Winter Season Coming to an End

Hello friends and family:

Next week at the this time, I will be leaving Fort Myers and heading back to Janesville. I am taking a different route this time for two reasons: First, to avoid Atlanta, though I'm told the I-85 bridge collapse does not directly impact my route through the city on I-75. But getting through Atlanta is a headache even under the best of circumstances, and I'm anxious to see if this route through the Mississippi Gulf is any less stressful. Two, I won't have (cat) Abby with me, so I can afford to take a more leisurely, exploratory route back and not have to worry about finding pet-friendly motels. Abby is staying with (sister) Dawn for the next six months until I return to Fort Myers in November.

I've reserved hotels for the first two nights, the first being in Tallahassee, and the second at the Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi. From there, I don't know where the next night's stay will be. It could be in Memphis, or I may hang around the Biloxi area for another night if I'm having a good time. The Beau Rivage Casino and Resort was along in contention for night #2, but the Palace edged it out because it is totally nonsmoking in the hotel AND the casino, and this sounded intriguing. So I may stay at the Beau Rivage for night #3 if it looks intriguing. I'll update everyone as the trip home progresses.

I have spent the final weeks here pretty much relaxing. Dawn and I drove up to Sarasota on Saturday April 8 to stretch the new Corolla's legs a little bit and also to visit the Ringling Museum. This time we visited the two circus-themed museums on the property and skipped the art museum, which we had visited previously this season. We want to return again and visit Ca d' Zan, the Ringling mansion, but we didn't want to try and do both on the same day. The circus museums were quite interesting. One of the buildings holds a scale model (3/4 inch to the foot) of a complete Ringling circus, set up the way it would have been at the height of the circus's golden era in the 1920s. This is the 40-plus year project of Howard Tibbels who had to name his circus the "Howard Bros." circus because the Ringling Corp. denied him permission to use the Ringling name when he started the project back in the 1970s. It has grown to over 40,000 hand-made pieces  and still growing. The model was first exhibited at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tenn., and for the past 10 years (since 2007) as resided at the museum in Sarasota. It took Tibbels a whole year just to set up the display! He is still at it, making minor refinements and/or additions here and there whenever he visits. He even has his own workshop on the Ringling museum grounds.

The second building houses artifacts from the Ringling circus, including wagons, props, costumes, and circus posters. The latter of which are quite rare because they were so frequently torn off buildings, walls, and fences when the circus left town. Here's one from the 1920s that recently sold on eBay for $1,950.

My favorite item on display was the human cannonball truck owned by a circus performer who traveled all over the country, performing as a freelancer at various circuses, including Ringlings. This is one of most bizarre vehicles I have ever seen, and I can only imagine the looks it must have received from passers-by as it motored down the highway. The truck even includes a compartment where the guy could sleep while on the road and during breaks in his performances. Talk about taking your office with you on the road!

We also had lunch in Sarasota at "Barnacle Bills Seafood" just down the street from The Ringling on Highway 41. It was highly rated on Yelp and the restaurant lived up to the reviews. We started out with soup. I had seafood chowder. Dawn had a cup of the lobster bisque at $7.99 and pronounced it worth every penny. For main course, Dawn had a crabcake platter, and I had a seafood strudel which was a mixture of crab, shrimp, lobster, and scallops rolled into phylo dough and deep fried. Looked kind of like a Chimichanga! The tab with two iced teas, tax and tip came out to $55, which is certainly one of the more  expensive lunches we have had in recent memory, but worth it. If you wanted to go sans soup and with a cheaper lunch item like the "Daily Catch Plate" at $12.99 you could probably do lunch for two at around $30 to $35.

Other than that, I've been laying kind of low for the most part. Excessive heat and humidity for this time of year has played a factor in this, to the point where I'm questioning whether Fort Myers is the best location for me for future winters. St. Pete is looking pretty good, as the temperature there on any given day is usually five degrees cooler than here. We'll see.

Finished a book, "Never Go Back," the 18th in the "Jack Reacher" series by Lee Child. I know there are a ton of Lee Child fans out there, but I have to say I think the "formula" is wearing thin: Lone wolf stumbles into some type of controversy where some underdog is falsely accused (sometimes himself). He gets involved, and in the process beats the shit out of a gang of thugs to demonstrate his fighting prowess, and at some point usually gets laid (but of course can't commit because of his "lifestyle"). I thought this particular book was overly convoluted, especially when we find out at the end what the ultimate crime was that precipitated this 500-page story in the first place. I won't give it away, but suffice to say I thought it was weak.

Dawn's birthday is coming up Saturday and we are joining Dawn's friends, Karen and Craig, at the Bay House Restaurant in North Naples. Never been to this place, but it's supposed to be pretty good. I am expecting a $100 tab for the two of us, which is perfectly OK because it's a birthday celebration. Dawn and I are also going to a birthday dinner just the two of us at the University Grill, which is one of our local favorites.

This will probably be the last entry from Fort Myers for the season. Every winter hiatus down here has had its own unique "flavor," and this one was certainly no exception. Dawn working full time (she was on employment sabbatical last winter) has meant more days to myself. I have socialized less, mostly because a Meetup group that I spent so much time with last year has more or less disbanded. I have filled part of the slack time by going on day trips here and there with a couple of local tour companies. I have definitely been less physically active this time around. Part of it I blame on a recurring knee condition which has flared up again this winter, and also tendonitis in my right shoulder which has somehow surfaced. But part I blame on my own lack of initiative. Somehow I need to get back on a regular exercise regime again because I seriously need to lose at least 25 pounds by the Australia trip coming up this September simply in the interest of better mobility during the day, and better sleep at night.

Also this winter season, I have become more and more aware that Florida's beaches are becoming "un-swimmable" due to the pollution running off from Lake Okeechobee. Some areas are worse than others, but Fort Myers is particularly bad because we are basically right at the "anus" where the Calusa River (which originates at Lake Okeechobee) dumps into the ocean. Signs are posted almost daily at the beaches here warning swimmers about red tides, algae blooms, and harmful bacteria.

But so far the interests of the sugar industry have outweighed the interests of the environment which of course has always been a "liberals" problem. But now the tourism industry, which took a big hit this season, being affected so now it's finally becoming a "conservatives" problem as well. It will only begin to get solved when enough tourists stop coming to Florida, and the tourism industry screams loud enough and starts sending larger bribes (excuse me, PAC contributions) to the governor and state legislature than does the sugar industry. I don't mean to sound jaded, but that's the way things have worked down here for the last 100 years, and nobody seems to think it will change any time soon.

Don't get me wrong; I still feel the winters here in Florida are totally worth it. Love the fresh seafood (although I question how long before pollution affects the local marine life) and produce. And mostly I love not feeling constrained by the cold, snow, and ice. But I am considering whether living close to the beaches is worth the extra expense if the only safe swimming down here is quickly becoming swimming pools!

But by the same token, definitely looking forward to getting back to Wisconsin, which I consider "home." I look forward to the Spring, Summer, and Fall seasons there, the rolling countryside, my favorite local haunts, and of course my family and friends there. See you all soon.

Bruce