Tuesday 12th September 2017
With the curfew lifted in Southern Florida we decided to take our chances and head down to Cape Coral, where we were originally meant to go last Saturday. We all said goodbye to Caroline as she headed back to St Petersburg to assess the damage at her home and those of her tenants.
The further South we travelled the more evidence we saw of flooding, damage to pool lanais and uprooted trees. We’d be forewarned that our new accommodation had suffered some damage to its pool lanai, that the pool was dirty and that the wifi was down. However, by the time we arrived, although the lanai was extensively damaged everything else was in working order.
A lot of the area was still closed down – shops, restaurants etc. – but we found a supermarket open so we decided to buy some provisions for a BBQ. You could sense the effect of the panic buy that had happened and the loss of electricity in that the shelves were emptier than normal and the staff were busy removing stock from the freezers/refrigerators as it was damaged. We did managed to find enough fresh food for our BBQ though!
As there was nothing open for us to visit, we spent the rest of the day in and around the pool, which overlooks a canal from which we can watch fish jumping – we think they’re mullet – turtles swimming by and indulging in a few drinks and fabulous BBQ. Having researched the phenomena of jumping fish we discovered that they do this to avoid predators and remove parasites or to increase their oxygen intake. The number of jumps is correlated with the amount of oxygen in the water.
Wednesday 13th September 2017
After an early morning swim we decided to head out today for a walk.
We drove to ‘Rotary Park Environmental Centre’ just a few miles away on the Caloosahatchee River. Many trees had been uprooted and there was much tree debris along the paths. We tried to follow a couple of different trails to the lookout tower, but each time our path was blocked by water or debris. That said, we still had a lovely walk in the beautiful sunshine.
We also found exercise equipment, which we couldn’t resist and put it to good use:
We spent a short time around the pool and then decided to take the kayaks that came with the villa, out for a paddle. The canals are all named – ours is called ‘Cinderella’ – so we were quite confident that we couldn’t get lost. We paddled for some distance through the canals looking at all the impressive, yet empty properties along the way and observing the erratic destruction hurricane Irma had caused – trees uprooted, lanais ripped and floating coconuts. We had a great paddle and managed to steer the kayaks in a mostly straight line – unlike the last time when we attempted to paddle a double kayak!
We travelled over the bridge to the other side of the Caloosahatchee River and towards Fort Myers looking for somewhere open to eat. Some areas do not appear to have electricity creating an atmosphere of a ghost town. Eventually, we came across ‘Pinchers’ a laid-back seafood eatery that would fit the bill. The ceiling was unusually covered with a large collection of inflatable objects. Julie had Crab Chowder, Alan and Sally Gulf Grouper and Jacqui Chicken and Andouille Gumbo all washed down with sangria and larger.
Thursday 14th September 2017
Today we decided to drive towards Fort Myers beach for a swim and a walk. The white sandy beach was fairly empty. A local man was emptying his sandbags preparing to reopen his beachside restaurant, so we stood chatting to him for a while about the hurricane and how it had affected him. Others were fishing off the pier trying to catch anything other than Catfish for their tea. The water, however, was a rusty colour and smelt peculiar so we decided not to take a swim. Instead we walked around the town, onto the pier and along the beach. The weather was scorchingly hot and very humid causing all of us to perspire profusely.
We spent a considerable time watching the birdlife. It was fascinating to see how the pelicans scanned the water for schools of fish near the surface, took flight and plunged into the murky waters, reemerging with their throat sack full of fish and water. Apparently this sack can hold up to 2.6 gallons of water. Amazing…
The Little Egret and Grackles were scavenging around the fishermen for anything left unattended. The Laughing Gull was picking small fish from the shoreline and, rather than gulping it down whole, was pecking it apart.
We then took a long drive along the shore of Estero Island towards ‘Lovers Key State Park’ but unfortunately the park was closed due to damage from the Hurricane. We stopped on the way home for our ice cream fix at ‘The French Press’ Cape Coral Harbour. We indulged in Maple Walnut and Whisky Chip ice cream, in the beautiful sunshine whilst overlooking the harbour and its many tethered yachts.
We all spent the late afternoon and evening kayaking, swimming, BBQing and playing cards. The pool area is a beautiful place to hang out – quiet and peaceful with beautiful scenery.
Friday 15th September 2017
We decided to visit Pine Island today – an island west of Cape Coral accessible by a bridge across the Matlacha Pass in ‘The Gulf of Mexico’. It was a little touch of paradise – covered in palm trees and steeped in birdlife. The island is 16 miles long and we drove the whole length of it looking at the damage Irma had caused – flooding, loss of power, uprooted trees and roofs torn off of mobile homes. Conversely, there were many grand houses that were untouched by the hurricane.
We visited Galt Nature Preserve but unfortunately, due to flooding, we were only able to walk a short distance on each of the trails. We did, however, see fiddler crabs, egrets, herons and a Gopher Tortoise.
We stopped for lunch at ‘Capt’n Con’s Fish House. Although they were still without power they still managed to rustle up a good hearty lunch of ham and cheese toasties and fries which we all enjoyed. We sat overlooking the bay watching dolphins and orcas frolicking in the warm waters and the fishermen catching their daily bite.
That evening we travelled to Fort Myres for our last evening meal together. We chose a place we had noticed the last time we visited call ‘Nervous Nellie’s’ which was situated right on the waterfront. It was a gorgeous evening so we decided to eat outside where there was live music.
Being on the water it was inevitable we were going to choose fish or seafood. Jacqui chose ‘Mahi Mahi Tacos’ , Sally and Julie, ‘Our Sailors Delight’ and Alan, ‘Beach Bake’ All four meals were exquisite.
We would like to thank Alan and Sally for a wonderful two week holiday together. We’ve had some great times and have great memories to take with us on our journey ahead.
Saturday 16th September 2017
Today was departure day for Alan and Sally. We drove to the airport, dropped them off for their flight back to the UK, dropped off the large car and picked up a smaller one.
Our plan was to use our four day-three park Universal Studio ticket to visit Volcano Bay, a water park in Orlando. We’d intended to spend at least a couple of hours there before we headed to Eustice for the night. Unfortunately, a number of obstacles thwarted our plans:
- We took a wrong turn at the entrance to Universal Studios, ending up at the theme park rather than the water park.
- Our tickets were invalid. Apparently they expired six days after their first use and we were now on day twelve!
- A group of youngsters who were ahead of us at guest services took up twenty valuable minutes of our time to get their tickets sorted before us. Eventually, the waterpark staff kindly agreed to extend our tickets because of the hurricane and we were allowed entry.
- When we finally got into the park, we could not get a locker for our bag and therefore could not use any of the rides.
We almost gave up hope of having any fun but decided to leave our bag unattended and take a swim in ‘Volcano Bay’ where we played in the wave machine and tried to swim towards the waterfall against the current. Finally, we were having fun!
Two Judo Girls One Adventure 
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