Pizza, Wings and Stranger Things 2019 Day 5

[wizzo]

Day Five – 15th August 2019

THE INDEX IS HERE

I was first up this morning at 5am checking the weather forecast for the day. The eastern side of the state was having it better than the west today. I’d watched the weather for a few weeks and the Gulf Coast had had rubbish weather for weeks largely due to the west to east airflow that is unusual for the summer months. I was keeping a close eye on St Pete Beach in particular as it was thunderstorms there last night when we went to bed and then I checked the radar this morning and it was still the bloody same! Cape Coral (where we are heading this afternoon) was better but they have had some crap weather too prior to us turning up.



We were very much praying for a change in the weather at this point.

We were all up and about by 8am and as happens so much in hotel rooms, Lynn was twisting on about the lack of light in the room. I told her to put the ‘Big Light’ on if she wanted more light. She asked me where the switch was and she proceeded to spend 30 seconds trying to operate the ‘light switch’.



As the more eagle eyed of you will realise, she was trying to turn the lights on with a door stop! The kids (and me) were wetting ourselves laughing at her. The laughter died down when she realised where the real light switch was…….



And then she said “I thought that switch was squidgy” and we were off again! 😊

If you haven’t stayed in a Best Western before, they are like the Travelodge of America and we like the buffet breakfast. The kids in particular like to make their own waffles.



Breakfast done, we packed up, loaded the car and headed to a place called ‘Robert is Here’. I know, it’s a weird name for something. I won’t tell you the whole story as you might want to find out the history of the place for yourselves (There’s lots on YouTube which is where we stumbled across it). It’s basically an overgrown fruit and veg stall on steroids. They are famed for their rare and exotic fruits and homemade fruit milkshakes.











Robert (the owner seen on the cover of his book below) is a bit of a local celebrity and has added animals and ‘things’ to the property over the years. I wouldn’t say it was a zoo, more of a menagerie.



















I enjoyed Roberts a lot. I would have liked to have met Robert but he wasn’t there. We will definitely call in again if we are going to or from the Keys.

Our next stop today, on what is largely a travel day was Coopertown Airboats for the obligatory airboat ride when you are in these parts. I’d got a family ticket cheap off Groupon many weeks before today. I think it was something like $49 for the four of us. As it turns out, it was worth every penny.

We are relying on Lynn for the photos of the drive up to Coopertown Airboats, so brace yourself.















Another eclectic mix from Lynn there.

Once at the airboat shack, we were quickly booked in, given a boat number and ushered into one of those every so slightly crap snake/baby gator show (to kill time before a boat was free).







Before long it was our tun out on the water and we were lucky enough to meet a 12 footer called Damien.



























Our alligator ‘encounter’ was a total sham. You could tell they had been feeding Damien and that he responded to the revving of the airboat engine. We pulled in, the driver revved the engine and before long out popped Damien from the thick undergrowth. I was lucky enough for him to come right up to my side of the boat and as you can see, he was no more than a couple of feet away from me. I don’t scare easy and when I took my eye away from the camera, the whole of the right hand side of the boat had moved inboard and I was totally on my own! 😊

We didn’t have any food for Damien but you could tell the airboats feed him when visitors aren’t aboard. He slipped underwater hungry and we headed back to the dock.

This was our first airboat tour in the Everglades and it was way better than any of us expected. I dare say, we’ll do it again.

Back on land and the kids got to hold baby gators.





It was time for the longest journey of the day now crossing Alligator Alley and heading to the Gulf Coast. We drove the old fashioned Alligator alley if you like, being Highway 41 which is further south than interstate (I75).

At this point I have to admit that I wasn’t feeling too great. In fact, my guts felt awful but /I had a long drive ahead of me so I soldiered on. Think back to last night and our meal in Sonny’s BBQ. We all had the same, so how come I had bad guts?

That’s right I was the only one of us to use the 3 seconds rule having dropped meat on the table!

Like I say, I soldiered on as Lynn doesn’t drive in America. I still managed to capture the trip across the everglades eventually ending up in the car park of Bass Pro Shops.

