Florida, Day 4

Monday morning, we drove to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary & Blair Audubon Center. We walked the 2-mile boardwalk through several types of wetlands, including an amazing virgin bald cypress swamp.

The boardwalk

As in tropical forests, there were many epiphytes, sometime called “air plants” because they grow on top of (epi) other plants (phytes) and never have roots in the ground. This one was blooming.

A blooming air plant

In places, the entire floor was covered with ferns.

Ferns beneath the cypress

The area has been a cypress swamp for at least 500 years. The massive older trees have been named for individuals who were instrumental in establishing the sanctuary.

One of the old cypress trees

Sadly, some of these trees had lost their tops in hurricanes.

Here are some of the photos I took of the wildlife.

Anhinga

Green heron

Great blue heron 

Little blue heron

So many herons! 

Crappy picture of a kingfisher

Crappy picture of a yellow-bellied sapsucker

When I looked at the pictures in the evening, I saw that this alligator has a baby alligator lying with it head near its mom’s belly.

Mama Gator with a baby

And there were hawks.

Red-shouldered hawk

This might be the Florida subspecies of a red-shouldered hawk, which is lighter in color

A purple gallinule in a bed of water lettuce.

Purple gallinule

Pretty proud of myself that I got a more-or-less in-focus picture of a black and white warbler. Warblers are very annoying to photograph, all that flitting around.

Black and white warbler

Jane took pictures of the bird feeder by the visitors' center.

Painted bunting

Painted bunting with a female cardinal

We also saw, but were unable to get a good picture of, a raccoon, ibis, red-bellied woodpecker, and egret.

We did not see any wood storks, but there was a lovely sculpture of them by the visitors’ center. The peril of the wood stork was a major impetus to establishing the sanctuary.

Sculpture of wood storks

We stopped at Royal Ice Cream on the way home for an ice cream lunch. I had mint chip and chocolate almond. We decided that Love Boat was a better value because of lower price and larger serving sizes. And it came in a Styrofoam cup. Horreur! 

Royal mint chip and chocolate almond  ice cream

We were home for sunset at the condo.

 

Another beautiful sunset on the Gulf

Time out!

I am overwhelmed with images. I have literally hundreds of photos from the last three days. In order to enjoy my last day in Florida, I'm talking a time out from blogging. I promise to get the rest of the trip posted next week. I'll give you one picture to tide you over. I came down here with only one goal--I wanted to see the burrowing owls. And yesterday, I did! It was very exciting!

A pair of burrowing owls

See you in a couple of days.

Florida, Day 3

Sunday, February 2

Groundhog Day had not a cloud in the sky. We saw three dolphins swimming close to the shore. That was exciting because dolphin sightings have been rare this year.

Jan made blueberry pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Afterward, Jane and I went down to the beach in front of the condo. Getting to the beach required walking through the water in the lagoon. Hoo-wee, that was cold! “It’s from the rain,” Jane said.

The underwater path to the beach

Jane put her chair by the shell tree. There are two shell trees, one on either side of a bunch of shrubs. If the shell trees have a purpose, I don’t know what it is.

Shell tree, forefront; condo building, background

I walked down the beach. I cannot get my directions straight. I think it is from living in Illinois for so long. If I’m looking at a body of water, it feels like I am looking east, which down here I am totally not. I am looking west. Therefore, when I turned left to walk on the beach I am going south, not north. So weird.

The water in the ocean was warmer than in the lagoon. I was surprised at first, but realized that the shallow lagoon will change temperature much quicker than the larger Gulf of Mexico. Duh.

I saw an ibis foraging in the surf.

Ibis in the surf

There were a few sea oats growing along the dune. When I was in Florida decades ago, the sea oats were protected because of overuse for decorated purposes. They have beautiful seed heads.

Sea grass, art shot

Sea grass, detail

I walked as far as where the lagoon narrowed. There is a bridge down there somewhere, but I didn’t get that far.

This was as far as I got down the beach

I walked back to where Jane was sitting. We admired the shadows around the driftwood buried in the sands.

Driftwood and shadows

There was a tricolor heron in the lagoon. The identifying mark is a white breast. Most of the pictures I took were out of focus. I am at an age where I don’t see well enough through my bifocals to focus the camera manually, but autofocus will often focus on the wrong thing when the surrounding area is “busy” with, e.g., branches.

Tricolor heron

I got several good pictures of a little blue heron. I didn’t even know there was such a thing.

Little blue heron

Little blue heron fishing

I even got an action shot.

Little blue heron flying

We didn’t have lunch because breakfast had been late and substantial. Jane and I drove down to Bowditch Point Nature Preserve to look for gopher tortoises. We didn’t see any. We saw several burrows that looked as if the sand had been recently excavated.

An apparently active burrow, but no one seemed to be home

There was an interesting plant with bright orange fruits.

