Travels of Nannie & Bubba

Naples, Florida, Day 4, Thursday 4/19, mini golf, family

Today Grammy and Grampy had the grandkids while parents Jon and Lauren had a little personal mini-vacation. The adventure of the day turned out to be miniature golf, chosen by Will, the golfing fanatic. By the time we got out there, it was already getting mighty hot, and the sun was beating down. Didn't stop us from enjoying our golfing, though! Afterwards, they went back to the condo while Bubba and I stopped at Mel's Diner so he could get a chocolate malt. Then it was pool time at the condo, and hot dogs, and whew. We came on back to our trusty camper. They went out for ice cream. A very good time was had by all!

Will, Anne, and Lizzy

Lizzy chasing her purple ball

Will getting serious about it

This was the practice green....

Grampy and his grand-girl Lizzy

Bubba, Lizzy, Rus

Me and Will, workin' it

Me and and my brother, resting in the blessed shade

Oh yeah, look at that happy face!

Pool time; the water is still pretty chilly but bearable

Nannie and Anne

Naples, Florida, Day 3, Wednesday 4/18; Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, family

Today we opted to take a short hike in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

First, let me mention a sweet memory. My late mother-in-law Bobbie (Memaw) lived in the Melbourne area for about 5 years and she loved the bromeliads that were everywhere in south Florida. These are tropical "air" plants that seem to grow on anything, even a tree branch. When I met her she had a nice collection of them and it was a thrill when one bloomed. Now, today, I walked among them growing everywhere around me, and smiled as I thought of her.

But wait! It gets better! Even though the water is mostly gone from the swampy areas, there were several large pools left in the Lettuce Lakes. As the water level goes down and the lakes shrink, the fish are more concentrated - and that means Feast Time for the egrets and storks and ibises and spoonbills. We've never seen anything like this before. They didn't even seem to be intimidated by the large alligators! Here are a few pictures from yet another stellar day!

Bromeliad in bloom.

Anhinga.

Ibis.

Baby alligator.

Roseate Spoonbill.

Blue Heron, ignoring Mr. Big Alligator.

Nobody seemed to care about Mr. Alligator.

This was maximum zoom so it's a little blurry,
but right behind this egret is a whole mess of baby alligators.

Wood stork.

Cottonmouth water moccasin. (eewww)

Pretty pink bromeliads, all in a row.....

Saw lots and lots of strangler figs climbing up the trees.

Just a small example of the damage we saw from Hurricane Irma.

Buttonbush.

Nice little stand of cattails.

Huge patch of Alligator Flag (see previous photo).

Naples, Florida, Day 2, Tuesday 4/17, visiting with Rus and Anne

Today was another stellar day - sunny, breezy, and not too warm. We started with a wonderful lunch at Tommy Bahama's where a sparrow mama and her babies were begging right behind me in the greenery. Such a lovely place! After checking out a few nearby shops, we opted to go for a ride on the water taxi. This involved visiting Tin City (site of previous seafood cannery operation) and several more shops. Then we walked over to the water taxi station. All along the waterfront, we noticed damage from Hurricane Irma last year. Nice breezy boat ride all around the inner harbor to various restaurants and condo complexes. After the boat ride, we were all tired and went home where we sat on the lanai and Anne brought out "snacks" which included some very decadent brownies..... Tomorrow the young'uns arrive from Boston. More to come!

Mama with hungry babies.

So beautiful here!

Vintage fellas with a vintage auto!

Nannie got a new hat!

There are a LOT of gigantic pleasure boats here.....

This are is still recovering from the damage that Hurricane Irma brought.

We spotted this night heron hunting, and while we watched, he caught a nice little crab.

Here is a tricolor heron (or maybe a green heron) preening his feathers.
Took a long zoom and patience to catch him with his head up.

Naples, Florida, Day 1, Monday 4/16, visiting with Rus and Anne

Having arrived in Naples, we spent Monday with my brother Rus and his lovely wife Anne. They've stayed here in Naples multiple times, so they showed us the sights and we had a wonderful lunch at the Bayside Grill. Here are some random shots from our touring around, including The Dock and The Pier... Naples is an absolutely beautiful city!