Sunday Jan. 4
Greetings from aboard the “Big M” floating casino on Fort
Myers Beach. Yes, it appears I cannot get enough of these $5 ocean cruises,
complete with gourmet fare of a Bumble Bee tuna salad kit, beef jerky, energy
bar, Payday, free coffee-like substance, and $1 Cokes from the bar to sustain
during these next five hours. It’s sunny and already 75 degrees, headed toward
a high of somewhere around 85.
Yesterday, after a smoothie for breakfast, I made a
Publix/Walmart run for a few needed groceries, with sea scallops as the center
piece for my dinner that evening. I also stopped at the New England bakery and
bought a loaf of bread right out of the oven. I got back to the
apartment, and whacked off a generous heel of the still-warm bread, slathered
it with butter and strawberry jam, and downed it with a cup of java. Surely,
this must be the food of angels, or at least a top item on their menu.
Picked up a batch of mail from my mailbox at Omni
Pack-n-Ship, including a couple of late Xmas cards address to 52 N. Madison St.
in Evansville that had to go through two forwardings.
At about noon, I set out to establish a new bike excursion,
this one to downtown Fort Myers and back along McGregor Blvd., 7.3 miles each
way, along sidewalks and various frontage roads. Took me a little over 45
minutes to get there, pausing to look at some of the beautiful homes south of
the Edison-Ford estates (I believe north of the estates begins the official “downtown.”)
Here is one of my favorites, still under construction, on a site that I believe had an old house on it that was torn down:
Plaza de Leon was remarkably deserted, or perhaps not so remarkably given the
beautiful weather that likely prompted all of Fort Myers to the beaches. I
think downtown still have not found its “niche.” The art and music walks are a
start, but the place is still looking a bit haggard, with vacant buildings
looking for tenants and/or in need of rehab.
I couldn’t decide whether to lunch at “The Deli” or “Downtown
Pizza,” so I had a sampling at each – a rare shaved London Broil on pretzel
roll at the deli, and a pepperoni slice at DP, and a peach tea Snapple to drink.
Both food items were delicious, although the sandwich was a bit heavy on the
horseradish sauce, so I will order that one “naked” next time with a little
sauce on the side. Total cost of lunch was $12.50. Ford’s Garage and “The
Firestone” are also nice places downtown, but lunch will run you about $20 at
either place, and close to $30 if you order lunch with dessert. A little too
rich for this frugal semi-retiree.
The bike ride back to the apartment took me a little longer
(an hour) because I had to make a couple of rest/water stops with the mercury
hovering around 85 degrees. I arrived back at the apartment at 3:30 p.m., a
giant sweat ball of a human being, and immediately lowered the thermostat from
72 to 70, and downed a liter bottle of chilled water from the fridge.
Following a short afternoon nap, I made myself a nice large
lime Dacquiri and prepared dinner. The five sea scallops I lightly coated in
sugar on both sides so they would caramelize nicely, and seared them for two
minutes on each side in olive oil. I served to those with a side of chilled
pasta salad, and a tropical slaw. For dessert, strawberry cake with cream
cheese icing from te Publix bakery. Everything was yummy.
I was quite tuckered out, so just watched a little TV in the
evening. I hit the sack about 9:30, reading a little bit in two books I have
going at the moment, “Ship of Gold,” and “In a Sunburned County. Despite my
exhaustion, sleep did not come easy because my knees hurt like a MF’er. Lacking
any Advil, I took an Ambien instead and finally drifted off to sleep.
Today, I played some blackjack (broke even) and craps (won
$45), so left the ship ahead of the game. The drive back to the apartment was
slow going, due to a big accident at Summerlin and San Carlos. This is a nasty
intersection. Took a much needed shower, and am doing a laundry load.
Surprisingly not all that hungry, so I’ll probably just do a leftovers cleanup
from the fridge for dinner this evening.
Bruce
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