Ft. Myers

January 17th to February 20th

The visit here has been a good one. Carole completed her art classes. I did a bunch of maintenance including a repair on the dinghy. We rented a car for the month so we had transportation most of the time – we turned the car in five days before we left.

Lots of sightseeing and we met several old friends from the loop. (Magoo, Gone Cruzn, Tony M, Goofin Off, Adida, Sassy II, and Mint Julep were among them).

This Banyon Tree (Strangler Fig) covers almost an acre

For sightseeing we went to the Edison/Ford Winter Home Complex. It was quite a treat. Edison spent many winters down here and he is the focus of an annual month long birthday celebration. The complex was where Edison tried to find a plant that would produce rubber and would grow in the US. He was concerned that we could be held hostage by foreign powers as his friends Ford and Firestone were producing more cars and using more tires. The estate is very well kept. It was donated to the city by his widow and later became a non-profit and a major attraction in Ft. Myers. Check out the statement that Edison made in 1931.

Edison on Solar

 

One of the fig trees that was planted for Rubber

This is the big Banyon Tree Planted by Edison

This is all one tree - both sides of the path

Done by Cape Coral High School Team

They did get some chalk on the street

The festival started for us the first weekend we were there with a first class art show. No crafty stuff here. The art was high quality stuff. The artists were touchy so no pictures. We did get some pictures of the Chalk Artists.

The second weekend there was Science Discovery Day with many outdoor exhibitors and the Science Fair for the schools was judged in the exhibition hall.

 The next event for us was a Jr. Edison Festival Parade on the third weekend. Lots of floats and high school bands, plus every kid activity in Lee County Florida also marched in the parade. It was a bit of fun.

Carole Solarized them so the color is wacky

Edison was the theme

The festival ended with a lighted parade on Saturday Night with fireworks to kick it off. The parade lasted two hours. The floats were all lit up. The floats and the bands were pretty much the same as the Jr. parade, except now they were lit up. They closed Florida route 41 from the high school to the waterfront park (about 2 miles) and the streets were lined on both sides with chairs for rent by the various non-profits. There were even several grandstands set up along the route. We brought our own chairs and sat behind the paid seating and could see just fine. Very patriotic people down here. Every time a color guard passed by with an American Flag everyone stood up. It got a bit old after the twentieth time.

Great fun was had by all.

I am not jiggling the Camera

The winning Float

The sightseeing that we enjoyed the most was all of the sanctuaries and county parks. 

Manatee Park is 7.5 miles north of Ft. Myers in the channel leading from the power plant to the Orange River. The town created a park there when they found that in cold weather the Manatees came there to get warm. When we arrived we were fascinated by the two or three we saw in the canal. We could see fish feeding on the algae on the manatee's backs. 

And then we turned the corner to a small backwater off the main channel. There were probably 40 manatees sleeping and sunning themselves along with a number of young ones. Wow! How cool! The manatees have to leave there to feed (no grass grows on the channel) and each manatee needs to eat 400 to 500 lbs. of grass a day. So they leave to feed and then come back to get warm. They need to stay warm for survival. They can not live in water colder than about 65º.

Black Skimmers

Bunche Beach nature preserve is a short way south of Ft. Myers on the gulf. It is a mix of sandy beach and mangrove swamp. We saw a number of new (to us on this trip) birds. It was Carole's first Anhinga. We also saw Black Skimmers, Western Sandpipers,Green Heron, Red Knots, Laughing Gulls, Herring Gulls, and Brown Pelicans.

Anhinga

 

Peninsula Cooters (Maybe)

We went to Ding Darling National Wildlife Preserve on Sannibel Island. Took a tram ride with a great guide. Not a whole lot of wildlife when we were there although we saw many of the birds we had seen before much closer. We also could see an Anhinga swimming after fish in the clear water. Boy are they quick! Lots of speed and turn on a dime under water. The guide directed us to another part of the preserve where we might see racoons, otters and bobcats (right)! When we arrived there was local resident that comes there a lot and said there was not much to see today. We decided to take a look. Spotted an alligator sunning itself about 10 ft. from a tricolor heron fishing. We also saw several Moor Hens, Florida Softshell Turtles, Peninsula Cooters (turtles), and four more alligators made the day.

A view in to the swamp

Great White Egret

The Audubon Society Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is about ½ hour drive from Ft. Myers. They have a 2 ½ mile boardwalk through the swamp. Mostly a bald cypress swamp, but some uplands and some marsh. In addition to many interesting plants we got a decent bird show. The Egrets and White Ibis were very close and unconcerned by our presence. We also saw a red shouldered hawk, Black Crowned Night Heron, Little Blue Heron, Palm Warbler and a Red Bellied Woodpecker. The real highlights were the Painted Buntings (a first for both of us) and a Pileated Woodpecker (A first for Carole). We also saw several alligators and two Florida Redbelly Turtles that wee far larger than the books say they grow. The books say they get to 13” and these were easily 18 to 20”. Another good day.

Little Blue Heron

Painted Bunting

Pileated Woodpecker

I'm Hiding - Can you find me?

The South West Florida Conservancy Sanctuary is in Naples. Much smaller than the Corkscrew Swamp, but it held its own quite well. There were two short walks including a Butterfly Garden.

Florida State Butterfly - Zebra Longwing

Strangler Fig Starting on Tree Trunk

Strangler Fig Growing Up

Part of the admission is a boat ride through the area on an electric boat. Nice and quiet so that none of the birds were disturbed. No new bird sightings, but as we approached the dock we were waved off by the people on the dock. There was a manatee poking around in the slip. It moved around to the other side and we docked. We then got to watch it feed on the mangrove leaves that were hanging over the water. It reached up with its upper lip which is split and then extended the tips like fingers. It grasped the branch the way we might hold a flower between our fingertips, and pulled the mangrove leaves into its mouth. It happened too fast to get a picture.

We stayed on to join Dave and Brenda (The Old Grouch) on a trip to the Miami Boat Show. We had to leave at 7:00 in order to get to Miami by 10:30. The show was huge. Far bigger than the Annapolis Show – although it is both Power and Sail. We spent 7 hours there and never went aboard a boat. The exhibits are in the convention center and cover two floors plus a very large tent (about 50 yards long with 4 double sided aisles). It is amazing how many gadgets, glues, and chemicals there are for boats. A day well spent. We did not get back to Ft. Myers until 10:30 at night.

And then stayed a few days to watch the Lighted Edison Parade before heading to the Keys.