The girls out number the boy 2 to 1 in this family. As retirement has officially kicked in, we'll share some thoughts, memories, and life's lessons along the way. As we travel down Lifes Highway!
Dolphins anyone??
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Fun with Flipper and the gang off the coast of Sanibel Enjoy
So we're back! Time to blow some dust off this Blog and share another week of "paradise" A.K.A. Sanibel/Captiva Island. New experiences in store this year for starters we got a new "Beach Angel" Skylar, she's our newest grandchild. She, her two sisters and Mom and Dad are with us this year. At four months old she now takes the title of the youngest to share this special place. Today Skylar and I spent some quality time on the Lania (also known as the screened in porch for you folks back in the midwest). As you can see Skylar thinks PaPa is a hoot! A long drive which started at 2:45 a.m. Friday Morning. Our first leg of the trip was quiet because the Beach Angels rode with their Mom & Dad till we met up in Kentucky for some Smiley face pancakes in Paducah. We started a routine years ago when the Beach Angels were little where NaNa would give them surprises along the way. It was typical five & dime type stuff that was meant to occupy them so we ...
We are staying on Grassy Key, it's one of 13 islands that make up Marathon. The house is right on the water on the Gulf side. The view from our house The water in this area is relatively shallow, and the pier on the right is part of the property. Looking forward to some stunning sunsets. I hope to see plenty of wildlife as the waters here are very clear, and it's easy to see the bottom. The house on Marathon The street we are located on is very quiet and the houses next to us are vacant. It makes it feel like our own little personal paradise. After getting things unloaded, we go out to check out the pier and about halfway down the pier, we ge...
Help Wanted As we made our way down here it's been really eye opening to see how Covid has impacted our economy. We normally stop in Paducah KY at an IHOP just off I-24 for a quick breakfast. The restaurant is usually open at 5:00 a.m. This year they were not open yet as we went through. Reason, not enough staff. It seems like everywhere we stopped along the way there were always "Help Wanted" signs. When we got into Sanibel on Saturday we decided we were going to eat healthy this week so we stopped at Cheeburger, Cheeburger for lunch. By the way I did have a veggie burger! Sanibel is back open at full capacity but half of the tables at Cheeburger were not seating customers. Reason, not enough staff. Also noticed numerous empty shops where the business owners apparently went out of business. Sad to see. One thing is for sure if you want to work there are jobs out there. I'm counting down the months to retirement but maybe I'll...
So Tuesday we spent on the beach. The nice thing about being right on the beach is you seem to spend much more time on it. We have logged quite a few hours on beach time this week. Since we only see it once a year the more time soaking up the sun and the surf the better. On Tuesday morning we got out early Carol wanted to see if she could get some pictures of the sunrise. We are not on the best part of the island for sunrise or sunset pictures we are spoiled from spending so much time on Captiva where sunset especially, is worshiped. One beach Angel (Taylor) was up for the task the other Beach Angel (Lexi) did one of her favorite things SLEEP! When we hit the beach like a kid and a mud puddle I'm drawn to the water and automatically go into treasure hunting mode. I looked up and Carol and Taylor are gone. They were on a mission to find that sunrise and it was some where down the beach around the bend. A quick check of my pockets, ...
So Sunday started off with overcast skies, a quick thank-you to the man upstairs for giving us such a beautiful place to be, and breakfast at the Lighthouse Cafe. Best seafood omelette on Sanibel hands down. When we got back we were in "Beach Mode". Not Marshawn Lynch "Beast Mode" but Carol lets getting moving, time to go to the Beach Mode. Since the skies were still overcast we weren't in full Beach Mode which means we didn't take all the usual stuff. For those of you that have been with us you know how much of the usual stuff we take! I would have to rate this as one of the best Beach Days for the Beach Angels that I can remember. Our spot on the beach has a nice sandbar running just out from the shore line and it made for Boogie Board heaven for the girls today. The Beach Angels 2011 The beach angels 2017 It doesn't seem like that long ago we would have to take them up after a couple hours for an afternoon nap. Ok, t...
