Thursday, March 6, 2014

1 March 6-13, 2014 Florida Fort Myers, Everglades, Tavares


Thursday - March 6, 2014
Flight arrived Orlando - rented a Fusion from Budget  arrived Fort Myers. Stay with Marcia & Larry.


Shadowood Country Club
Friday - March 7, 2014
Golf at Shadow Wood with Larry & Marcia. .  Lunch at clubhouse.  Beverages & onion rings at Rusty’s.  Dinner at Pincher’s Crabshack – not the best shrimp or blackened mahi-mahi.

 

Saturday - March 8, 2014
Drove to Big Cypress National Preserve along Hwy 41.  Stopped at Big Cypress National Preserve Welcome Visitor Center and Oasis Visitor Center - Continued drive along Hwy 41 – plenty of walking  and driving trails.  Ranger at Welcome Center was from Wisconsin and very helpful – outlined some routes on the park brochure.


Continued drive to Everglades National Park – drive along Hwy 41 and south on Florida 997 – lots of agriculture along this route – slow - then east on Florida 9336 to Everglades NP Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center.  Drive to Long Pine Key Campground.  Very clean & peaceful.  For a Saturday in season it was only half full – perhaps because there were no hookups.  Generators are permitted 8am to 8pm.  It has a dump station.  Plenty of hiking trails in the park.   All sites clean, level, paved with asphalt.  Flamingo Visitor Center is another hour into the park.  I believe this has electric sites.  

Back to Fort Myers along Florida Turnpike 821 but there are no toll booths.  This will be interesting to see how they bill a rental car - back to I-75 where there are toll booths and then to Fort Myers.  Mass at Resurrection Church.  Dinner at Marcia & Larry’s.


Sunday - March 9, 2014
Golf at Shadow Wood.  Lunch at Clubhouse.  Visited Woodsmoke RV Campground for potential stay next year  Very tight.  They do not store.  Drive to Mary & Butch’s in Tavares, Florida – Royal Harbor Shores (gated).   Dinner with Marcia, Larry, Butch & Mary at Angelo’s.  Shared a large Greek Salad and pizza.



Alligator & Turtles
Dead River Canal
Monday - March 10, 2014
Short tour of Harbor Shores on golf cart with Butch.  We all left for boat at 11 am.  Boated through Big Harris Lake, through a canal to Lake Eustis and then through he Dead River canal to Lake Dora.  Docked and lunch at Pisces in Mt. Dora.  Dinner at Mary & Butch’s



Tuesday  March 11, 2014
Drive to the Villages – stopped at .  Lunch at World of Beer in the Villages with Larry & Vickie - then to their house – back to in Tavares.  Dinner at Mary’s.  Cousin Patsy Fessmeier visited for dinner with us.


Wednesday  March 12, 2014
After breakfast at Billy’s CafĂ©, Larry & Marcia headed back to Ft. Myers.  Butch drove to Patrick AFB in Cocoa Beach where we checked out the RV Park and potential for storage.  Entered through the South Gate.  Very nice, roomy, on the water.  First come first served but rotating after 30 days.  Some sites with just electric.  Drove up to Ron Jon’s Surf Shop then lunch at Cocoanuts on the Beach (good food-right on  the beach).  Back to Tavares – went to visit Danny & Julie and then dinner at the Boondocks on Little Lake Harris. 


Thursday - March 13, 2014
Flew home from Orlando via Cincinnati.