The Nurse and the Golfer

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Florida cont.

TUESDAY:
Tuesday morning we had breakfast at our hotel (Best Western Naples got high reviews in our book). We then ventured out to discover Naples. We walked downtown, to the dock, then on to the beach and pier. It was about 65 degrees, but awfully windy at the beach. There were some sunbathers, but neither Cody and I were that brave.Tin City was next of the list, which was a small area in Naples that had numerous souvenir-type stores. Cody and I found a manatee ornament as our item from Naples.

Enjoying coffee on our sunny balcony

Naples Harbor

A sign for Poppy: "All of Naples is a Bird Sanctuary"

Photo-op on the pier


Great sand and great views

At Tin City

Leaving Tin City

Next, we journeyed to Fort Myers Beach. On the map it was only about 45 miles, however, it took us closer to 1 1/2 hours to get there (traffic out of Naples and road work into Ft Myers was to blame). However, we made it to the Beached Whale so Cody could get fish tacos. Then we headed to see the beach before piling back in the car to make it to Winter Haven for Cody's RCIA class.

A windy lunch at the Beached Whale

A view from the restaurant

Ft. Myers Beach

We didn't venture down the beach, but it looked rather nice

WEDNESDAY = Manatees!
Wednesday we got another early start (with Dunkin', naturally!). We headed up to Homosassa Springs to visit the State Wildlife Park there. We anticipated spending $26 for the both of us to get in, however, the cashier admitted me as her guest (her personally military discount) and gave Cody AAA discount. Our total came to $10! We arrived just in time to catch the boat to the main attraction. The exhibits were very well done and we were able to attend a few educational programs. And I finally got to see manatees! The rather large ones have been in captivity, while the smaller one is wild.

Enjoying the sun on the boat tram to the park

Execution of the penny press

Spoonbill

This exhibit had 3 bald eagles which must have been unable to fly

Just taking a rest


In great anticipation of a manatee sighting!

First sight of a manatee!

The morbidly obese manatee in captivity (this was was on a diet, however, she arrived to lunch first...)

Incoming manatee to join the other two- if there wasn't room to the side, they just pushed their way on top until the giant floating potatoes parted

The wild manatee coming to catch any leftover cabbage

Waiting for the hippo program... ask Cody for his hippo impression- it's quite uncanny

Lou, an honorary citizen of Florida (mostly because no one else wanted this 6,000 lb giant). He's 51 years old and surrounded by splatter zone warnings!

Finishing up our picnic lunch before getting on the road to Clearwater Beach

Then, we drove about 1 1/2 hours south to Clearwater Beach. This was a much nicer drive than into Ft. Myers Beach. We acquired a parking tag from someone that was just leaving the beach, so we got another discount that day. We started down the beach toward Pier 60. Our plan was to stay for the sunset, however, it was very windy and very cloudy. We found a spot blocked by a dune, but we gave up after a while because of the clouds.

Our last beach of the trip... It was much wider with even nicer sand than Naples

Cody was sure this one was still alive...

Sun rays on the pier

We checked out a few shops along the harbor

Waiting for the sunset and lavishing in our wind-block

Just before dipping into the clouds

Our favorite picture from the trip

Cody had long grown tired of driving, so I took the wheel on the drive back through Tampa. Obviously, we survived.

THURSDAY:
Thursday morning didn't allow for much besides a wake-up and drive to the airport. We did, however, find time for one last stop at Dunkin' Donuts. :)

Cody's condo in Winter Haven

My last Dunkin' Donuts.... (until Scottsdale)

We were running a smidge behind getting to the airport, but everything turned out just fine, very few tears this time! I was able to fly stand-by into Omaha so I could arrive 1 1/2 hours sooner. It turned out to be a fabulous trip although we were both tired Thursday night. It's back to the cold for me, until Monday when I start my drive down to AZ. Cody's back at work, and is even thinking about playing golf this afternoon.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Florida

I have returned from my Florida vacation to visit Cody. We had a great time, most of which was spent on the road. We (mainly me) thought that we should see everything we could and take full advantage of our time in Florida. (who knows when we'll return!). I'll try and upload a few pictures by days. Here goes:

FRIDAY:

I made Cody wake up at 5:15 am so we could drive 1 1/2 hour to see a cruddy sunrise at a cruddy beach. Oh well. I treated him to Dunkin' Donuts to make up for it. (Thus began my obsession)

It's a tradition: toe in the Gulf at Apollo Beach

He always has to find the best shell

A view of the beach... we did see a wild dolphin so the trip wasn't a total waste

Cody had to close on Friday afternoon so I enjoyed a run in the nice weather and prepared the requested lasagna. We toured Bak Tower, the highest point in Florida. It was an incredible sight. Who knew the park closed at 6 pm?! :) We ended the night by catching a movie, which seems like a common date activity, but for long-distancers, it was a treat.

Bak Tower and MOAT!

Another view... it was a donated piece of land, which is now maintained by the state, but it is connected to Mountain Lake so any resident or member can visit

Cody and I (heads-together shot)

My 'great' photography... I thought it turned out well


Trying out a clementine... turned out it wasn't so great

I discovered it wasn't so great either

SATURDAY:
Cody had to open at the shop. I enjoyed a lazy morning then drove to pick him up from work. I got a tour of the course and met a few of the members. Later, we caught church in Orlando (a church of the Byzantine rite, whoops), stopped by a lake in downtown Orlando (was too cold to enjoy), tried out an outlet mall, then hit Universal CityWalk. The CityWalk didn't turn out quite so wonderful, but we enjoyed the views and entertainment. We ended up eating at a Thai restaurant we had spotted before entering Universal.


Head shot at the Universal CityWalk

We then headed back to Winter Haven for some game-playing with Cody's co-workers and a few friends.

SUNDAY:
Cody had to open again, so I drove him to work so that I could go to a Roman Catholic church that morning (I was able to understand much more than the previous night's service). I picked him up after work and we were treated to lunch at a member's house. Later, we found a dress shirt at the mall that we thought might work for the wedding (turns out it's a smidge too maroon-y, but hey, we only spent $5). We made a couple snacks for the game, then enjoyed the SuperBowl.

MONDAY:

Dutifully preparing our picnic lunch

Only 82 degrees at 10:00am

Our first wild gator sighting

Numerous birds enjoying the hammock

Cody with a gator in the background

Monday came very early for us. We wanted to get an early start on our drive to the Everglades; we ended up being only 15 minutes 'behind schedule' with a 6:15 departure. We grabbed some coffee (Dunkin', of course) and were off! After a couple stops (one at Okeechobee Lake), we arrived to the park at about 11:00. First, we stopped at a trail, ate our picnic lunch and set off. These next pictures are from within the park, along various trails.

The creepy congregation we spotted from the boardwalk

The lowest 'land' elevation either of us could remember seeing

Entering Mahogany Hammock

Modeling at the Marina store

Next, we drove out of the park and headed up to the northern entrance. We were too late to catch a tram around the around, but we did spot a gator that was on the trail, yikes! We then headed to Naples to try and catch the sunset. (fail.)