You can skip through this unless you're really bored, I wont be offended



We stopped in Fort Myers Beach / Estero area at Bass Pro Shops to get some bits and bobs for the couple of fishing trips me and the kids had lined up in a couple of days’ time. We got long sleeve fishing shirts and what we in England would call ‘Snoods’. We were going to look the part even if we caught nothing!



I was struggling now and we pushed on up to Cape Coral which was only another 20 minutes. On the way we called on to the nearest Target to get Maddy a ‘Stranger Things’ backpack that was only sold in Target. They didn’t have any! (See why it’s in the title now?)

Once at the villa, entry was simple with a key code lockbox outside the front door (I’m sure you’ve all done this) and by 4:30pm we were in and settled in this lovely villa. I left the taking of photos inside and around the pool until tomorrow because my guts weren’t the best today (have I mentioned it my guts?).



My guts were going mental and I was convinced I’d have a story here using some/all of the following words ‘explosion’, ‘excavation’, ‘war zone’, ‘like Brands Hatch’ and maybe even ‘similar to that time in Buffalo Wild Wings’ but no! It turns out nothing spectacular happened and I still felt pretty rotten. I took some tablets and had a nap on the sofa. My notes don’t confirm this but I’m pretty sure it was raining outside and everyone stayed inside.

After a short nap, I woke up feeling a bit better and checked for stock of Maddy’s backpack at a different Target. They had some and we set off leaving Lauren in the villa. Having been in that other Target earlier, we knew where the backpacks should be (Bizarrely near the electronics) and when we got there………..the shelf was bare. This was the one thing Maddy was desperate to bring back from America, being our family’s biggest Stranger Things fan.

Undeterred, I collared an employee and explained that the website said you had them in stock but there’s none out. He looked the item up on line too, got the code and then checked their stock. He confirmed there should be three. He disappeared saying he would go and look but being about 12 I decided to ask a second employee who also went to find them ‘out back’

After what seemed like 20 minutes but was probably more like 18, the second (older) shop assistant came back with a box containing them. Maddy was beyond delighted. We also got breakfast stuff, beer, juice and Klondikes, you know, the essentials.

My notes now tell me that there was a thunderstorm going on outside and we had to wait to get back to the car and return to the villa. It was dark and miserable.

Back at the villa and still soldiering on through my table filth related illness, I ordered Papa Johns pizza for everyone which took about half an hour to arrive.



I think I had one slice and couldn’t eat any more. This really isn’t like me. By 8:30pm I had to leave the girls watching TV and I went to bed to sleep it off.

Apparently, the girls weren’t too far behind me and despite my food/table poisoning we had a really good day. For what was essentially a travel day, we had packed plenty in.

Tomorrow – A villa day (We haven’t done that in a couple of years)

[ziggyzag]

Looks a good day, airboat ride looked fun, shame you were feeling ill,
The Pizzas look good but what is that green thing near the Ham and pineapple?

[wizzo]

Originally Posted by ziggyzag

Looks a good day, airboat ride looked fun, shame you were feeling ill,
The Pizzas look good but what is that green thing near the Ham and pineapple?

See more...

Pickled Chillis! They are the best bit! I'm the only one who likes them. Papa Johns do them in the UK too

[Milpston]

A great day apart from the guts! The airboat trip sounds very similar to the only one we have ever done. Not the same place but a similar set up and endured watching a guy wrestle with the most drugged up alligator you could ever wish to see. Would like to do another though.
Really looking forward to seeing what you think of Cape Coral and what you get up to as we are umming and ahhhing about a short visit ourselves.

[MrsH070707]

Great day; LOL at the light switch XD

[Ariel's Mum]

We stayed at Cape Coral in 2016 and loved our villa - especially the view over the lake. Looking forward to seeing what you get up to over the next few days.

[Floridaagogo]

I’m just here for Lynns photos 😁😁

[jengibbo]

We loved Robert is here when we visited last summer. So random but the story was great and the smoothies amazing.

[wizzo]

Originally Posted by jengibbo

We loved Robert is here when we visited last summer. So random but the story was great and the smoothies amazing.

See more...

I forgot to say in the report that I had a banana milkshake and it was gorgeous!

[mick]

A good day apart from you feeling so unwell :nonono ‘Robert is here’ looked a really interesting place I like looking round places like that

Joan