Problem

We discovered there is a problem with the way pictures are being added to the blog.  Basically too small and can't be expanded if clicked on.  We will work to rectify ASAP.

Day 9 - Feb. 26 - Daytona to Hollywood

Woke to beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic facing beach.

Hotel breakfast (not so exciting). We should let readers know that after much travel together we have settled on stays at Holiday Inn Express whenever we have the option.  This based on consistently comfortable beds and a free breakfast that is not memorable but adequate to get one started.

Drove straight to the Crowne Plaza in Hollywood Florida for another nights stay before heading down to Marathon Key tomorrow.

Here are few shots taken at the Crowne Plaza Hotel facility.

Day 8 - Feb. 25 - Ocala to Daytona Beach

Up Early, Starbucks (see a pattern here?) and then a ride to Ocklawaha.  Gordon showed Charles the trailer park where he stayed while helping his Orcas Island friend John with renovation work.  Also toured "The Villages" area of Lady Lake Florida and looked at a house for sale in Stonecrest, a 55 and over PUD.

Charles says Central Florida looks a bit like central Texas but with Palm trees.

Got the car washed and headed for Daytona.

Explored Daytona area , found the requisite cigar bar and enjoyed a Stella (another pattern!)

.

Arrived at hotel around 4:30 and headed to the water!

Day 7 - Feb. 24 - Gainesville & the Payne Prairie Preserve

Half day travel north to Payne Prairie Preserve just south of Gainsville. Day was cool and cloudy.   Stopped for lunch at Mojos, a Cuban Cafe in Belleville that Gordon discovered before Charles arrived.  Great spot.

The topography near the preserve resembles the Argentine pampas with its plains and palm trees.

Charles at the preserve entrance.

The refuge is huge made up largely of swamy prairie.  

Amongst the many critters that habitat the prairie are very large dogs with big warts and long tails.  The refuge staff insist they are alligators.

Also there are many types of exotic birds, Spanish horses, cattle and bison although we didn't see any of the cattle or bison.

The trail into the prairie starts with a half-mile boardwalk and is cloaked by huge live oaks covered with very exotic looking Spanishmoss.

After the boardwalk the trail turns into dirt crossing the prairie with an occasional bubbling pond filled with great big dogs.

The trail is well posted with signs that inform visitors that this is a natural area and that there is no protection of any kind from the very big dogs/gators.  Posted guidance states to stay 20' away from gators on land and 5' if the gator is in the water.  As you will observe from many of the attached photos Charles often worked within inches of an alligators nose!  (Just a close up lens actually ... not to worry as Charles followed the 60' rule.  Gordon on the other hand rode gators around the preserve.)

One of the great entertainments really is waiting to see what happens when a mid-westerner approaches an eight foot gator to take an extreem close up with a cellphone!  Unfortunately there was no excitement today.

Headed to our hotel in Ocala and a good but simple Longjorn dinner.

Day 6 - Feb. 23 - Longboat Key and North

Another early departure headed first for Longboat Key just south of St. Pete.  A foggy start and a slow but steady slog up route 41. Arrived at noon and stopped for Grouper Quesadilla and Chicken Poblano soup at the Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant.  Very folksy waterfront spot and excellent food.

Stopped at Longboat Key beach before leaving the Island just to get our feet wet and to gather some small shells that Gordon plans to send to his grandkids.

Continued north crossing the bridge over part of Tampa Bay,  

saluted a tax processing statue promoting Liberty Tax Service 

before reaching our Indian Rocks hotel just south of Clearwater.  After some fiddling with Holiday Inn management we arranged a room to our liking (waterfront with balcony).

Settled in after the drive. Made a nice Mojito for each of us as we watched the final round of the Accenture golf match.

Good job Jason Day!

Then some Olympic closing ceremonies and bed.

Day 5 - Feb. 22 - Sanibel Island & The Edison and Ford Winter Estates

Woke to fog with a vague hint of light beyond.  Breakfast at the hotel (poor) a quick stop at Starbucks and then on to Sanibel Island.  This visit we headed out to Bowman's Beach to see if shells can still be found there.  Slim pickings.  We walked a mile down the beach to the NW and found little interesting.  The sun broke through however and the beach and water were magnificent.  Water maybe 76 degrees and the beach nearly empty.

After an hour and a half we moved down the road to the Ding Darling Refuge and took several photos in the preserve.  Many nice White Pelicans.

Had lunch at Doc Ford's Bar & Grille on Sanibal.  Very good Grouper sandwich.

Next we were off to tour the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers.  

Interesting to see how these early inventors and industrialists were the snow birds of the day.  Lovely homes gardens and exotic plantings and many trees.  Edison was trying to identify which trees could produce the best rubber compounds for Ford's cars.

