Honey Did You Find The Keys?

March 10-24, 2014

Now where did we put those keys? It’s a good thing I am talking about the Florida Keys and not the keys to the truck. That would be a bummer to SIT’s adventure if we lost those!

We arrived in Marathon Florida on the 10^th and quickly set up our little house. The RV park is about 10 miles from the main part of town and only a couple of miles from some good fishing bridges.

The nice thing about this spot is it has a dock, a place to swim in the Gulf, and a dog park just for Izzy. Well not just for her as she met plenty of friends there.

Our two weeks here were spent enjoying the view, exploring the area, golfing, fishing, fishing, and fishing.  I am guessing by now you get the idea about what we have done the most so far. Since we are going to be here for almost another two weeks we will be doing more of the same, as well as some scuba diving.

A Unique Plant

 

Me Me Me

I'm So Pretty

Not Too Afraid

Tap, Tap, Tap

 

The sunsets here are quite spectacular most nights and the first few nights didn’t disappoint us. We hung out on the seawall just a small distance from our front door and waited for the beauty in the sky. While we waited we noticed at least two-dozen lobsters hanging close to the wall just waiting for dark. This area is a lobster sanctuary otherwise I think Steve would have jumped in and started trying to catch his dinner!

Wow Look At all Those Lobsters

Safe from Steve

Ahhhh

Ooooo

 

We also spotted this creature which is considered a sea snail. It was pretty fast for being a short squatty thing.

Spanish Dancer Snail anyone

The golf course is a challenging Par 3 Executive course. We took advantage of it a few times which was nice. It certainly makes you work on your short game which being a short person you would think I would have an advantage – Not! Steve beat the shorts off of me!

An Inviting Hole on the Course

 

While we were heading to the 7^th hole this guy was making sure we didn’t head toward his bush. I am glad I didn’t hit the ball in there.



Stay Away From My Home

Enjoying the Shade

 

The advantage of being in the Florida Keys is the opportunity to fish without traveling very far. We fished off of the bridge one day and caught a few small fish but you don’t have any shade. So the next time we went fishing we headed to a spot under the bridge on Duck Key. Izzy could come with us too since there was plenty of shade and of course a swimming spot.

We had success here but again small fish but it was a fun afternoon and Izzy had fun trying to get the fish after we put them back in the water. She also got plenty of exercise running between Steve and me as we would cast.

Nice Cast Dad

No you can't have the fish Izzy

Hurry Up So I can Get it

 

My Biggest Fish Here - A Grouper

 

 

A Manatee decided to come hang out with us for a while and every time he came up for air Izzy would get in the water and want to go find it. I am glad she didn’t have any success.

We had Company

Now Where Did It Go?

 

They have a dog friendly beach here so we headed there one day with Izzy and her floppy. She had a blast and when she wasn’t swimming out to get her floppy she was wading with Steve. 

 

 

 

Wading Buddies

I took advantage of their bike path and went for a ride one day and ended up at a small park. There is a nice fishing pier and quite a few birds hanging out.

Hanging Out In The Park

Pier Pleasure

 

On one of our outings we stopped at the US Fish and Wildlife National Key Deer Refuge. Key deer inhabit 20-25 islands in the lower Florida Keys. This endangered species is found no-where else in the worked and is the smallest sub-species of the white-tailed deer in North America. This refuge was established in 1957 and the small lake that can be found here was made due to an abandoned rock quarry. There was an alligator hanging out but it decided to be shy and didn’t show itself but plenty of turtles and even a couple of deer.

Key Deer

Now back to guess what. Yap fishing. We did a night fishing trip, well late afternoon into the evening trip. There were only five of us on the boat along with the Captain so it made for a great non-crowded time. We had fun catching a lot of small fish ranging from grunts, snapper, yellowtails, and porgies. We kept the larger ones so we could have a few fish dinners and let the rest go so they could grow up.

