Happy Mother's Day

Day 37, May 8, 2011, Happy Mother’s Day

76.7 miles averaging 15 mph

Route from Osprey to San Carlos RV Park, Fort Myers Beach, FL

Best Moment – Certainly sitting in our “backyard” on the coastal waters watching the fish jump and pelicans swoop down, while sipping margaritas has to be one of the best moments.

Worst Moment – There are swarms of little black bugs with an orange spot that come in pairs (one RV’er here called them love bugs – I guess because you can’t tell if they are kissing or screwing).  Anyway they attack me on the bicycle, but Ruby really collects a bunch.  I had to wash the windshield.

I apologize, I misquoted Wikipedia – instead of “Tammy Mammy, it reports that The Tamiami trail is pronounced “Tammy-Ammy” – to rhyme.  Anyway, I’ve been riding The Tamiami Trail through Venice, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, and Fort Myers.  There is a huge focus on all things marine in this part of Florida.  I’ve seen at least 5 West Marines today and that doesn’t include all of the other marine stores. 

The other huge use of land is all variety of mobile, RV and manufactured home parks.  Some of them are really upscale with golf courses and all.  The road has been flat – flat as a pancake.  I don’t think that the altimeter has moved much above sea level.  Speaking of "flat" that is how my rear tire was again - flat. Oh the fun of bicycling!

Venice used to be the winter headquarters for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus.  They needed a place for operations where there was railroad access and when Barnum and Bailey acquired Ringling Brothers, they selected Sarasota where they were until 1959.  In 1960, the headquarters moved to Venice where a huge auditorium was built.  Sadly, the building is abandoned, but the trapeze park is still available – in case anyone wants to give it a go – not me thanks.

In Punta Gorda, at the Dunkin Doughnuts place I had an interesting conversation with a 69-year-old man who had lived in Punta Gorda for 30 some years.  He told me that he thought his sister lived in Phoenix, but wasn’t sure that she was still alive.  Sad.

Fort Myers has been the winter home for the Edison and the Ford families.  The families built beautiful mansions on the water.  The homes have been preserved and are open for touring.  Had we been staying closer to Fort Myers, we certainly would have toured the historical site.  As it is, San Carlos RV Park is about 14 miles further south and west and rather than get the scooter down, we decided to enjoy the views of the bay.