Well as you can guess by the title of the post it is 4th of July. Now close your eyes and concentrate real hard. Can you hear it? The sound of the surf. I'm posting today from the beach. Looks like today will be the best beach day so far. Carol and I started the day off at Amy's Over Easy for some breakfast. The crowds were already gathering for the annual 4th of July parade. Carol says "B is before P" so beach it is. We finished breakfast about five minutes before the parade was about to begin. We headed back to Captiva. Besides if all the people are at the parade the beach will be all to ourselves right? WRONG! The beach was packed I have never been here and seen so many people. Doesn't matter though its still a beautiful day. Today we even got to set up the beach canopy so I knew we would be in for a longer visit. Its funny watching all the people come to the beach. You have the minimal...
S0 I have been up around 6 all week. This morning was no different except I needed to be extra quiet because sometime during the night I got room visitors. There were two Beach Angels sleeping on my floor! Why they would give up their bed for the floor beats me. Looks Comfy doesn't It So with camera in hand I headed down to the dock to capture some shots of the Sunrise. I would normally have my photographer in tow but due to her bum ankle I'm on this mission alone. I wanted to also head over to the Beach and walk down to Blind Pass. Another First this year capturing more Sunrises than Sunsets For some reason when it comes to the ocean I'm like that kid you tell to stay out of the water puddle. If I'm near it I'm gonna get in in it. What usually starts out as ankle deep ends up being knee deep in no time. Just me and the relaxing sound of the waves to serenade me as I put on my best "Shell Whisperer" impressio...
The adventure continues as we head further south, down to the keys. Home base this week will be Marathon. On Monday, we have a trip planned to Dry Tortuga National Park. That is pretty much the only thing that has a time commitment to it. We're just going to let the week play out and see what each day brings us. We drove through Fort Myers Beach on our way to an overnight stop in Bonita Springs. I think due to the higher concentration of houses and businesses on FMB the devastation was extreme. We stayed in a house on the south end FMB back in 2019. Below is a picture of that house taken in March of this year. Bottom floor blown out, and what you don't see in this picture is the whole back of the house is gone. Beach house FMB March 2023 When we drove by, all that is left is an empty lot. Property on FMB is selling for the same dollar evaluation post hurricane Ian as it was before hurricane Ian, house or no house. There's no do...
Thursday morning it was time for more seafood omelet research. We went to the Island Cow and I got a what? answer: Seafood Omelet. Just seeing if you've been paying attention. The cow's omlete did have a pretty good amount of seafood but the crab meat was only shreds and there was more shrimp than anything. There was also a watery consistency to the inside of the omelet that was most likely from not suffciently draining the seafood before adding it to the omlete. So ranking order so far IMO is: 1. Hungry fisherman @ Lighthouse Cafe 2. Crab & asparagus omelet @ Amy's Over Easy 3. Loaded Seafood Omelet @ Island Cow On Thursday the high rollers came to Captiva. I'm not referring to a group from vegas with money to burn, but mother nature rockin the waves in the gulf. You know it's rough when you look down the beach as far as the eye can see and there is not more than a hand full of people in the water. W...
The first step is being able to admit your addiction. "I'm RC and I'm addicted to paradise". While I'll be the first to admit paradise was not as good to me this year as she has been in years past. She is still of course paradise and who can resist her sweet temptation. I don't think we will make the trip again during a holiday weekend. The crowds were much larger than we are use to and well I guess I'm spoiled and I like having Paradise all to my self. I can now imagine what it must be like during peak season when paradise has many suitors. She can't please them all and hey she doesn't have to she's paradise. My addiction with her began many years ago and there is no 12 step program that can release you from the grips of paradise. You'll accept whatever she throws at you because you just want to be with her. It does't matter if her seas are rough or her sunsets are few as long as you can be with her its all you long for. ...
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