Fort Myers, February 8-13

Greetings from the Chilly South

A few of you have written to tell us that you've heard we've had a cold snap.  Did we ever!!  Beginning Friday through this morning (Monday) a blast of cold air sent our temperatures crashing down into the 40s.  I can hear you Iowans and Wisconsinites jeering at what wimps we are.  It is incongruous, however, to be bundled up in gloves and our heaviest jackets and looking at palm trees swaying all around us.  We'll survive.  It's due to warm up today and should be in the low 80s by tomorrow.

A Visit to Jann & Gary

We met Jann and Gary in Marathon last year and enjoyed reading the blog they wrote as they traveled up the east coast as far as the Chesapeake and then returned via Lake Okeechobee, completing a ten month journey by the time they returned home to Charlotte Harbor in September, 2011 (see www.tieingaknot.blogspot.com).  We visited them in their home last Wednesday and stayed overnight.  Hurray!!! A real shower.  Oh, and great to see Jann and Gary too.

You have to live on a boat to truly appreciate a real shower!

 Jann and I share an interest in quilting and she took me to her local quilt shop, A Quilter's Cottage, in Englewood.  I've been wanting to try a quilting technique called Stack and Whack and, egged on by Jann, I purchased fabric and a how-to book at the store.

How much did that cost, Colleen?  You say just a little bit?

We returned to Jann's house and spent the rest of the day and a good part of the night trying to figure out how to do it, Colleen doing the stacking and Jann doing the whacking.  I've been sewing the blocks together ever since we returned home on Thursday.  Eventually I'll have fifteen blocks in the style you see here.  It was lots of fun but I wouldn't have tackled it without a cohort.  Thanks, Jann.

The cutting technique gives you a kaleidoscope effect when
it's sewn back together.  Every one is different and unique.

It's impossible to anticipate how it's going to look until it's
all together.  I love seeing the design emerge.

Our Search for the Beach

Last Friday we decided to travel by car across the bridge and go down the coast of Fort Myers Beach to Lovers Island and maybe as far as Naples.  We packed a picnic lunch and our cameras so we could send you a nice tropical beach picture from the west coast to go with the beach photos we have from Vero.  Within five miles of our marina we hit a traffic jam and crawled along until we finally crossed a scenic bridge with a beautiful view of both the Gulf of Mexico and the ICW.  Fort Myers Beach was packed wall-to-wall with beach goers.  Although there is lots of public parking, not a space was to be had.  We drove south for miles, getting hungrier and hungrier and seeing nothing but people and an occasional tantalizing glimpse of beautiful blue-green water.  There were many pull-offs with 4 to 5 public parking spaces but every one was full.  Finally, our stomachs would let us go no further and we pulled into a little park/playground area and had lunch.  By then we were in sight of a mangrove swamp and a canal but no beach.  So, sorry guys, no Florida west coast beach pictures -yet, unless you're really craving a sight of sun drenched sand.  In that case you can sign onto this website and then click Beaches on the right: 
www.fortmyers-sanibel.com.

A Little Taste of the Upcoming Edison Light Parade

Yesterday we had an unexpected treat when we heard that the Edison Children's Parade would be taking place in the afternoon.  We trekked a few blocks, found some Girl Scouts from whom we bought Thin Mints and claimed a good spot on the sidewalk to watch this "just for kids" parade.  It featured many entertaining local high school bands and lots of cute kids and was a great way to spend a bit of the afternoon.  This Saturday is the main event, the annual Edison Light Parade, and the locals are pretty excited about it, already taping off sections of the sidewalk and laying claim to their favorite viewing areas.  We'll look for a spot we can claim too.

There were 8 very tired looking daddies harnessed by rope to this line of children - about 50 wagons
 in 2 rows, two kids/wagon.  I think they did not know how hard their task would be!

There were maybe 20 high school marching bands participating.

There were quite a few floats

Many of the floats were quite small and imaginative and were education themed.

First street was blocked off so were able to get a good photo of the palms.

Still More Palm Trees

Last week we watched some guys in a cherry picker trimming palm trees on the street behind our boat.  We thought you might enjoy the photos.

A frond is about to fall.  I just couldn't get one in motion.

This is the pod that encases the seeds you see on the right.. 

This is inside the seed pod, which breaks open and sends
 pollen into the air when it's ripe.  Wayne later saw one
fall to the ground and spew out pollen.