Friday 2/24/12.          This morning we woke up in Cocoa Beach, FL.  After leaving Lake Wales we went to Cape Canaveral to see a boat I found on the internet.  No, were not ready to trade in Twogether, but we know before long we will have to downsize.  Linda really enjoys fishing and it would be nice to have a boat that we can trailer anywhere we want to go.

On the way back Linda kept looking for a Bar-b-que place.  She had a craving for ribs.

After returning to Ft Myers we went to St. James City on Pine Island to pick up some fuel filters for the boat. While Pine Island has succumbed to some urban sprawl there is still a lot of open land remaining there.  The first little town on Pine Island is Matlatcha (MAT-la-shay). It was originally a little fishing village but today many of the small houses have been converted to brightly painted shops, art galleries and bistros.  It’s quite touristy. I told Linda its Lee County’s own little Key.  She also thought it was reminiscent of the Keys.

Before we returned to the boat we stopped in Cape Coral at Sonny’s Bar-b-que for supper.  The baby backs were so tender the meat almost fell off the bone.  She’s a happy camper.

Tuesday 2/21/12.  Today was run around doing errands.  Of course at stop at K-Mart found several new ladies shorts and tops and a hot-off-the-shelf Rummikub game.

Wednesday 2/22/2012.

We were invited to Casey and Barb’s for lunch at their tropical paradise home, as I like to call it, and Casey describes as “Disney World without the mouse”.  If I have the story right, the house previously belonged to a German business man who would entertain clients there.   The amenities include a swimming pool, hot tub, canal with a boat lift, view of the Caloosahatchee River, room, room and more room.  The greatest part is even though the setting is rather formal, your feel at home as soon as you go through the front door.  Of course Casey and Barb treat us like family.   Then there is Brutus, an English Bulldog, Bandit, a Boston Terrier, and Taz, a Pug.  I don’t think any of them knows a stranger. Evening found all of us (humans) at Nestor’s Restaurant.  They specialize in Greek cuisine.  Linda enjoyed broiled scallops, and I had a new treat; Almond, Honey, Crunchy Grouper. After dinner a hot game of Rummikub ensued.  

Thursday 2/23/12.  This morning found us in the car headed northbound for Lake Wales, FL.  Linda wanted to see Bok Tower (also known as the Singing Tower). We were there for our 5th anniversary and really enjoyed it.     Since that time the Gardens have acquired the Pinewood Estates (the Buck Mansion) which is next to the Bok Tower Gardens. There is also a beautiful visitor center/museum with a movie about the building and operation of the tower.

 

The Tower houses a 60 bell carillon in the upper third of the 205 foot high structure.  The carillon is operated with a clavier (keyboard) which is more like a handboard.  The keys are levers moved by the carillonneur (person who plays a carillon).  The whole thing appears to be rather cumbersome and complex but the music is beautiful.  We arrived just in time to hear the bells ringing out “How Great Thou Art”.

Edward Bok was born in the Netherlands in 1863 and arrived in the US at the age of six.  He became a Pulitzer Prize winning writer/editor and was best known for his work as editor of “Ladies Home Journal” from 1889 to 1919.  He dedicated the tower to the American People for them to enjoy.

 

The seven acre Pinewood Estates was originally called “El Retiro” and was the winter retreat of C. Austin Buck, VP of Bethlehem Steel. The 20 room Mediterranean style mansion was built in the early 1930 and was lived in only six to eight week a year in the months of January and February.  Some of the unique features are…Every one of the thirty-some doors in the house are different. Every room contains ceramic tile, but each room has a different design.  A circular staircase leads from the music room directly up to Buck’s bedroom.    

Sunday 2/19/12.       We had a rather slow start to the day.  By the time we took a walk in the afternoon, Edwards Drive showed no trace of last evening’s activities.  They have a great volunteer group that started the clean up as soon as the parade was over.

