Monthly Archives: March 2018

Marie and I enjoyed some great times with John and Anita again this season.  John and I met way back in 1969 at U of W in 1st year engineering.  We roomed together for a couple of years and then went our separate ways.  We reconnected at our 40th class reunion and discovered that we were spending winters less than 30 min apart in FL.  Since then, we have gotten together each winter for some fun and to reminisce about the good old days.

This year their daughter Beth was visiting from Seattle.  The weather was superb so we planned another Mucky Duck sunset experience on Captiva Island.  This time we had to wait well past sunset to get in.

This year we went to a Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay baseball game up in Port Charlotte.  It was very hot that day and we had great seats.  It is a very nice country like ball park with great hot dowgs!  While the result was close, Jays lost 6-5.

It was another great winter in the sun with you guys.  We plan to get together again soon in Ottawa or Saskatoon.  Thanks for the great memories.  And thanks for all those shells Beth!  Safe trip home and Happy Easter!

P.S. This year John reminded me of our first trip to Florida together in 1973.  Friend Rick and I drove my 1970 VW Beetle from Ottawa.  John and Mike (another class mate) drove from Toronto.  The plan was we would meet up at Daytona Beach…  Rick and I drove all night long to Daytona.  After arriving and driving a few miles on the beach we backed into a parking spot with hundreds of other cars around.  About 10 min later along comes John and Mike who just happened to turn in at the right spot and spied us right away.  It was pre-internet serendipity!  We continued on to the Keys for a great sunny stay in our tents.  Here are few scanned pics from that era.

 

 

 

We were blessed with a recent visit from Irene and her daughter Jennifer.  Irene is a dear friend from Arnprior whom we met through Galilee and Jennifer lives in Syracuse, NY.  They were on their annual getaway together and chose to visit us in FM.  They stayed in the same condo complex so it was easy to meet up.

They kept us hopping.  From great restaurants, to walks on the beach, to shopping, movies, chatting and many a happy hour, we tried to keep up with them.  They enjoyed escaping the late winter weather up north and we enjoyed showing them the sights here.

We went out to a number of restaurants for some great meals together: Cafe Toscano, the University Grill, Nomikis Plakka (Greek), the Lazy Flamingo and the Coconuts pool side restaurant at Casa Ybel.  Our personal favorite was Cafe Toscano – great pasta and eggplant and service at reasonable price.

 

 

It was their mutual birthdays so their family bought them a dinner out at Blanc, a new upscale epicurean restaurant that has received rave reviews.  They loved it!

Marie and Dave went out the next day to the 60th annual shrimp festival at Fort Myers Beach.  It was a fabulous peel and eat shrimp boil up on the beach.  Here are a few images of that colourful food experience.

 

Yes, we likely gained a few pounds, but hey it’s not everyday that Irene and Jennifer come to town on their birthdays.  Thanks you two for your wonderful visit, the fun and great eating, wine and conversation we enjoyed together.  We’ll do it again real soon.  Thanks Jennifer for the great extra photos.

Last year, Michelle, Tim and the boys had a great visit with us in FM.  This year, Kyle and Ashley dropped in for a whirlwind visit.  We had an active time together!  They arrived after visiting Texas, New Orleans and Orlando by car.  We tried to show them the FL lifestyle as they wanted to do everything and never seemed to tire.

Day 1 was a visit to Fort Myers Beach.  That day, Fort Myers was the warmest place in the continental U.S. at 31 deg.  It was also calm and surprisingly uncrowded given that March break was about to begin.  We spent a marathon 6 hours on the beach until sunset.  Ashley and Kyle did the parasailing thing as we watched warily from shore.  Piece of cake remarked Ashley.  No problem added Kyle.

 

 

We ended the day with dinner at our favorite restaurant – Doc Ford’s.  Of course we had to have the signature dish – Yucatan Shrimp.  Food and service was great as usual and there was no traffic getting home.  We stopped at Love Boat Ice Cream for dessert and enjoyed some spontaneous singing of Sweet Caroline.  Great start.

 

Day 2 was an outing to beautiful Sanibel and Captiva Islands.  Friends John and Anita invited us to drop by their beach front condo for some walking and shelling.

Then it was on to Captiva Island for a dolphin cruise.  We boarded the Lady Chadwick not knowing what to expect.  We saw our first dolphin in the mouth of the harbour and then dozens more as we toured around Pine Island Sound Aquatic Preserve.  We were so close to the leaping dolphins, we were getting splashed.  Dolphins love to frolic in the wake of the boat and apparently eat upwards of 30 pounds of mullet a day.  Males travel in 1s or 2s.  Females travel in pods and form a circle to protect a birthing mother.

 

 

For dinner we headed to the Mucky Duck restaurant for our 3rd annual get together on Captiva beach.  John and Anita joined us and we arrived just in time for another glorious sunset.  Too much fun – we are getting younger down here with Kyle and Ashley’s influence.

On day 3, Kyle and I started the day with a little swimming in the 25m pool across the street.  We followed that up with a game of golf at Myerlee with two nice young men from Nashville and Baltimore.  Ashley and Marie spent the day shopping at Bealls, TJMax, Rosses and Peltz shoe after getting pedicures.  That evening we went to our local go to sports bar Bucketts for their Thursday evening backyard BBQ – ribs and chicken, yum.

 

 

 

Day 4 was upon us already.  We enjoyed a Blue Jays – Twins game at Hammond Stadium.  It was a 2-1 Twins win after the Jays stranded 2 in the 9th.  John and Anita were there too.  It was very hot in the sun but hey, it was all time record heat all month here.

 

We went on to Castle Golf miniputt beside Lakes Park for a friendly round.  The men against the ladies.  Scores: Ashley 57, Marie 57, Kyle 57, Dave 58 – ladies win!  It was real fun and we worked up an appetite for Sweet Tomatoes salad buffet restaurant.

 

 

The next day Ashley and Kyle sadly had to head home for Winnipeg leaving us after a fabulous visit.  Thank you Kyle and Ashley for spending your precious vacation time with us.  Come back next year!

We love being with our family and let’s hope we can get together again soon.  Luv, Mom and Dad.