Monday April 7

Last day in Florida! Everyone slept in trying to catch up on their sleep. Kim had a bunch of contacts to make and work to do involving using the internet, so after we checked out, we stayed in the front lounge for a while. Then we had to come up with a plan to spend a few hours before our flight. Kim decided a trip to Sanibel would be perfect. Of course I agreed!

Even the drive across the bridge makes you feel like you are entering another land. Not that the traffic would make you feel you were leaving the city behind though. Still extremely congested on Sanibel.

There were so many people fishing along the bridge and the pelicans and osprey fly almost right beside the cars. It costs $6 to go across the causeway to Sanibel but it is worth it!

Since we weren't able to go to Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge at last week because the traffic was so bad, Kim decided to make time today for the wildlife drive. I am so glad she decided to! I got out the binoculars and my big Nikon camera, ready for pictures.

The first place we pulled over at had a number of birds eating on a sandbar. There were White Pelicans, the sandpipers, and a darker heron. I believe him to be a Reddish Egret, which are uncommon! I cannot give you a better close up picture although I looked at him with my binoculars. He does not have the white belly and has a red neck and head. He also has a distinct two toned bill.

Further on down the road, I had Kim pull over as I saw another blue egret close to the road. After I got out to take his picture, I noticed another one very close to me. They both allowed me to take their pictures and these two were definitely the Tri-Colored Egret, also uncommon.

This was a good place to stop because a few feet up were a couple of Egrets. The white one in back with the black legs and yellow feet is definitely a Snowy Egret. The mottled one in front I suspect is an immature Little Blue Heron. The legs are olive colored and the bill is slightly thicker and gray. The Little Blue Heron is white with gray wing tips when immature. Adult coloring is with gray blue on neck and around head. Birds that are going from immature to adult appear mottled. Does anyone out there know for sure what this bird is?

Another few feet were a couple of Double Crested Cormorants. I have never seen them sitting in the water before. You can tell what they are by the orange patch by their beak and the hook on the tip of the beak. The Tri-Colored Heron is just flying in to join these guys.

Another bird right next to the road, these are so common right now it's unbelievable. I think they are still spectacular! It's the Osprey.

For those of you tired of birds, here's a fish...

Kim and I took a short, quick walk at the Calusa Shell Mounds. It's a boardwalk through some drier areas. We didn't stop to read the informational boards as we were running late. But I did stop and take a picture of these flowers. Don't know what they are though.

On our way out, I made Kim pull over so I could take a picture of this Gopher Tortoise. He was very involved with eating and didn't mind me one bit. They have signs everywhere on the island to watch out for these. Many get hit by cars every year.

Ok, time to eat...our last meal in Florida this trip. We all wanted seafood so I suggested Doc Ford's Rum Bar and Grill. The restaurant is named after a character in a series of mystery books by the author Randy Wayne White. He is the owner and so his books are sold in his restaurants. He also is a great cook and has a few cookbooks out as well! All I know is his clam chowder is delicious and his lime panko fish sandwich very good. But the Key Lime Pie....Kim and Mom think it's the best so far in our 'study'. I like them all!

One last view of the ocean with the parasailers having fun on this windy day. It was warm today, 91 degrees, so I imagine the water felt pretty good. We ran out of time and headed to the airport. The plane is full - full of Minnesota people going back to school and work. I'm afraid no ocean sunsets tonight. :-(

 

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Sunday April 6

Well, Kim had an early early wake up call at 4:00 am to get her family up and to the airport. After going to bed after 1, that amounts to 3 hours sleep! Mom and I stayed in bed for a few more hours. A little more rested, we got up and, with Kim who had come back from the airport, made our way to breakfast. The views from our 12th floor window and the hallway windows along the way were incredible. We are staying in a Golf Resort who must cater to big name golfers! The course we looked down on was beautiful.

Out a side window I could see a resort waterpark as well as a 'Lazy River ' which is a man made creek you float down on tubes. What a fun place to bring a family!

We had a fantastic breakfast - wonderful blueberry sausage, fruit, cheese biscuits, omelet bar, egg Benedict bar, grits, applewood bacon, pita, hummus, pancakes, French toast....wow. Our only problem was we got up late and had to leave to check out. That meant finish packing and get downstairs in 10 minutes. I think we were a little late handing those keys in...

This is the Omni Hotel ChampionsGate at Orlando. The room rate was very good, despite how fancy the hotel was. I would definitely look at an Omni hotel again.

Off to Tarpon Springs. This took a few hours to get there, hours that were fraught with driving stress as we had to go through Tampa. Drivers are crazy here! Kim was following 'Siri' on her smart phone. I was also following the map with my phone but my app took me another way. Since it was easier for Kim to listen to Siri's spoken directions, we followed her. This Siri always makes me think of Big Bang ( TV show) and other shows that spoof Siri. I admit she is quite handy to have though!

