Another Gambling Cruise, This Time with 16-mile Bike Ride

Another lovely day in Fort Myers. Currently 71 degrees and sunny at 10 a.m. I’m on board the “Big M” casino boat for the second of what I’m sure will be many $5 ocean cruises. I gave the tires on the bike a full pump of air, and rode over to Fort Myers Beach for the first time. It takes about an hour, including walking the last quarter mile over the San Carlos bridge because at present I’m not in good enough shape to bike the incline! McGregor and San Carlos Blvd. are still relatively uncrowded with vehicular traffic, so cars were whizzing by me at 45+ mph (I was up on the sidewalk). I locked my bike to one of the support poles inside the maintenance building, bought my $5 ticket, and boarded. I’m sitting at a table up on the open canopy deck as other gamblers and frugal travelers are boarding.

I meant to mention, on Monday, I received sister-in-law Julie’s check in the mail for her portion of the Caribbean cruise expense and her airfare to Fort Myers. I decided to try my new Chase mobile app, and was able to electronically deposit the check simply by taking a photo of the front and rear of the check with my phone camera, and then transmitting the images to Chase via the phone. The funds appeared in my account the same day. Wow, is that ever cool! I deposited the check without ever having to stand in line or queue up at the motor lanes! The paper check I can now simply toss.

When the ship returns to dock at 3:30, I doubt I’ll be able to eat out at Pincher’s (or anywhere else) on the bike ride back to the apartment, because it gets dark here at around 5 p.m. just like Wisconsin. If I eat out tonight, I’ll have to take the car once I get back to the apartment. We’ll see what develops.

OK, I won $22.50 at the $5 blackjack table, and so I decided to have the buffet aboard the ship. It was more “breakfasty” than “brunchy,” and about all I can say about it is that it filled me up. Dawn, I suggest we pack a few snack items when we go. Coffee and water are free. The coffee is that Nescafe crap that comes out of a dispenser, but it's passable. And sodas are $1 at the bar. If you decide to get a rum and Diet Coke, yes they have limes! (A little private joke between Dawn and me.)

The cruise was very pleasant with calm waters, balmy temps, and a nice breeze. I got about 100 pages into this new book I’m reading, Florida Roadkill, by Tim Dorsey, who’s a little bit like Carl Hiaason, only more gritty. We docked back at Fort Myers Beach at 3:30, and I retrieved my bicycle from the machinery building, tires still well inflated. Took me about an hour and 15 to get back to the apartment because I was biking into a headwind the whole time, and neither myself nor my bike are aerodynamic! Had to stop several times to swig some water from a bottle I bought at the dock before I left because it was considerably warmer than when I biked to the beach in the morning. I was a giant sweatball by the time I got back, and after a long warm shower spent the evening drinking about a gallon of water to rehydrate.

I fell asleep right away, and this morning am enjoying coffee and grapefruit on the lanai. Thinking about a drive to old downtown Fort Myers today, but first have to get some eBay packages out.

Bruce