Stopped at the cigar bar again on the way back to the hotel to enjoy more Olympics. As we left the cigar bar Charles unfortunately made what Emaleen (below) thought was a pass.  Big Mistake.  Emaleen followed Charles to The Connection Bar & Grille and demanded dinner!  I let the love birds work it out while I enjoyed a Chicken corn chowder..yummy.

Ran into a car show after dinner as Emaleen drifted off in a cloud of haze. Some really sweet cars from the 50's and 60's.

Tomorrow we'll move further north along the west coast ending up at Indian Rocks just south of Clearwater.

Day 4 - Feb. 21st - The Nexus Difference

Even more prevalent than McDonalds in Florida are gun shops and shooting ranges.  Our hotel in Davie as luck would have it was next door to the newest high tech range in the state i.e. The Nexus Difference.  

Being suckers for new experiences we checked it out.  I wish I could have taken a photo.  Octagon building with each of the eight interior walls covered with every shooting weapon currently in production.  Literally hundreds of guns of every persuasion .

We couldn't resist.  After minimal vetting we were armed with four pistols and 400 rounds of ammunition and directed to one of four indoor shooting ranges.   Even with the provided ear plugs the sound of a large caliber piston being fired three feet away is deafening.  We mounted our targets in two adjacent firing lanes and proceed to blow away perceived past villains.  We both were bored (and deaf) after firing less than half our ammunition so we left giving our unexpended rounds to a gleeful range supervisor.  We enjoyed the outing but it will last a looong while.  I should note it is very scary how involved many people are here with guns.  Posters everywhere inciting everyone to greater self defense. 

After we began hearing again we spoke and agreed again to head west toward Cape Coral and Fort Myers.  We'd visited these areas before but only a quick scouting pass through.  This time we planned a more thorough visit.

Arrived in Fort Myers in the late afternoon and located a very nice cigar bar.  Enjoyed a cigar and a Stella before heading to our hotel. After checking in we headed out for a quick supper at a pleasant Mexican place followed by some Olympic viewing before sleep.

Day 3 - Feb. 20th - Bonnet House Museum and Gardens

http://www.bonnethouse.org

Up early again.  Checked out of the Crowne Plaza and headed north to the Bonnet House with a few stops along the way.

First the Apple Store and some great news.  Gordon's AppleCare Plus policy covers submerged iPhones.  A nominal fee of $79 put a brand new iphone in G's hand by 10:30am.  Gordon is slowly recovering from his near cataronic state!

Bonnet House was far less opulent than Viscaya and the few gardens basic by comparison.  Again we'll let the above web link tell the story.

After a leisurely two hours at Bonnet we set out to find our next hotel.  We settled in Davie Florida, west of Lauderdale and well positioned to leave for Cape Coral on the west coast of Florida the following morning.   We checked in, took a swim, smoked a nice cigar with a wee dram and then headed to a healthy dinner at Longhorn steak house..

Day 2 - Feb. 19th - Vizcaya

(http://www.vizcaya.org)

Up early, Starbucks for breakfast.  Gordon can't move until he has a latte in hand.  Then we head south, that is the car is pointed south but movement is practically non- existent.  Traffic is really dense.  Looks like all the baby boomers in the country have arrived or settled here.  Took nearly a hour to drive ten miles.

Vizcaya is beautiful if not a stunning example of opulence.  We'll let the pictures and the web site link above tell the story.  A most enjoyable stroll through some truly lovely gardens.  The architecture is also intriguing.

Decided based on the lovely pool and ah .......it's amenities..... to extend our stay at the Crowne Plaza for another night.  Ca-ching  Ca-Ching.

So after returning from Vizcaya we put on our swim suits and head to poolside.  Charles went for the huge hot tub and Gordon jumped into the pool....with his iphone in his suit pocket.  Panic !!!

Left the phone in the sun to bake and later in the hotel room in a makeshift oven heated by a hairdryer to no avail.   Dinner by the pool. Much Sadness.

Back in our hotel room Gordon began beating his head against a wall while crying on the bathroom floor.  Not really but he is saying he's so dumb dumb dumb!  Finding an Apple store will obviously be on the agenda first thing tomorrow else a further meltdown could ensue.

Day 1 - Feb 18th. Arrival - Fort Lauderdale

Charles arrives from Oregon and was met by Gordon who had driven to Florida in late January to visit/assist another NW friend with a remodeling project.  Weather perfect 80° and sunny -

It was late afternoon and with Charles needing to unwind after the long flight we checked into our first hotel and immediately visited the Tiki bar adjacent to a lovely pool area.  We don't often splurge on a Crown Plaza stay but every once in a while it's a nice treat.  

Spent what remained of the day enjoying a Mojito or two while catching up and people watching. Special emphasis devoted to the parade of lovely ladies displaying their latest pool attire.