March 3-6, 2013

March 3^rd was a free day in Tampa.  We used the day to rest up and do some housekeeping items.

March 4^th was a travel day from Tampa to Fort Myers.  About 130 miles.  Carl and many other RVers were not happy with the route taken.  Our Trip log sent us on hwy 41 when we could have stayed on the Fwy. #75.  We had red lights every block or two.  En-route at about the 120 mile mark we stopped at the Edison and Ford estates.  In 1926 Henry Ford built a winter home next to the winter home of Thomas Edison who had been wintering there since 1886.  It is a beautiful site on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River.  There is a lot of history to see and learn there.  There is also a museum of Edison’s many patents and his laboratory used when he was trying to invent rubber.  We probably would have enjoyed this more if we had not been so worn out from the stop and go driving.

 

                                                                                   

 

 

March 5th was a free day.  A beautiful sunny day.  No sweater needed all day!  Carl and I took our bikes on the car to Sanibel Island.  We parked at the lighthouse end of the Island.  We were among the first to arrive at the beach and I collected a shell while Carl unloaded the bikes.  We rode our bikes along the outer shore bike path and over to the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  Many people were bird watching in the refuge.  We rode two miles into the refuge and back to the entrance by the indigo trail.  Then we rode our bikes back to the car by a shorter route on the other side of the island.  Our bike miles were 23.  We loaded the bikes on the car and then walked on the beach.  The beach was now quite crowded.   I collected two more shells.  We had a great lunch of Yucatan shrimp, that I hope we can duplicate at home, and spinach salad. We can recommend Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grill.  After lunch we drove back to the Refuge and went by car on the four mile trail through the refuge stopping for photo ops. Then we drove to Captiva Island in search of Manatee but had no success then back to the RV park.  Adventure Caravans staff prepared us a BBQ burger dinner.  This may have been the best day we have had so far in Florida.

 

 

March 6^th was a travel day from Fort Myers to Homestead.  About 143 mile.  Cloudy with a little rain in Ft. Myers in the morning.  We had an en-route stop at the Miccosukee Indian Village & Museum.  There we saw an alligator show and learned a few things about the Miccosukee Indians.  The alligator show was hard to watch at times but interesting.  We also went on an airboat ride.  The airboat ride was fun.  It was quite windy at the Indian village but not cold.