So here's the daily log, as best as I can remember:
DAY 1: From Security to a Ski Show
Sunday March 6th was an early day. We got up at 3:30 to get to the airport in time to catch our 7 a.m. flight to Fort Myers. The roads were deserted. I felt like we were driving in some apocalyptic place as we were driving to the airport. We got to the airport and went through security; we wanted to save some money so we just did a carry-on bag because we were only going to be in Florida for a few days.
We went through, my bag got pulled over and searched because I had been packing the night before around midnight and forgot to put some creams or make-up in the liquids bag. I know that it's their job, but really TSA: is a very tired girl, with glasses and her hair thrown in a ponytail, who looks like she just rolled out of bed, and can barely hold a conversation with you because she hasn't had her coffee yet a significant threat? Of course my bag that I had packed was packed perfectly so that everything could fit. I had to repack it so that I could zip it up before we could get to our gate but my dad's pat-down because of his new hip bought me some time.
Our flight went to Atlanta, and then we caught a connecting flight to Fort Myers. Both the flights were alright. The first flight had some really horrible turbulence but that was because of the rainstorm that was brewing.
We landed in Fort Myers around 10-ish and called our hotel to see if we could check in. Our room wasn't ready yet so we took our rental car and tooled around Fort Myers to check out the places that we wanted to go. We stopped by our hotel, Homewood Suites, around 3 and were told that our room still wasn't ready. It hadn't been cleaned yet. This has never happened to us at this hotel chain before so I'm thinking that the guests that checked out that morning had checked out late. They said it would be done in two hours so we left and went to a water-ski show around 4.
What's cool about this water-ski show was that it's on the edge of an outlet mall called Miromar Outlets. They have a lake with a fountain built in and this group gives shows every day at 4. They're mostly high school and college students so it was fun to see them show off. Below are some photos:
opening piece
killing some time because of boat troubles
lifts
After the show we did some more driving around and then went back to the hotel and went to bed so that we could get up bright and early without crankiness to go to the beach the next day.
DAY 2: Bring on the Sand, Sun, and Surf
Footprints in the sand
Beach day! This was the day that I was looking forward to where I didn't have to do a single thing. I could lay on my towel, read a book for fun, and went swimming and looked for seashells.
Our first stop was Sanibel Island.
We stayed there for most of the morning and it's extremely beautiful. It has perfect sand that feels like silk when it runs through your fingers, and it's a great place to look for seashells. We had bought a small net because one of my parent's friends back home had suggested it. The net's goal is to catch the shells as the waves are cresting by you. It worked pretty well. We found some small but unique shells. It was my dad's favorite activity.
Our first stop was Sanibel Island.
We stayed there for most of the morning and it's extremely beautiful. It has perfect sand that feels like silk when it runs through your fingers, and it's a great place to look for seashells. We had bought a small net because one of my parent's friends back home had suggested it. The net's goal is to catch the shells as the waves are cresting by you. It worked pretty well. We found some small but unique shells. It was my dad's favorite activity.
shells my dad collected
At one point there was a huge commotion at the other end of the beach. So, naturally I went to check it out. In the water were three stingrays swimming in the shallows. They were so graceful and they were probably medium-sized. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me to snap a picture but Rianna; my sister, has one on hers. It was kind of cool but after that I didn't exactly feel like swimming anymore.
We noticed we were starting to get a little too much sun so to avoid looking and feeling like lobsters later on we got in our car and went to lunch. We ended up at a local place called The Lazy Flamingo. It was a place that was off the beaten track and the food was delicious, two of the best words to use when it comes to a restaurant in my opinion. It was a small restaurant with two people manning it. One manned the register and took orders and the other cooked. When orders came in the waiter attached them to a clip and slid them along a cable to the kitchen that hung in the restaurant. It was pretty relaxed and the ambience was just what we were looking for after a morning at the beach.
At one point there was a huge commotion at the other end of the beach. So, naturally I went to check it out. In the water were three stingrays swimming in the shallows. They were so graceful and they were probably medium-sized. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me to snap a picture but Rianna; my sister, has one on hers. It was kind of cool but after that I didn't exactly feel like swimming anymore.
We noticed we were starting to get a little too much sun so to avoid looking and feeling like lobsters later on we got in our car and went to lunch. We ended up at a local place called The Lazy Flamingo. It was a place that was off the beaten track and the food was delicious, two of the best words to use when it comes to a restaurant in my opinion. It was a small restaurant with two people manning it. One manned the register and took orders and the other cooked. When orders came in the waiter attached them to a clip and slid them along a cable to the kitchen that hung in the restaurant. It was pretty relaxed and the ambience was just what we were looking for after a morning at the beach.
Inside The Lazy FlamingoWe went to one more beach, had dinner and then went mini-golfing at this really cool place that had a renaissance theme to it: castles, moats, knights-in-shining-armor, and the works. It was a weird combination of Disney World and golf.
Day 3: Twins Training Camp Day! Bring on the Boys of Summer.
This is the main reason why we went to Fort Myers. My parents had gotten tickets to Twins Training Camp back in January. This was going to be a good day. Sadly my original favorites, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau did not play in the game we watched. I have new favorites now, Danny Valencia Jeff Manship, and Kevin Slowey. They were the only three players to sign anything for anyone who was standing next to the field before the game when the other players were just standing around for 10 minutes doing nothing.
Hammond Stadium is a very beautiful facility and it was so green that I felt like I was looking at Ireland or something. That was a welcome change from the gray Minnesota Winter. The announcer told us while we were sitting and waiting for the game to start that the current temperature back home was 10 degrees and there I was sitting in 80 degree sunny weather. You don't realize what a different world it is when you're there. My mom said many times over the trip that she couldn't believe that it was snowing in Minnesota and she felt like she was on some other planet. 
After some technical difficulties with the national anthem that resulted in the whole stadium singing it together, the Twins took on the Pirates. Unfortunately, they lost by two runs but it was a really cool experience.
That evening we went down to Fort Myers Beach and caught the sunset. I forgot how beautiful they could be. I haven't been able to see many lately. There was also a street magician that we saw perform after the sunset too. He was pretty good.
After some technical difficulties with the national anthem that resulted in the whole stadium singing it together, the Twins took on the Pirates. Unfortunately, they lost by two runs but it was a really cool experience.That evening we went down to Fort Myers Beach and caught the sunset. I forgot how beautiful they could be. I haven't been able to see many lately. There was also a street magician that we saw perform after the sunset too. He was pretty good.
Day 4: The Everglades and Alligator "Hunting"
Sadly, this was our last day in Florida. My parents only had so much vacation time. We took ourselves down to the Everglades and had it planned out so that we could come back with time to spare to catch our flight.
Sadly, this was our last day in Florida. My parents only had so much vacation time. We took ourselves down to the Everglades and had it planned out so that we could come back with time to spare to catch our flight. We took an Air Boat ride through the Everglades which was pretty cool but very loud. It was a good time and we had a lot of fun. I knew when a Pelican landed on our boat and stayed there that it was going to be an interesting tour.
We saw raccoons, catfish, and an alligator, which my dad and sister were really excited about. They had been looking for alligators for the whole trip and had yet to see one. So the fact that there was this gigantic alligator sitting on the shore totally made their day. Our tour guide was really good and he liked to speed around corners and do donuts with the air boat in the middle of larger areas of water. It was a lot of fun and I saw a lot of things I normally wouldn't have seen.
I did not like the fact that the guide told me that snakes have fallen out of the trees onto the air boats in the past. *shivers* That would not have been cool. I hate snakes.After one last tour of the island in our rental we headed back to the airport and flew home, back to the frozen tundra.
Until Next Time,
Avery
No comments:
Post a Comment