We finally got to Tarpon Springs and discovered it is a destination for tourists and they were out there. I had watched a Good Morning America segment on 'Europe in North America'. They had mentioned this community as being Greek. The Greeks came over in the 1900s to dive for sponges because the sponges were found in the Gulf. They brought with them their religion, so there are Greek Orthodox churches, as well as their food. Since I have not gotten to visit Greece I thought this place north of Fort Myers would make a good day trip.

We saw "Sponge Boats" moored along the main street there. One had sponges hanging up drying. These particular sponges are called "finger" sponges. Anywhere along Main Street you can buy any size or shape of sponge.

Some sponges were being sold as facial or body sponges. Larger "Vase" sponges were sold more for decorative purposes, some having airplants or bromeliads displayed in them.

We had to eat at a Greek restaurant before we left. Kim picked an excellent one. We had flaming cheese called saganaki for an appetizer.

Some Greek beer...

Kim and Mom had variations of moussaka which is eggplant with ground beef, chese and a sauce.

I had Kalamari, or fried squid. It was wonderful!!!

Don't knock it till you've tried it.

This is the area, Mykonos, the restaurant is named for. They are famous for their windmills.

According to their placemat (above) this restaurant has been featured on Rachel Ray and on The Cooking Channel. Kim, who has eaten in Mykonos itself in Greece, said the Kalamari, saganaki ( fried cheese), and moussaka are the best she's had since eating on the island. Her family gets to eat at Greek restaurants in the cities.

Completely stuffed and carrying three baklavas for dessert later, we got back on the car for another 3 hours of driving. More traffic, plus everyone is so tired from our late theme park activities and lack of sleep. We were so glad to see our hotel, a Hampton Inn, in Fort Myers. We haven't moved since.

No sunset pictures tonight, or firework pictures. I'll just finish with a picture from earlier in the day.

Good Night! Last night in Florida. Maybe back to Naples and a beach tomorrow before we head home. Until then, sleep tight.

 

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Saturday April 5

Time to leave Fort Myers and head to Orlando. Collin and the girls get on a plane very early Sunday morning plus we have to be out of the condo here by 10. The morning was beautiful - clear and calm. This sailboat was right outside.

Caroline and Clare said a sad farewell to the ocean, hoping to be back soon as we all do.

Now on to the adventure for the day...Disneyworld! Caroline had not been back since she was 3 and, as this was her senior spring break trip, this is what she wanted to do. After a long 3 hour drive, we arrive at the famous park around 3. Decided to rent a wheelchair for Mom and get her a hat to keep the sun off. Then we were set!

We got into the park just as the parade was there at Main Street. No time to tarry although I snapped a couple of pictures of the fun characters!

 

This is for you Ben...fire-breathing and cool!

And there's that wonderful castle! Ok. We need a plan. Where to go first? Which ones to use FastPass on to beat the lines? Yes, there are lines. The more desired (high volume) have an hour or more line wait. I believe it was the Peter Pan ride that was 70 minutes when we got there. So FastPass makes that 70 minute ride 10 instead. You get to chose 3 rides to use FastPass on but you also have to pick an available time. That's what can get complicated. You can run from one side of Magic Kingdom to the other trying to make your scheduled ride time! We only had time for one park so Caroline picked Magic Kingdom. Within MK there is Main Street, Frontierland, Liberty Square, FantasyLand, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland. Phew! Lots of ground to cover from 3 to 11. If we were here for more days we could see these other parks; Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom, not to mention their water parks (plural).

First stop...It's a Small World. Mom should be able to go on this,we think, and it's one of her favorites as well.

It was still good after all these years. However, a little difficult for Mom to get out of the boat. The woman in front of us who also had her mobility impaired (uses a wheelchair for the park) mother with her, helped us get Mom out. So there ended up not being too many rides that Mom could do but she enjoyed 5 of them - Small World, Little Mermaid, Jungle Cruise, Snitch, and Tiki Room. The rest of us added Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Peter Pan, Tea Cups and Space Mountain. Clare and Caroline also got in Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and Winnie the Pooh. Sounds like a lot but there were still many we missed!

Tiki Room with Kim and Collin

 

Tea Cups where I got really really dizzy!

After a wonderful time on Space Mountain, the only roller coaster I enjoy because it's in the dark, we headed to the popular Peter Pan. Still a wonderful ride after 20 years in between visits. Mom really likes this one but cannot get into the cars because they don't stop moving when people get in and out.

We came out of Peter Pan to the start of the fireworks. What can I say - it's just incredible. Hard to believe they do it every night at 10. Mom had a good spot to view them too but I honestly think you can see them wherever you are in the park. The fireworks just make me happy.

One last picture of the lights that transform the castle.

Finally back to the car after a ride on the ferry to get to the parking lot. Find the hotel - an Omni resort at ChampionsGate. Not much to see of it at 1:00 a.m. See you today...in a few hours!

 

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