Southwest Florida Vagabonding

 

After completing our journey from Texas to Florida, we stayed a few nights with cousin Jim and BilliBob in Cape Coral, as I had a jury summons in Lee County, and we couldn't check into our AirBnb quite yet. Cousin Jim is always an accommodating, gracious, and easygoing host, and he has a lovely home and pool. We enjoy spending time with him and at his place! Jim and BB had to work during the day, but we had time in the evenings to visit and catch up. We also finally got to try the local chippy near Jim's place ... bonus, British Cadbury's!

My number was excused from duty, so I headed on over to the Ft. Myers Regional Library for some genealogical research. It is quite a facility, with a large outdoor plaza, separate building for conference rooms, and a dedicated genealogy room.

This library is what is referred to as a familysearch affiliate library. Like the family history centers I have visited, one can access the restricted Italian records there. A tip from my Sicilian genealogy Facebook group led me to discover that the records that have been unavailable all summer (due to a computer upgrade at the FHCs) would likely be available there. And they were! Good thing, because I was anxious to continue my Moschitto research questions, and I was able to obtain several important records over two days visiting the library. These especially helped expand the Barbarino line of the Moschittos. Yay! (An aside, if you want to do genealogy research but don't want to pay fees of the various sites, many of these affiliate libraries have free access to genealogy sites.)

We next headed about an hour south to our home away from home for 30 days in Naples. This Airbnb is definitely not a tiny home, so I don't have a tiny house review this time. This stay is in a 2/2 condo stocked with everything one needs, with a responsive host who provides the majority of household goods needed for a long stay. This is in contrast to past experiences where, for example, we've been provided two rolls of toilet paper for 2 months to having to provide our own cleaning supplies during a 3.5 months stay (or as the host suggested, we could have her cleaner come for $100 a week). So, kudos to our current host (whose family, interestingly, originates from Napoli, Italia)! 

Nevertheless, I still found myself having to purchase a necessity, and not something I could get at the dollar store. I had to buy a frying pan and spatula, as this was the condition of all the pans ...

Uh, duh, don't have non-stick pans and then provide all metal cooking utensils! 

New pan and spatula. Emily will inherit the pan. Should I be nice and leave the spatula?

Our favorite feature of this stay is the beautiful resort-style pool. We have been going almost every morning to exercise (in the afternoon, it is too hot, more peoply, and often raining, as is common in Florida this time of year). Among the regulars at the pool, we are the youngsters, even though we are technically seniors! 

We met the most interesting man, Heinz, on a day that we lingered. He is 92 years old and sharp as can be. (An aside ... His wife died 5 years ago and now he has a girlfriend in Alabama he met online!) Heinz, a German Jew, escaped Germany with his father and went to Italy. The father ended up in a detention camp, but at the time Italy was only detaining adult males, so Heinz was put in some type of boarding house. His host taught him Italian to a fluent level so he could better blend in. Heinz eventually went to the hills to join the resistance, where he served as a messenger. Later coming to the U.S., he met his wife, who was an Auschwitz survivor, the only of her family. Heinz wrote a book that he prints himself and gives out when he goes to talk to kids at schools about his experiences because "people need to know, especially children." Unfortunately, Heinz usually goes to the pool in the afternoon, so we haven't had a chance to talk further. I'd be interested in looking at his book!

We appreciate a sparkling pool!

As we get to the pool early, we both had grown weary of cereal for breakfast. Inside the well-equipped kitchen was a muffin tin, so I was able to try out this recipe for Egg Muffin Frittatas, which can be made ahead and stored in the fridge or freezer and quickly reheated. They are quite tasty, and I imagine could be adapted to a number of ingredients. For example, I had some ham cubes left over from another recipe, so I threw those in. If you have any ideas for variations, share them in the comments!

As I'm sure all readers are aware, Florida is a COVID clusterfest right now, so we have to be careful about what we do for excursions. Honestly, it's also very easy to just fall into a pattern of daily living: swimming in the morning and then our typical activities in the afternoon, but then I start to feel a little lazy and restless, LOL!

BilliBob had recommended that we go Koreshan State Park in nearby Estero, an historical site of a unique pioneer group that settled in this area in 1894. The group members were followers of Dr. Cyrus Teed (aka Koresh, Hebrew for Cyrus), who wanted to establish "New Jerusalem," a utopia free of many of societal ills - especially crime and drugs - with communal property and living. Shall we call it a cult? I'm not certain. (Now, you may ask yourself, as we did: Does Waco cult leader David Koresh have any linkage with this group? Here is one opinion.)

Core members lived in the settlement (the park site) and were celibate, while additional followers lived outside of the settlement and maintained families. The community provided cultural activities, classical education, and vocational training. The settlement was self-sustaining, with, for example, gardens, orchards, a bakery, a machine shop, and a general store which serviced traffic on US 41 (Tamiami Trail). It was the Buc-ee's of its day! 

Original artworks and piano inside the Art Hall

Most interestingly, there was gender equity in the settlement. One might even say it was a matriarchy, despite its origins under a male leader. Seven women, the Planetary Chamber - governed the settlement. The Seven Sisters lived in this three-story building called the Planetary Court. Since at that time women were not allowed to engage in various types of business transactions, they had a male liaison who served as a 'front.' His lodgings were in the small room at the top of this building.

While in the area, we decided to explore a couple of the barrier islands that run between Estero Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. We drove as far as Lovers Key State Park. We didn't want to pay the day fee to just go in and look around, so we pulled off at a scenic overlook before the park entrance. We were rewarded for our efforts: Manatees!

Afterwards, per Jim's suggestion, we popped into Iguana Mia to try the sangria-margarita swirls. Happy hour! Jim also gave us a good tip for a delicious rib place here in Naples, Michelbob's. Yum!

One day during our stay we received news that the E.U. is again planning restrictions on visitors from the U.S. ARGH! What, when, where, of course, is murky and subject to constant shifting. I hope that conditions will be better for our planned departure in March. Anyway, I needed an uplift, so we went on an explore. The smallest USPS is about 35 miles from our stay, so we decided to go check it out. 

Some scenery on the drive along Tamiami Trail. We saw lots of water fowl.

The smallest USPS, serves 3 counties, as well as Native American residents in the area! It is a former pipe shed for a tomato farm. There is a walk-up counter behind the door, where the postal clerk stands. 

Big Cypress National Preserve is also on this portion of Tamiami Trail, so we popped in to take a quick peek. It smelled really good there! This swamp plays an important role in the ecosystem of the neighboring Everglades.

The Red Mangrove, left, is a threatened species.

Marco Island was en route back home, so we popped over there for an adult beverage and a sunset. We felt it more fiscally favorable to apply the $8 parking fee toward a beverage and watch the sunset from a restaurant patio. 

This is the last time we visited Marco Island...

New Year's Eve 1998. One of my favorite pictures!

Naples and the surrounding area has many beautiful beaches. Sadly, like many parts of Florida, they are only freely accessible for the well-off. This is in stark contrast to Santa Barbara, and one of the things I find frustrating about Florida. Accessing the beach involves ridiculous parking fees with very high fines ($77-$102). However, I need my Vitamin Sea, so we've begrudgingly forked over the money several times.

Naples Beach Visits. The sand is the powdery white stuff, very nice! I rarely get in the water at Florida beaches, but the water was pretty clear, so I jumped in. Naples Pier was built in 1888! It has had portions rebuilt after suffering damage from three different hurricanes. Sunsets are lovely.

The beaches here have a lot of shells. (See cover photo as an example.) Between what I found on the beach and the ones I discovered in a big bowl at our Airbnb, I was able to earn my Seek Gold Mollusk badge and complete the Restoration and Recovery Challenge. Yay!

Here are some of my favorites. Aren't they beautiful!?

Worm shell, Broad-ribbed Cardita, Giant Atlantic Cockle, Florida Fighting Conch, Lightning Whelk, Spiny Jewel Box, and my ultimate favorite, Atlantic Kitten's Paw. Aw!

If you follow our blog, you might recall we were scheduled to try a cruise on September 13 on Carnival Magic out of Port Canaveral. Because of new rules the Bahamas instituted, we had to do some shuffling, because we didn't have enough time between two cruises to get our now-required-for-vaccinated-passengers pre-embarkation COVID test. No complaints here. I am happy for all the additional new protocols that will be in place for at least the next several months. We really do feel that on the ship is safer than on land, especially here in Florida.

That said, I had to find accommodations for the time we would have been on that ship. Unfortunately, our Naples stay was already booked, so we could not extend. We ended up deciding on a week in Port Charlotte. This place is a more than acceptable replacement for our cruise. Really nice!

It's a real treat to have a nice lanai and pool to ourselves!

Port Charlotte is just up the Tamiami Trail from Jim and Billibob, so we had an opportunity to meet up with them and some of their friends at a pub. Fantastic folks! The grapefruit beer was brilliant! 

Our waterproof camera cases came in the mail, so we had a chance to test them out. All worked fine, and we are looking forward to trying them out on some potential upcoming trips. We also got out the snorkel gear, since we've not used it in almost two years (but we've been carrying it around, waiting, LOL)!

Underwater, In the water, and From the Water ... Check, check and check!

As is typical in Florida this time of year, the afternoon and evening usually brings scattered storms. However, we had one clear evening where we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset and moonrise. This is in Port Charlotte Harbor. 

Can you spot the heron?

The rains brought out lots of birds, including more White Ibis. I guess they are this trip's mascot?

Well, we have always joked that we would like to live on cruise ships, so through mid-November we are going to be trying a variation of that (as long as the cruises keep sailing, and we pass our COVID exams). Our sailings are: MSC Divina twice for 7 day cruises, different itineraries; Carnival Horizon for 8 days, and Carnival Valor for 5 days. If you try to reach us and we don't respond immediately, you'll know that we are at sea! 

In-between we'll be staying at various Airbnbs, including some tiny houses. So, I'll have more tiny house living reviews over the next couple of months. 

I leave you with our latest batch of outtakes! Happy Autumn!