There was another car show by the Event Center today, so we decided to walk over and take a peek.  Linda found herself attracted to a 1984 Alfa Romeo roadster.  I think if she would have had the $15,500 in her pocket she would have spent the evening tearing around the streets of Ft. Myers like a college girl on spring break!  The Southwest Florida Corvette Club had a nice showing of models ranging from the late 60s to present. There was what I believed to be a 1940 something Ford that was fully customized.  The show stopper was a Stutz with a gold trim interior package.   Then there were the ever popular ’32 and ’33 Ford hot rods.

Monday 2/20/12.      Today was more laundry for Linda and I started replacing engine gauges in the lower helm station.  I had replaced the tachometers just before we started on the trip. The port side one gave up the ghost a few years ago and I would set the starboard engine to the right RMP and then just sync the port engine.  That worked for the short trips on the Sassafras River, but I wanted something reliable for the trip.  The problem was the new style gauge faces are totally different from the original.  That kind of bugged me since I like things to match.  The Yacht Basin office ordered me the new gauges and now they all match and the old gauges become spares for the ones on the flybridge. In the process I was hoping the new fuel gauge would take care of the accuracy problem on the port side.  It didn’t…It still read nearly empty when the tank is half full.  I checked out the sender unit and found that it is adjustable.  I cranked on the adjustments while Linda read the gauges.  They now read what they should at half tanks.  But the proof will be known on our next fill up and trip.

Getting black eye peas in this household is not the easiest thing to accomplish.  So I just snuck a can into the grocery cart and the cook put them in the provisions.  Last night’s supper was country ham and Linda saved the drippings to put in the BYPs.  Tonight’s supper was pork chops and BYPs…Durn theys waz gooood.  (I believe she even tolerated them)

Saturday 2/18/12.                 The day started off with boatkeeping chores, then a short nap.  Now we are ready for our big evening with Casey and Barb.  We arrived at their house at 4:00P and came back and spent some time visiting aboard the boat. 

Then we walked to the Haborside Event Center for our VIP evening.  Whoa…there seems to be a problem.  Someone lost the tickets.  Not Casey…not Barb… but the people that sold the tickets for the event.  The lady at the ‘will call’ made several attempts to find out where the glitch was. She was kind enough to let us go in.  Later she informed Barb that they found the tickets back at the office.  All is right with the world.

The dinner was a buffet of Italian dishes including salad, lasagna and ziti, mixed vegies in sauce and lots of deserts to choose from. Seating was in the perimeter hallway right next to the parade route.  After supper we went out on the porch facing Edward Drive and waited in anticipation for the parade to pass by.  The Grand Parade is the largest after dark parade in the country.  Every float is lit up to celebrate the invention of the light bulb.   Suddenly there were fireworks just west of the building and they put on quite a show. 

North Fort Myers Senior High School (My alma mater) was the Honor Band and led the parade.  That was kind of special for me.  When I moved here there were only two high schools in the county.  Then NFM made the third. It added one grade each year with the first class graduating in 1965.  Lee County is now the 40^th largest school district in the nation with 48 elementary; 21 middle; 13 high; 18 specialty centers; and 26 charter schools. There were marching bands from every high school and floats from many of the others.

There are quite a few collectors of military equipment in the area and they had a large showing of WWII, and later, jeeps and trucks with machine guns that filled the night with rata-tat-tat as they drove by. 

One thing I found heartwarming was how the crowd stood each time the Stars and Stripes passed by and saw many put their hands over their hearts.  There were loud cheers for each member of our armed forces and any of the first responders.  I believe they could feel how much their service means to us.  Seeing this spontaneous reaction and knowing that there were spectators from every state in the Union was quite a thrill.

 

The last entry in the parade was from Edison High School, Berlin Heights & Milan, Ohio.  They represented the hometown of Thomas Edison.  They drew cheer after cheer from the crowd as they continued to play their hearts out after a two hour march.  They put on the best performance of any band in the parade.

After the parade we stopped at Perkins for a late night snack. Then we dropped Casey and Barb off at home and returned to the boat still talking about our favorite parts of the parade.

We want to thank Casey and Barbra for hosting this great evening for us. 

We will never forget it.  

Thank You.

"Be courageous! Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation...."
"Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith and go forward"

Thomas Alva Edison