I traveled to Ft. Myers, Florida for a week last week. It was a long overdue trip to visit my grandmother Brown (dad's mom) who has lived there for 15 years with nary a visit from me. (Shame on me, but...I have seen her here, however...most recently only in March)
After I determined a visit must take place before the baby comes, I discovered that one of my dearest friends from Alabama was moving to Ft. Myers. She relocated there in December. This made for a fun week visiting not only my "Nana" but also my dear friend Kristina. The weather was even worse than Texas when I arrived. It was mid-high 90s (who believes it was in the 40s in Michigan at the same time, here's to you, Anna) with 85% humidity, which equates to HOT!!! It did cool down a bit and produce a nice breeze later in the week though.
But enough words! For those of you who skip through reading this anyway and move on to the pictures, you will never know that I am intentionally keeping this section short. I will try to describe the trip with the pictures below...
I visited with my friend Kristina first...
The first day we took her precious daughter, Emma, to ballet class and I worked out (hah!) alongside K while she ran mile after mile on the treadmill. Below is her sweet son, Alexander too.
We cooled off in her pool, within view of the picturesque canal behind their house, while enjoying the screened-in, mosquito free feature of the screened-in pool. (By the way, for a Texas gal, the water was cool~ For my Norwegian friend, it was quite warm. :) )
Mealtime at the Flemings is always scrumptious!
The second day, K took me to Sanibel beach on the way to my Nana's. The beach is still a bit wild and very beautiful. (the water was warmer than their pool!) We also saw the Sanibel lighthouse. On the way, I demanded a brief stop in front of the enormous "Sitting Buddha" statue I had seen the day before. I am not sure how I inherited the nickname, but my sister fondly labeled me "sitting buddha" when we were younger, among my many other affectionate nicknames. Ever since, the visions of sitting buddhas in my mind have less to do with the religion and more with sweet family memories. I even now bear a resemblence to the rounded, sitting buddha!!!
Then I went to my grandmother's place--a very nice, Christian retirement center, Shell Point.
My time with my grandmother was composed of beautiful walks, exploring the retirement community (including the island where the main part of the community is), viewing the elusive Manatee in the harbor on the island, a visit to the Orchid house, early meals with Nana's table buddies, meeting lots of sweet friends, celebrating a buffet Memorial Day lunch, and just general relaxing. I especially liked the signs around the beautifully landscaped ponds at her community. (see below: only in Florida would people not be scared to walk on the sidewalks next to a pond with these signs!)
Inside the orchid house!
Then I returned to my friend Kristina's place for the last couple of days.
We swam again. K took me to the neighborhood harbor to walk around the cute shops. (we even saw a 3 foot tall movie star! :) ) And we dined well at a seafood restaurant on Pine Island. (where we spotted an Osprey from our table and Emma enthusiastically dined for the first time on Fried Calamari--Kristina, less enthusiastically on the tentacled creatures)
Goodbye, Flemings...
The Florida foliage was gorgeous!
Good-night, Florida!
