January 14th-15th

Wednesday, January 14^th

 

It was cloudy and cooler today—a big change from the near perfect day we had yesterday. But we are not complaining especially since we heard that schools are closed a home due to snow and icy weather.

 

After lunch, we went to Estero Bay Preserve State Park which is a short drive down the road from our development. We decided not to ride our bikes because we were planning on hiking over a mile to a boardwalk observation deck.

 

 

 

The trail began with a wide path through grass. Then it turned into hard uneven sand which required paying attention to where we stepped so that we did not turn our ankles. As we got closer to the bay, the “soil” became very wet and slick in some places. If this had been during the rainy season, we would have been wading through water. I was glad that we had chosen to wear our hiking boots.

 

 

 

The goal for this hike was to search for a geocache that only three people have visited in the past year.

 

 

A new container had replaced the original ammunition box that had rusted and fallen to pieces.

 

 

Even though we spent a long time searching all over and under the boardwalk and the surrounding trees, we just could not find the cache. Before we started back, I sent a message to the cache owner requesting some help. After we walked about ¼ mile, the cache owner phoned me and gave us some very specific information. We were told to look under the boardwalk and not in the trees. We couldn’t resist turning around and retracing our steps to give it another try. We were disappointed that we still could not locate the cache. We probably will not go back to look for this one again. But, we got some good exercise and we did enjoy our hike.

After dinner, we went to Foulds Theatre where Kim Weimtkamp, one of our favorite storytellers, was giving a concert. While she was on stage, Kim mentioned that she and I are Friends on Facebook. She also mentioned that I was much bigger in person than on Facebook. She tells wonderful personal stories—some with humor and some that pull at one’s heartstrings.

 

 

 

 

When we checked in for our tickets, a woman stopped an initiated a conversation with us. She is the Executive Director for the Alliance of the Arts which includes the theater and her name is Lydia Black. She saw our names on the list and was wondering if we were part of her family. She introduced us to her father-in-law and his brother. We didn’t know enough details about our Black family tree to make any connections between our families.

 

 

The Alliance offers something for everyone—from children through senior citizens. Besides the art gallery they have family movie nights, outdoor events, exhibits, green market, workshops, productions and music. We are especially interested in returning for some of their bluegrass concerts while we are here.

 

 

Thursday, January 15^th

 

Today, we went to the Southwest Florida Vietnam Memorial which is located at the intersection of two streets in Fort Myers. “The Wall”, as it is called, lists the names of 76 dead from five area counties etched into three, black granite, 9-foot-by-8-foot panels. The organizers want the memorial to tell the war's story from letters the soldiers sent home and have solicited copies of those letters which they intend to put on back of the memorial. Friends at home will recognize that this memorial took its design from the national Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C.

 

 

 

 

The sidewalk leading “The Wall” has boot prints permanently molded into the cement.

 

 

Parking for the memorial was in an area under the overpass for one of the roads. I have never seen the space under a highway bridge so beautifully landscaped.
 

 

 

 

 

There are some memorials nearby that we haven’t seen at other sites and I thought it was nice that these heroes were not forgotten. One was in memory of submariners beginning in 1915.

 

 

Another was in memory of the combat wounded.

 

 

While we were driving around, I saw a billboard that made me think of my granddaughter, Janelle, who has decorated her bathroom with a flip flop theme.

 

 

We stopped at a restaurant named The Golden Fork for lunch. We had a nice conversation with the owner who shared with us that he retired last August, moved south and was back at work by October. His restaurant has only been open since Thanksgiving. When we were driving by, we noticed a lot of cars in the parking lot and we have learned that this is usually a reliable indication that the food there is good. Most of the staff consists of family members.

 

 

We were intrigued by the décor and all the imaginative ways that forks were used. They even sold art and jewelry made from forks.
 

 

 

 

I was amused by the painting on the wall in the ladies room.