It was great catching up with the both of them. The great repartee was often interrupted, though, as the Bills played a nail-biter of a game, which ended with the longest field goal in Bills history to claim a win over the hated Miami Dolphins. Both Mike and Dave have a very long history of rivalry with the Dolphins. The Bills went 0 for the 1970’s against the Dolphins, and with the ‘70’s being formative years for both of them, the rivalry is intense and ingrained deeply.
Night soon descended and we snuggled into bed, content in the knowledge that we squished the fish!
Last full day in Florida seemed to arrive quickly and we headed out the door to enjoy our time left. Heading out to find Manatee Park and see the manatees was our next goal. Paying for a full day of parking, we had high expectations…….we have renamed “Manatee Park” just “Park”. No manatees to be found there; nothing much of anything except a squirrel and a rabbit. Oh, yeah, we did see the tiniest frog we have ever seen! After less than an hour we headed out, but not before having a few chuckles about a strategically placed fire extinguisher near a sign about how important fire management is to maintaining the natural ecosystem. Dave wonders how, in 30 years of fighting forest fires for the National Park Service, he was never once issued a fire extinguisher to put out the forest fires!
Deciding surely there is something to do in Fort Lauderdale we headed in that direction. As usual, Dave headed off the beaten track, and, while the going was rough, we were rewarded with seeing multiple alligators (including a tiny baby!) and some interesting birds. When the going gets rough, the rough get going and we enjoyed the experience. Deciding at that point we had had enough fun, we headed towards the hotel in Fort Lauderdale to check in and go for a walk. Tomorrow sees us head home.
