Fort Myers, Time with Friends, 3-2 through 3-16, 2015

Saturday, March 7^th, marked the start of month 7. Whodathunkit! We have no more new statistics to report, other than that! But that is a pretty significant one, we think! Oh, I forgot one...Tim celebrated his birthday on March 15.  Not much of a celebration...Kathy will make it up for him later....

After some very cold days when we first arrived (31º), really not the Florida weather we had in mind when embarking on this trip) the weather warmed, and temperatures rose to the high 70s and 80s.  We finally achieved shorts and tee shirt weather! And Sea Fever, again, stayed nestled in its slip.

Sea Fever at her temporary home in the Fort Myers Yacht Basin

Our friend, John from our St. Paul townhouse, has kept in touch with us, invited us to a home cooked dinner, and even lent us his car for an afternoon. On our ride back to Sea Fever, he took us to see his boat in a different marina. There was a cautionary sign:



Neither Kathy nor Tim were anxious
 to take a dive

Through a variety of means, we discovered that two other couples from our townhome association were in either Fort Myers or Naples, and after many emails sent and received, a date for dinner was set. This is, truly, a Minnesota refuge from cold and blistering north. It is, again, amazing to come all this way and spend time with folks that live a block away!

Several times over the past month, while sitting in our cockpit, we thought that we heard a saxophone. But the location of the music was a mystery!  One day, Kathy was working in the cockpit, and saw a guy ride by on his bicycle. He had a “bike trailer” carrying sound equipment, and an instrument case on his back. She watched him cycle down the sidewalk, and noted that he was headed for the underpass of the Edison Bridge.  And sure enough, that is where he stopped and set up his one man show.

He played jazz, and the notes traveling over the waterway were almost haunting. We made a point, when we heard the first few notes at sunset, to pour some wine, watch the sun go down, and listen to his music. Made us think of our Lake City troubadour, Steve Mack.  Except we didn't share our Jameson with him.



Sunset serenade at
Fort Myers Marina

Our friends John and Anita, who are doing a grand tour of the south with their camper, finally caught up with us and we exchanged stories face to face over a lovely Italian dinner at a wonderful restaurant in a strip mall called Mina’s Bistro. Some of the best food we have had!

Kathy checked out Rumours, a hair salon and day spa on a houseboat in Fort Myer’s yacht basin.

Beauty Salon and Spa with an attitude 

The Butterfly Estates in downtown Fort Myers was on the must do list, so we wandered up there one afternoon. Beautiful butterflies. Tim had the camera at the ready, and shot some great pictures.

Butterflies on parade. From top left, Peacock, Monarch, Queen, and Malachite.

Since Fort Myers seems to be the meeting ground for friends of ours, it was not surprising that Kathy’s friend Lynn from Texas happened to be nearby, and they were able to spend a few hours over lunch in good camaraderie.

So, though our home destination is coming closer and closer, the time in Fort Myers was filled with friends, good food, and fun experiences.  Almost a home away from home. Almost!

We are back on the water today, Monday, March 16, hoping to get to Pelican Bay, and get that dingy in the water to explore Caya Costa Island on Tuesday. Weather is good, slight cloud cover, and all seems well in the world.

Thank you for reading.