The Dock Master



Guarding the Fish Cleaning Station

Steve caught a nice sized grouper but he was pretty bummed when he had to let it go back into the water. Grouper season isn’t open yet. Oh well he did get the biggest fish but I had the honors of catching the most fish!!

Happy and Sad

The Catch

 

 

When we got back to the dock another boat from the charter company that had gone out came back with a bull shark. The gentleman that caught it also caught a saw fish which is very rare. The saw fish was released but they wanted to have some shark steaks so they brought this big gal back to the dock. I am thinking he will have to get a bigger freezer.

We will continue to enjoy the Keys until April 3^rd so I am sure I will have more fishing stories to tell you about. Maybe even some diving ones too!

 

Has It Been A Year Already?

March 2 – March 9, 2014

The Adventure Begins March 2013

SIT started out on our adventure on March 6, 2013 at 12:00 PM from Meridian and spent the next year traveling 25,538 miles in our truck. During this time, we spent our nights in 68 towns, 17 states, two countries, and on a lake.

March 6, 2014 found us in Naples Florida. That day the temperature was in the upper 70’s with blue skies. The year earlier it was 32, windy, and snowy when we left out on the adventure.

One Year Anniversary March 2014

We have been fortunate to meet wonderful people at every “new temporary home”, seen some amazing country, caught both large and small fish, toured many museums which provided us with great history lessons, seen a battlefield, played golf on some beautiful courses, caught up with friends, celebrated our birthdays, and visited relatives. One of which is my Uncle Al who is 93.

SIT also recognizes we couldn’t be doing this trip without all of you who keep in touch with us, follow the blog, and cheer us on. Hope you feel like you can hang with us for one more year! We owe a great deal to Tom and Becky who are our ears and eyes for us there at home too.

I guess I should tell you a little about our week in Naples too. The RV Park we found was in a perfect spot for us as we could ride out bikes to town, take Izzy on nice walks every morning, and provide a great place for her to catch her floppy.

We checked out the town one day and found the fishing pier. I bet you can’t guess what Steve did? Yap he walked along the pier asking all the fisher people how the catch was? He wasn’t discouraged as we headed to the pier on another day to try our hand at catching some.

Naples Fishing Pier

We arrived in the morning as they were predicting an afternoon thunderstorm.

The bird activity was fun to watch along with dolphins hanging out but the fish were like Wiley Coyote, elusive and pros at stealing our bait. Oh well, it was fun and we only got a bit wet when we headed back to the truck.

Fishing Fiend

Hoping for some freebies

Naples Beach

 

Our neighbors at the RV Park were sociable and filled us in on all of the happenings at the park. Our timing was great too as we were able to attend a 60^th birthday party for Sharon. Her husband hired a band so there was some great music, dancing, and a lot of food.

The Birthday Party

Chris and Shelly

Chris and Tory

 

Sharon the Birthday Gal

 

We exposed Chris and Shelly (our RV neighbors) to the card game of Monopoly. Tom and Becky gave us the game before we headed out on our adventure. I think we have created some Monopoly junkies now. We might have to get them therapy!

We packed up and hit the road for the second half of our adventure. First stop the Florida Keys. I think Steve is a bit excited to be in the Keys again. Well, I am too!

SIT Ready for Another Year

Stay tuned for more to come from “The Life and Times of SIT.”

No It Is Not Spring Break But

February 16 – March 1, 2014

Based on this picture you would think it was spring break here but it’s not. It is a good thing we didn’t plan to lay out and work on our tans.

Not Spring Break Yet

 

SIT landed in Fort Myers for a couple of weeks to check out what goes on here. The RV park we chose is not too far from the beach, Sanibel Island, and Fort Myers Beach Island but the traffic is a tad bit heavy. Good thing we don’t have to be in a hurry to get anywhere!

The RV park has a few nice sized lakes so Izzy will feel right at home. We checked with the park office and they said dogs could swim but not people, well at least not in the lakes!  So Izzy got to go a few times during our stay and fetch her floppy. A boy named Matthew came the first time we were at the water. We were actually fishing and letting Izzy swim.  So the next few times Izzy went to swim he came over and helped keep her busy.

