Sea Fever : Fort Myers, and laying low, 2-14 to 3-1-2015

Saturday, Feb 14 through Sunday, March 1, 2015.

We got to Fort Myers with nothing untoward happening. We are staying at the Municipal Marina, which is right at the end of downtown. The dock guy that helped us into our slip was great, very professional. Used all the right words, and called Tim “Cap”. Turns out he was ex-Navy. Knew all the lingo, knew how to handle the lines.

We were scheduled here for two weeks, and had thought we would have to leave the middle weekend because of the Edison Festival of Lights Gala. As we have learned, you are seldom kicked out of a marina once you are there. So we were allowed to stay through that middle weekend.

In addition, as it turns out, the marina rate structure is such that if you pay for two weeks, it is the same rate as paying for a month. So we signed up for a month. Why not? We can leave the marina if we choose, and come back to the same slip! In addition, because of our membership in the AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruising Association) we were entitled to ½ price! How could we pass that up! So after all the ethos and pathos of our trip so far, we are kicking back and taking it easy.

So here we are. Two blocks from restaurants and bars. 20 minute walk to Publix. And a trolley that takes us through downtown.

Wending our way through the Downtown District of Fort Myers

Here are a few the highlights of this stay so far:

Folks that we have traveled with along this journey, Bob and Camie from Northern Minnesota met us in Fort Myer’s Beach, and we had lunch. In addition, because we had a car, we took a trip to Target. (Boaters always take good advantage of transportation when offered!) Here is Bob and Camie with their dingy filled with booty!

Hold onto that dingy, guys!

Every time we get to this part of the woods, we try to hook up with Kathy’s friends from Century 21, John and Carol Miller. And so we did. The food was not great, but it is nice to know that, after all these years, the friendship and camaraderie is still there. It was great fun! We hope to see them this summer when they visit in Minnesota!

As fate would have it, neighbors of ours from St. Paul have a condo in Fort Myers and they reached out to us! We had lunch, dinner, and breakfast with them, and after Ms. Pati heads home, John and Tim might just get together to do boat projects and several trips to West Marine.

We spent some time with Kathy’s cousins, Dianne and Gene, and visited their home. The development has a lot of activities, and one of them, ironically, was a Minnesota/Wisconsin potluck. Hot dish abounded!
The weekend of February 21-22^nd was the Edison Festival of Lights, complete with a parade, fireworks, and a car show! Thomas Edison and Henry Ford had winter homes here, and the festival was the celebration of Edison’s birthday…all February long! Kathy's kind of birthday.

Here are some fun pictures of the celebration: