The Weekend

Struggling for time tonight and cannot get the slide show at the bottom to work so apologies but no photos for tonight's blog.

Saturday can be summed up as a couple of long slogs and some pretty good weather.

Somewhere in the dim and distant past it was decided to stop over at Clearwater beach on the way from Orlando to the villas in Cape Coral so we could all meet up for a quick chat and a bite to eat before continuing on our way.

Now Clearwater isn't exactly en-route, but is quite pretty and the weather (clear blue skies - mid 70s) was looking good so we decided to give it a go.  The first part of the journey wasn't too bad and we managed some lunch at one of Eunice and Lou's favourite eating places, Frenchies, which is actually on the beach.

The rest of the journey, however, is very hazy.  A couple of missed turns and what seemed like many hours of travel on bland American 70mph 4 and 6 lane highways was not that enjoyable.  But we made it to the villa eventually.  And what a welcome!  The lights were on (it was very dark when we got there), there was soft music playing and a bottle of wine cooling in the fridge.

A quick trip to Publix provided our tea and then a bit of relaxing for some and swimming for others before bed.

Sunday - and still suffering the effects of jet lag, we were all up before 7:15 (although Jessica's phone alarm which she had set on the loudest setting and left in the living area did help to get us all out of bed).  A very early morning walk round the estate set us up for breakfast before heading off for Lakes Park.  This proved somewhat elusive but did allow us to stumble upon a Poker run / classic car show outside one of the bars near the park.  I liked this very much - no tourists (except for us) - just Americans doing what Americans do on Sunday morning.

The Park (which we did find eventually) is a reclaimed swamp, just like the rest of Cape Coral / Fort Myers I suppose, but which has been handed over to the people of the two towns - and they really love it.  The weather helped (just creeping into the 80s) and the locals were out in force.  There was plenty to do and see (egrets and buzzards, turtles and apparently alligators) and Jess Sal and I hired some bikes and went for a ride exploring while Eunice, Lou and Paula went for a stroll - very enjoyable.

Then back on the road and over to Fort Myers Beach so that Paula Sal and Jess could soak up some sun.

Unfortunately on the way back I managed to catch a tyre on a kerb at one of the toll booths which put a hole in it and we had to call on the roadside assistance which Dollar had told us we just had to have.  Normally (we are told) the average wait is about 35 minutes, but ours was over 2 hours.  It would have been even longer if it hadn't been for a very friendly and helpful Sheriff who insisted on waiting the last hour with us, protecting our rear from the merging and very quick traffic coming out of the toll booths and having a word in the Dollar reps ear to let them know he was not pleased with the time it was taking!

Too late to meet up with Lucy - it was a case of a quick call-in at Target to get some supplies and back to the villa for some TV and Scrabble.