Near Our Spot

Trying to catch something on a fly

Checking out the fishing action 

 

 

 

Matthew getting ready

 

A Happy Dog

The Rinse after the Swim

Steve scoured all the materials to see if he could figure out the best place to go fishing, so we started our hunt for the perfect place. Well maybe not the perfect place but at least some place you could get a line wet.

We went to Sanibel island first and checked out the visitor’s center. After we loaded up on pamphlets and a map we headed to the fishing pier. We found a place to park and walked to the pier. Steve found a few guys fishing but soon discovered the fishing was pretty slow. I found this guy hoping for a fish to get cleaned.

Are you looking at me?

 

The folks at the visitor center told us one of the places to go is the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. We were able to tour the refuge and stopped in a few spots where folks were fishing. Based on Steve’s conversation with them their luck wasn’t much better than at the pier. We toured on.

 

Izzy wondering why she can't go fishing

 

Sanibel is one place where riding your bike is the better way to get around but we didn’t have them with us. So we found a spot, got Izzy out and headed to the beach. The shells you could pick up were great, a lot of folks out on the beach since it was a federal holiday, and guess what? Yap, plenty of people fishing. Izzy and I walked along the water looking at shells, and Steve struck out to find out what folks were catching. They actually were catching some fish and it seems the people fishing from the bridge were having the best luck at catching the kind of fish you actually want to keep.

One of the beaches on Sanibel Island

 

We found a nice place to eat lunch on Captiva Island and then headed back. The traffic hadn’t gotten any better. Next time we won’t go on a holiday!

The next adventure we struck out to have was to explore Fort Myers Beach which is an island. This time we were smart and brought our bicycles. Izzy stayed behind to watch the Animal Planet and take naps.

We found a place to park and took off on our bikes. The first stop was the beach. We walked out onto the fishing pier to check things out. This Pelican was posing for me. Not sure if he thought I would give something for letting me take his picture.

 

 

I'm so pretty

The crowds were amazing on the beach as you can see from the first picture as well as this one. I am glad we won’t be in this area during spring break. It could get messy!

We rode to the Mangroves Boardwalk and park they have on the island. We walked the trail that took us to the water’s edge. It was a pretty spot and the Mangroves were pretty amazing. They have red, black, and white Mangroves in this area.

Mangrove Roots

When we finished with our bike riding we landed back at the truck and decided to sit down and have a cold drink. The restaurant overlooked the bay so it was a nice place to relax. Your view included this pirate ship which is a replica of a ship from 1756. Apparently they have two and the other one does dinner cruises.

Steve still had a hankering for getting out on the water to fish so we booked a charter party fishing boat for Monday. We arrived with gear in-hand and lunch and took off for the open water that morning. There were 16 people on the boat to fish. Since we had our own gear it made it easier for us since we could be independent and didn’t have to rely on the deck hand.

We stopped at the first place to fish after a 90 minute ride but we were entertained along the way with some dolphins swimming alongside the boat. I shot some video but haven’t honed my computer software skills well enough to get you a picture. I’ll keep working on that though.

We were catching a lot of fish which was fun. Whenever the Captain moved the boat we would get our bait in the water and bam, fish on! The fish weren’t very big but they were big enough to keep and eat. We were catching snapper mostly and I think in the end we probably had 3 dozen on our stringers. Guess what we had for dinner?

Relaxing After Fishing

The last thing we wanted to make sure we did before left Fort Myers was to see the Edison and Ford Winter Estates and Museum. We headed there Tuesday but when we got there it was a very busy place. So we walked around the grounds where you can go without buying a ticket and took some pictures. This half of the estate is amazing and houses the museum, Thomas Edison’s laboratory, Estates Botanical Garden and greenhouse.

