Out and About In Ft Myers

Tuesday the 3rd

After waking up to temperatures in the low 40's we had a slow morning, not finishing the breakfast dishes until 11:00 AM. I spent the rest of the morning uploading photos and updating the blog while Tina went shopping.

We're expecting temperatures in the high 60's this afternoon so we'll probably be able to take some walks in shirtsleeves and shorts, yipeeee! Temperatures are in the mid 70's, we are taking lots of walks on the beach and occasionally doing a bike ride, just to get a little exercise. When we're not riding or walking we are relaxing in the sun with a book or working with Tina's shell collection. Life is quite pleasant right now - heh, heh! Put off going to the Butterfly Conservatory until tomorrow.

Just before sunset we joined many of our neighbors on the beach to watch the sun go down.

Wednesday the 4th

Took the dogs for a long walk on the beach to give them some exercise. Lot's of people everywhere so we decided to go the the dog beach south of Lovers Key. We got the small cooler out and made lunch so we could spend some time there. Got to the park about 12:30 PM and found a big crowd but we decided to give it a whirl anyway. The tide was quite a way out so we walked to the end of the spit and put our towel and cooler down.

We ate our lunch while the dogs played with some of the other, bigger dogs that were there. After we ate we got a chance to entice our two into the water. Eventually Punky swam out to where Tina was standing in about a foot of water while Wicket watched from the shallows. We stayed for about an hour to let the kids play themselves out. Eventually, it became too difficult to keep things under control with all the dogs around so we packed up and headed home. The dogs had a great time!!

Thursday the 5th

Today we decided to drive to the "Worlds Biggest Flea Market" http://www.fleamall.com/ in downtown Ft Myers. Getting under weigh by 11:00 AM we headed off the island. The Red Coconut RV Park is only a mile from the bridge off the island but it took us better than 20 minutes to get to cross the bridge. Finally off the island we picked up speed and drove out past Hammond Field (20 minutes and 12 miles further) where we will be tomorrow. Continuing into Ft Myers we reach the giant flea market only to find it closed. Bummer.

So we decided to try the Butterfly Conservatory up on Fowler as it was only about 5 miles away http://thebutterflyestates.com/public/welcome.asp. We found it with no trouble and parked, then walked over to the Conservatory. Entering the vestibule we found out it was $15 per person to go in. We thought this was a little high for the 15 or 20 minutes we'd spend inside although it certainly looked very nicely set up. So we took a pass and went over to Mother Natures Gift Shop where Tina found a number of really nice dragonfly pieces she liked, but again, a little too pricey for us. Since it was nearly 1:00 PM we stepped next door to Flutterbys Cafe and had lunch, followed up with a chocolate icecream cone in a chocolate dipped waffle cone from Caterpillers Ice Cream and Fudge Factory. Even though the Flea Market was closed and we didn't go in to see the butterflies it was still a nice afternoon out and about in Ft Myers.

After getting home it was time for a snooze followed by a walk on the beach and dinner.

Friday the 6th

Today we went to a Spring Training Baseball game between the Minesota Twins and Cincinati Reds. Again it took us about twenty minutes to get off the island and another thirty to get to Hammond Field and park. We walked the short distance to ticketing and picked up our tickets at Will Call. This is a really nice facility with seating for about 8,000. We grabbed some brauts and water then headed for our seats. We were fortunate they were in the shade about twenty rows up behind home plate and slightly toward right field. The temperature was about 76 degrees with a slight breeze so we were very comfortable.

As we ate our lunch the stadium filled and the grounds crew prepared the field, sweeping down all the dirt, shaping the pitchers mound, laying down the base lines and batters box.

We watched the teams warm up then it was time for the national anthem, well sung by a young lady with a good voice and a very personal interpretation of the melody. Where was Simon Cowel when I needed him... heheheh. Finally at 1:05 PM the game started. It was a very good game with several well turned double plays by both teams, good pitching and several well hit balls.

The final score was 3 to 0 in favor of the Twins. We left just before the eighth inning to avoid the traffic and get home to the dogs. Got home and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and taking the kids for a walk.

To see all our photos click on the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski