Saying Good-Bye to Florida

I have mixed feelings tonight, my last in Florida this trip:

• I'm sorry to leave my mother.
• I'll miss the warm weather.
• I'll miss being on vacation, sleeping late, and being, frankly, spoiled by my mother.
• I'll be glad to get back to my own bed, and shower (particularly in light of the plumbing problems that chose the week of my visit to erupt in my mother's building. Not that it's a problem for us to share a bathroom, but still).
• I'll be glad to see Carlos, and snuggle in bed with him purring.
• I'll be glad not to be living out of a suitcase.
• The sunburned backs of my legs and tops of my feet are sore.
• My mystery bug bites itch.
• I'm apprehensive about the trip tomorrow, and whether it will include any delays or other problems.
  

But let's not face tomorrow yet. Let's look back over the week, shall we? I posted about the trip, and the first day, so that brings me up to last Thursday.

Oh, wait, look at this first. Isn't it cool?


All right, Thursday. My mother had her bridge group in on Thursday morning, so I puttered and lazed while they played. We then went to lunch with one of her friends. It's a rather lovely setting:


And someone was quite sure we wanted to share our lunch:


Thursday night, we went into Naples to hear a concert given by the US Army field band, which was stirring and patriotic. If they come near you, there are worse ways to spend your time, that's for sure. I'm hardly a flag-waver, but I enjoyed it (though I wasn't exactly expecting them to spend so much time on the music of Huey Lewis...). And I learned that I recognize all the songs of the armed services except the Coast Guard's.

Friday we again ate lunch outside (are you sensing a theme?), and again I was bird-watching:


Also boat-watching.


Can anyone explain this hat to me? A cigar-smoking, sunglasses-wearing fish skeleton?


No matter. Moving on, I'm sure I've posted photos of this manatee mailbox before, since its owners tend to "dress" it in seasonal costumes that can be quite amusing. There's construction on their road now, and they had the perfect response:


In other animal sightings, there's the ever-popular Santa Giraffe.


Wasn't he always your favorite, too?


And of course, the alligator where you least expect it.


We also saw beautiful flowering trees.


That was on Saturday, when we went to the symphony in Ft. Myers. I didn't take many pictures, since it's more of an audio experience, but I did notice this sign conflict when we walked by it.


I have something non-combustible; can I store it here? Yes! No!

Inside, I liked the prism of light over the flag:


We sit in the back row, which amused me:


On Sunday, we drove to Everglades City and took the boat tour, which was wonderful, and deserves its own post for the many, many pictures. Here, however, are some highlights from the dinner menu afterward:


Frog legs, gator nuggets, or swamp and turf?


What about scallpos?

Then there are the other shells. We walked on the beach on Friday:



And again on Saturday:



And on Sunday, along with the sunburn, I got quite a lot of lovelies:





Here's one photo from the boat tour, just to tease:


Come back again, won't you?