'Gators and Herons and Egrets, Oh My!

It's Friday March 6, and I'm at the Sanibel Cafe on Sanibel Island sipping a cold lemonade. I've rented a bike for the day, and have the Prius parked down by Billy's Bike Rentals. Just finished touring a little bit of the annual shell festival at the Community Center, and am taking a little break until my friend "Rona" shows to help with show registration at 2 p.m.

Backing up to Wednesday, it was an eventful day, as "Rona" drove the two of us down to Everglades City for lunch and to have a ride through the 'Glades on an airboat, my first time. We first stopped for lunch at "City Seafood," which is both a restaurant and seafood market:

It looks kind of "touristy," but actually it's a favorite of both the locals and tourists and boasts some of the best and freshest seafood around, with an amazing variety of both fish and shellfish. You order your food at a window, then sit at benches right along the river and pick up food at another window when they call your number. It's all very casual and laid back, and the food was awesome. I had a crab cake, which was the size of your average saucer and about an inch thick. Add to that an order of 'slaw and hush puppies, and an ice cold Heineken. "Rona" had a fish platter with blackened grouper, slaw, and a salad, and ice water. Bill came to $36, and I treated because she drove.

Everglades City is an interesting town because there is only one road in and out of the city, along State Route 29. The only other way in and out is by boat. So it makes for some interesting travel and sights along the roadside ... basically for 20 miles when you exit Route 41 onto State Highway 29, it looks like you're traveling along an asphalt bridge with endless marsh on either side of you.

Anyway, we got to our airboat outfitter outside of town, and signed on with "Captain Rick" who, for $40 each, took us and seven other passengers on a rollicking airboat ride through a veritable maze of waterways lined with mangrove, cypress, and sawgrass. At top speed, our boat of nine people was cruising at somewhere around 30-35 mph, and Captain Rick was banking the turns really sharp to make it look like we were careening into the brush at numerous points along the way. We saw many birds, most of which took flight as the noisy airboat approached. We did creep up on one Roseate Spoonbill so as not to scare it, so that we could see it up close. We also got within about five feet of one alligator, about a 7-footer. Neat stuff. Here are some photos:

Gator

 

At the end, we went back into the welcome center, and got to hold a couple of baby alligators that they keep in a tank and presumably release into the wild when they reach a certain size. Here are a couple photos of that:

Nope, not a rubber alligator!

From there, we drove back to Fort Myers (about 1.5 hours) and "Rona" dropped me back off at the apartment where I invited her into the apartment to download her photos from her I-phone (I had managed to forget my camera that day!) and also to show her the apartment (that took 2 minutes!) and also introduce her to Abby. Abby was her usual congenial self, and the two made friends quickly. "Rona" went on her way, and spent the rest of the evening relaxing with dinner (Italian sausage on a a bun) and watching a couple of my favorites on Netflix and Hulu. I slept very well that evening, what with all the fresh air.

Thursday, I spent most of the day in the apartment writing my wristwatch article for the NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin on Eterna watches. This was on top of my script I wrote for my talk at the NAWCC Regional in Kissimmee next week. So everything kind of bunched up on me, but isn't that the way it always goes? I did take a break at about 5 p.m. and drove over to Outback Steak House, which is a couple miles from the apartment. I broke with my tradition of avoiding chain restaurants because I wanted something quick and easy so I could get back to the apartment and continue writing. Plus, the 15% AARP discount doesn't hurt either! I had a 10 oz. ribeye with baked potato and salad for just under $20 including tip.

Today, as I mentioned, I am at the 78th Annual Sanibel Shell Festival, which is a VERY big deal here on the island and draws exhibitors not only from the immediate area, but from around the country and even some international folks. There are shells for sale, and shells just for show, including scientific and artistic exhibits, which are judged not only by professionals, but have a people's choice award, too. Dawn, there are many of those Junonia shells on exhibit. Also shells collected from around the world, as far away as Australia, and I think you would really enjoy seeing this. Some of the artistic exhibits are simply awesome, ranging from the tastefully kitchey to simply gorgeous.

pictures made entirely of shells

So that pretty much brings you up to date. I will be finishing my story during the weekend. We gain an hour on Sunday morning, which will be nice and make the daylight last longer. Then Monday I take off for my little adventure to St. Petersburg and Kissimmee.

Bruce