 

The Banyan Tree was prominent on the estate grounds and it all started with Harvey Firestone giving a four foot banyan tree to Thomas Edison in 1925. Edison, Firestone and Henry Ford were working on research in the pursuit of a domestic source of natural rubber. Oh by the way, this type of tree, Fiscus benghalenis, produces a white milky sap (latex) that can be used to create rubber. This four foot tree when given is now about an acre in diameter and is understood to be the largest in the continental United States.

 

How it starts to expand

 

The Beginning - it was 4' once

 

More of the tree

and more

and even more

We think they got married

 

 

Figured out how to keep growing

There are 13 types of fiscus throughout the Estates. We were truly amazed at this tree but many others that you could wander around on this part of the estate grounds. We decided we would come back another day but first thing in the morning to see the other half of the estate grounds and the homes.

Enjoying the Shade

We hadn’t played golf since we played with Uncle Al so we made a tee time for Wednesday afternoon. The Fort Myers Golf and Country Club is a municipal course and quite nice. We were teamed up with a father and son who were out after school. The son, Charlie, was just learning golf, but it didn’t bother him. If he keeps it up he will be on the golf team in high school!

On the ninth hole we came across a bird that seemed to just be hanging around. There is some water on the course which apparently does have fish so I am pretty sure he was fishing. You see the bird was a bald eagle. He didn’t seem to be shy around people so I was able to get this picture taken before he decided to hop a little farther away. Our golf game was not too bad but we may want to go to the driving range before we go out again!

The Ninth Hole

Now back to Thomas Edison and Henry Ford’s winter estates. The Edison-Ford Winter Estates Organization has done a great job in setting up a self-directed audio tour of the grounds and houses. You are able to listen to interesting information about certain stops you make while walking around the grounds and they have the houses open for viewing in such a way it makes you feel like the families are still there.

You also learn a great deal about both famous men and one statistic that you might be surprised to learn is that Thomas Edison filed a patent every year for 65 years in a row. He actually had over 1,000 patents in his lifetime. The other interesting thing you learn if you are paying attention is that Henry Ford worked for Edison in New Jersey.  This of course is before Henry Ford built his first car.

The Laboratory

Thomas Edison’s wife Mina decided to name their place the Seminole Lodge. They purchased this property in 1885 and Henry Ford bought the neighboring property in 1916. His property was called The Mangoes. Edison and Ford became friends prior to this and Ford started coming to Fort Myers in 1914.

Statue of Thomas Edison

 

Statue of Mina Edison

 

"Seminole Lodge"

Edison's Home

Edison's Bedroom

The Library

Edison Dining

 

Edison's Little Office

 

Edison's original wicker furniture

 

 

The view from the back porches is of the water and a wonderfully landscaped property. I don’t think if you lived here you would ever get tired of just staying home.

 

The Back Porch View

 

  

Edison's Pier Was Here

Mysore Fig also known as Brown Wooly Fig

 

 

Check out it's roots

Palm Row

The Sausage Tree



 

The Ford's property isn't to shabby either plus there are a few of his cars too!

The Mangoes

Henry Ford's House

 

Glad I didn't have to type on this 

 

Ford's Living Room

Model A

1917 Model TT Truck

Model T



The museum has a great deal of information about Edison and his inventions and thirst for discovering new things and solving problems. One of his favorite things was music which went well with having Henry Ford as a friend since his favorite thing was dancing.

One section of the museum contains the invention part of his life. Steve could relate to all of the electricity stuff. I was impressed with the evolution of the light bulb!

 

 

I could fill a few pages with information about Edison and Ford but hopefully what little you have read will entice you to learn a bit more and if you are ever in the Fort Myers area come check it out as it is worth coming to see.

We got back to our little home and got it ready to head out in the morning for Naples. The spot we were parked in was a tight fit to maneuver the truck and trailer but that was okay as they have a method to help.

Getting Ready to Go

How to get in and out of a tight spot

 

We’ll be in Naples for a week, so don’t forget to come back to the blog and see what happens.