Orange fruits on the ground

I split one of the fruits open with difficulty. It was almost like taffy inside. I licked a little of the juice off my fingers, hoping it wasn’t poisonous. Other than being sweet, I can’t describe the flavor.

The interior was the consistency of taffy

On further inspection, we saw that the fruit was produced in a cone. The appearance of the whole fruit reminded me of hot lava poking through cooled basalt on the top.

The cone with the fruit poking through

“It might be a cycad,” I conjectured. “They have cone-like fruits. It’s an ancient plant.”

Further along the path, I saw a plant that had much smaller cones. Perhaps a male.

There were several nice banyan trees. They have not only aerial prop roots that go down to the ground but roots all over the surface of the soil extending for long distances around the trunk.

A banyan tree with aerial prop roots and spreading root on the ground

Back at the condo, Jane began researching the orange fruited plants. It was a cycad! I win! It is wild sago (Zamia pumila) or coontie, the latter name derived from the Seminole Indian name, conti hateka. And it is dioecious, which means a plant will be male or female, but not both. I win again!

Sunday evening we went over to Jan's friend, Sheila's for the superbowl. We ate numerous hors d'oeuvres and had Rueben sandwiches and key lime pie for supper. The Chiefs won, which I expected because I'd watched them make a surprising comeback during the playoffs. It was a good game.

Florida, Day 2

Saturday, February 1

We had thunderstorms during the night, and it was still raining off and on Saturday morning. We went into downtown Fort Myers to ArtFest anyway. It worked out very well from my perspective. We got a parking spot in the ramp near the elevator, there was immediate seating in the temporary restroom, and it was easy to walk through the artists’ tents. In previous year during nice weather, Jane and Jan had hardly been able to get through the crowds. It was too bad for the artists, though. Business was slow.

Jan and Jane walking through ArtFest in a light rain

The temporary restrooms were noteworthy. A trailer had entry and exit doors for men or women. The women’s side had 5 stalls and two sinks with running water! This was a big step up from the chemical toilets in a trailer that McHenry County puts out at the Fair. The ArtFest facilities were hooked right up to a fire hydrant. I did not think to look for the path of effluent.

ArtFest is a juried show. Jane said that some local artists were miffed that they were not included. The artists came from as far away as California. They probably travel a circuit from town to town in the same state rather than running home between every show.

The ArtFest ran along a marina with lots of big boats.

Boats next to the ArtFest street

A vacant lot along the street had been turned into a display of garbage art. The diving figure above the sign is made entirely of repurposed items. Another piece was a huge rectangular bale of flattened plastic items marked “return to sender.”

Garbage art

There was a big tent for “Art under 20” featuring high school artists. Some of the art was very good. I was impressed by a dress made of pull tabs from soda cans. Some pieces were just plain disturbing. “Some of these kids need to be watched,” I said to Jan in a low voice.

“Yes,” she replied. “Did you see the one of a parent yelling at a child and the child yelling back?”

I had not, but I had seen stark scenes of skulls and violent acts.

Interestingly, the beer tent was open when we got there at 10:30, but the ice cream vendor was not.

After ArtFest, we drove to a restaurant named “Bullig” for their famous waffles. A sign by the door explained that bullig means family, “no one gets left out.” Jane and Jan had been there before, and found that the small inside eating area was noisy. A large group was just leaving the outdoor porch seating, and the waitress assured us that she could have the tables wiped and set in 5 minutes. Jan stayed behind to stake our claim while Jane and I did a quick tour of a little garden shop next door.

Once seated, I learned that they did not have decaf coffee in any form, but the waitress would be happy to bring me a variety of nasty-sounding herbal teas. I declined. Jan had a latte, and we all had water cheerfully served in mason jars. We would have a 30-minute wait for waffles. There were all sorts of clever names for the waffles in all their various presentations with toppings as diverse as eggs and sausage to fluffernutter. We all ordered waffles with two strips of bacon.

While we waited, we watched the cars and the periodic rain showers. The porch was on a busy street. It was no quieter than inside, really. We wondered why there was a big fenced-in parking lot on the other side of the road next to an antique store. There was nary a car in it, leading us to hypothesis that it was used by people who worked in the area during the week.

If I’d known the bacon came on top of the waffle dusted with powdered sugar, I would have asked for it on the side. Still, it was good, crisp bacon, and the maple syrup was the real deal. I would have taken a picture, but by the time I waited half an hour to eat (it was noon, and we hadn’t had much breakfast), I dove in while it was hot, remembering about the picture when my waffle was half eaten. It was a pretty darned good waffle, for being in a restaurant.

We drove around to the Old Courthouse to see the largest banyan tree in Fort Myers. It was impressive.

The largest banyon tree by the Courthouse

We returned to the condo and lazed around for what remained of the afternoon. We had happy hour on the deck after which I made pasta with scallops and mushrooms. The sun finally came out at the very last moment, giving us a pleasant end to the day.

The sun at the last moment of the day

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.