Florida

January 30, 2020

I was up at 5:00 so I could have my tea, do my exercises, finish packing, and be ready to leave for the airport at 8:00. I am so not used to getting up at 5:00! It doesn’t take long.

I was flying out of Rockford for the first time. I watched the weather forecasts carefully, hoping there wouldn’t be a blizzard. I had a direct flight to Punta Gorda, which was good. If I didn’t get out at 11:03 on Thursday, the next flight wasn’t until Saturday.

I arrived at airport at 8:40. I was afraid that we would hit the morning rush hour in Rockford, but there didn’t seem to be one. I had packed the majority of my luggage ahead of time and sent it down with Jane. I’d printed my boarding pass at home and had only a book bag with my tablet and medications to put under the seat in front of me. I asked a man by the check in if I had to stand in line there, and he said no and pointed me to security. “There’s a plane at your gate now,” he added, “But that’s not your flight. Don’t get on that plane.”

I thanked him and walked right up to the man checking boarding passes and ids. I took my tablet out of my bag, took off my coat and shoes, and walked through the metal detector. Some reassembly was required afterwards.

I walked to Gate 4, which was the highest the gate numbers went to. The earlier flight was boarding. Signs pointed down a hallway for food. A Starbucks was too much to hope for. The only place to get food was a combination short order grill, convenience store, and bar. And yes, there were people ordering drinks.  I ordered a bagel and cream cheese. As an afterthought, I also bought the last banana. The full-sized bagel came with a one-tablespoon container of cream cheese. I spread it as thinly as possible and still could not cover all the real estate.

My flight was uneventful, which was all I hoped for. We even got in a few minutes early. Meanwhile, Jane and Jan had been circling the various parking lots at the airport in pursuit of the cell phone lot, ending up in long term parking by mistake, then getting a space in short term, where the fee if they were there for more than 2 hours was $1. Not like Chicago.

We drove back toward the condo in Fort Myers Beach. Fort Myers Beach is a sand spit in the Gulf of Mexico. Like most sand spit islands, there is one road that runs the length, and most side roads dead end. Like Florida, there were way too many cars trying to get somewhere. We were soon mired in a traffic jam. Shortly after we got to Fort Myers Beach, we stopped moving all together. Emergency  vehicles came zooming up the middle lane. We were stuck.

Cars started turning around ahead of us. We followed suit and drove back to Junkanoo’s for supper. Jane and I split a shrimp and scallop wrap. The seafood was delicately breaded, fried to just done, and put on a bed of not-too-much lettuce and tomato. It was perfect. We had sweet potato fries too. Jan ordered an appetizer of grilled scallops, which was a generous serving of perfectly cooked scallops. As best we could figure, the only thing that distinguished the scallop appetizer and an entrée was the absence of a starchy side dish. [I left my cell phone in the car and was not able to get any pictures.]

We sat outside, enjoying the lovely evening. I’m sure I was the only person there wearing wool socks, and one of few who were wearing socks at all. Sandals and capris were the order of the day. We were done eating a half an hour before sunset. I ordered another beer and we got a slice of key lime pie to share. It didn’t take three women long to finish off one slice of pie, so I sipped my beer as slowly as possible. The sunset wasn’t perfect as the clouds were rolling in. We saw some pink and orange. Best of all, the traffic was moving when we left the restaurant.

I was pretty well beat by the time we got to the condo. It is on the fifth floor and overlooks the ocean and an estuary that forms a pond. There were a few roseate spoonbills in the pond, but it was getting too dark for pictures. I went to bed soon after our arrival and slept very well.

Friday, January 31

We each got up in our own time. We had a breakfast of yogurt, citrus fruits, and toast. An eagle is nesting in a tree behind our building.

Eagle in nest

We headed out for Cape Coral to look for burrowing owls, stopping at Beall’s to pick up a wine cooler Jane had ordered. Burrowing owls have been pretty well squeezed out of their native habitats and are making do with vacant lots. They are a protected species, and their nests are marked with white PVC posts, a wooden T perch by the hole, and a sign warning that disturbing owls is a crime with a number to report offenders.

There were no owls. We might be a bit early for the nesting season.

On our drive was saw several osprey on nesting platforms perched atop utility poles. In this picture, you can see the head of one osprey in a poorly-developed next and one eating a fish below it.

Osprey on top of nest platform while another eats a fish

We also saw numerous ibises, a bird so common down here that they are called “Florida chickens.” There are many species of herons. This yellow-crowned heron stood perfectly still, begging me to take its picture.

Yellow-crowned heron

We went on to an island/fishing village called Matlacha. I was confused at first when I heard Jane and Jan talking about Matt LaShea, which is how it’s pronounced. I thought it was the name of a restaurant. The name of the restaurant was Bert’s. I ordered grilled shrimp tacos with Bert’s famous house-made potato chips. It was not until I was half way through the second taco that I realized that it was exactly the same as a wrap except open on one side. I enjoyed it anyway.

Shrimp tacos and potato chips

Next we drove down to the end of Pine Island to Pineland, where the Randall Research Center and Calusa Heritage Trail are located. 

Jan and I read one of the plaques

We had puzzled over a flower by the roadside that had red sepals. It also grew along the path into Pineland, where I saw it was some kind of milkweed, but it wasn't like any milkweed I'd ever seen. I finally found one that had a tag by it. It said, "Milkweed." Thanks.

A very colorful milkweed

In the Education Building, a replica fishing net hung across the length of the room. A plaque explained that the nets were made of palm fiber cords with cypress and gourd floats on one side and stones and shells weighing down the other end.

Replica Calusa fishing net

The Calusa Indians (Native Americans? First Nations?) dominated the area for two thousand years. They built huge mounds of shells and a canal system. Jan and I climbed to the top of Brown’s Mound, which was once twice the size it is today. The shells that are visible in places are original to the mound, perhaps thousands of years old. The mounds were largely destroyed as road builders hauled it out for pavement.

Side of the mound of shells

This is the view from the top of the mound.

View from the top of the mound

While we were climbing, Jane took a picture of this cardinal eating the fruit of some kind of palm tree.

Cardinal eating palm fruit

This is a remnant of a canal.

Canal remnant

Several osprey were around. Most exciting was the sighting of two piliated woodpeckers. They flew off of a tree that was closer to us to a tree farther away. As a bonus, however, there was an American kestrel in the top of the tree they landed on.

Two piliated woodpeckers (right and left) and a kestral (top)

That was all the excitement I could take for one day. Since we had a late lunch, all were in agreement that ice cream would make a fine dinner. We stopped at the Love Boat, along with many of the other people of the greater Fort Myers area. The line went to the door.

The line for ice cream on Friday evening

I benefited from Jane and Jan’s wisdom and experience in picking the very best combination. A small order bought four small scoops of ice cream, in our case coconut almond fudge and dirty turtle (chocolate ice cream with caramel and pecans). To die for.

A small order of ice cream

Jan and I had a glass of wine back at the condo, and that was pretty much the end of my first day of vacation.