Thursday November 17th 2016

This morning I drove west toward Fort Meyers. I soon found myself in the middle of the old downtown area. It was easily identifiable by the imitation cobblestone streets. I’m not sure if was purely decorative or to slow traffic down. It kept my already slow pace even slower. Looking for a place to park was a lost cause. The inexpensive spots were all taken and the “event” lots were charging $10. It turns out the event was the annual fall boat show. I’ll do some internet research on things to see and do in the downtown area before I return.

I drove by the Edison and Ford Winter Quarters on the far side of the downtown area. I want to visit these winter homes of the two turn of the 20th century innovators while I’m here. Planning ahead, if I wait until after Thanksgiving I can see the estates decorated for Christmas. I’ll need to look at a map to find a better way to get there though.

Traffic in the Fort Meyers area is heavy and I haven’t figured out the street layout yet. Interstate 75 forms a natural eastern boundary for navigating the area and route 41, the Tamiami Trail, parallels the interstate about halfway to the coast. Figuring out what the east west roads are is my next challenge. The bridges to the barrier islands appear to have tolls. My Sunpass toll transponder will get some use. I verified it had sufficient funds when I got home. I do have a map in the car and my phone has Google maps, but what fun would it be to look them.

On the way home I stopped at Walmart for provisions. Running out of paper towels can be annoying. The surprising thing was that most of the Walmart employees were wearing Santa Clause hats. It must be another way they are trying to push the season. I’m going to have to stop shopping at Walmart until after the Christmas rush. Long lines at the checkouts are not one of my favorite things. At the very least, I’ll need to pick my shopping times carefully.

Two boats waiting for the lock.

Visitor to my camp site this afternoon.

I returned to the campground at mid afternoon. A number of sites near me have turned over. New campers have replaced the ones that departed. It seems like some of the new arrivals went right to the river bank to fish. The number of people sitting in chairs along the bank with fishing rods out has nearly doubled over the last couple of days. I’m still not sure what they expect to catch. I’ve heard everything from catfish to tarpon and snook. The problem with that is catfish are primarily fresh water and the other two would need brackish water or ocean. I don’t know southern fish species very well so I could be way off base. I’m watching to learn.