We only stayed at the Silver Springs State Park for one night
and that wasn’t enough. We’ll have to go
back there. It has a lot to offer.
SITE REVIEW:
#33, big level gravel, full hook ups, lots of trees, but
some sun too. Neighbors were pretty far
away. $28.00 per night.
We made our way to North Ft. Myers FL. around 1300. Set up camp at the Upriver RV resort.
Jack and Gloria made their way over to visit
shortly thereafter and then we were off to visit and have dinner at their
house. Sunday was Jacks 86th
birthday, so after church we treated for lunch at YELP’s top rated luncheon
spot in Ft. Myers, “The Cape Cod Fish Company”.
It was great, just what the reviews said. After a nap, there was Sunday evening Church
where the parishioners were each going to make some type of special
presentation. Some would sing, some read
a bible verse or poem, others played an instrument. Jack read an inspiring poem and Gloria sang. It was a nice service. Afterwards there was some refreshments along
with some fellowship time.
Monday we were going to visit the Edison & Ford Winter
Estates, but Glenda’s lunch the previous day must have been tainted by some
shrimp juice because she had a stomach ache and didn’t want to chance it. So that was put off for another day. We mostly visited and had a nice dinner at
Jack & Gloria’s. We made it to the Shell Factory which is
billed as the largest gift shop in the world with over 65K sq. ft. under one
roof. That was something to see, but not
my cup of tea... Hey I made a rhyme.
Wed. was a really cool day for me, Jack had said that he
wanted to take us on a charter boat fishing trip, and this was his opportunity
to go too. Cool for me because those of
you that know me, know that I’m not a fisherman, never caught the bug as a kid,
and never really learned much about it.
Well, I have to say I’m really grateful to Jack for arranging this
trip. I learned a lot, and had the best
time. Plus I caught fish.
The trip was an all day charter trip leaving the Ft Myers Beach
area at 0600.
We motored out for 2 hours
to get about 40 miles off shore for the first fishing ground which was for
Grouper. We left in the dark and watched
the sunrise from way out in the Gulf of Mexico.
I couldn’t see any land…. Interesting feeling…
The mate had rigged all our rods, baited our hooks and gave
me a lesson in fishin’. Truly he told me
how to do everything except how to hold the rod... And as it turned out, he should have shown me
that as well! But once the anchor was
out and the motor cut off, all 6 of us took our positions and dropped our
lines. Then BAM, Glenda hooks the first
fish.
The 1st mate was right
there coaching her on reeling up the fish and everyone else on the boat was
hooting and hollering when she finally got it up because it was HUGE!! It was a really big grouper. It turned out at the end of the day to be 2nd
largest, but only by 1 inch. !
WOW.
Jack was next, then a couple of the other guys on board, but
it took me until the second location to hook one up. But I did and it was fun to haul that bad
boy up from about 80 ft. I think it was
3rd or 4th in the size contest. And so it went for about 2 hours, we’d fish a
spot until nobody was getting any bites and then the captain would move to
another spot. But the boat limited out
with 2 Grouper each at 1000. Then we
moved again to shallower water to fish for snapper. The limit on snapper was 16 each, but by
1330, the water conditions had deteriorated to the point that the captain
called it a day. Which was about right
time anyway. We didn’t limit out on the snapper,
but we got a bunch. The weather guesser
had said that the Gulf would be at 1 ft. to 2 ft. seas, and that it would be
sunny and warm. Well she missed it by a
mile because it was cold out there! And by the time we headed in there were 4 ft.
seas with a big roller coming out of the north so the ride back in was like an
E ticket!
This is a great way to break myself in on ocean
fishing. The 1st mate did
everything for all of us, set up the rods, cut the bait, unhooked our fish, re-baited
our hooks, and back at the dock he cleaned and bagged all the fish.
Thursday was a day of rest.
I wouldn’t have guessed it, but balancing and leaning your legs against
the side or back of the boat (to hold on in 3’ to 4’ swells) while you are trying to feel a bite, then “rip
their lips off” and reel, reel ,reel, will make your core and low back pretty
sore! So we did a shopping trip to Bass
Pro Shop. That was fun cause Glenda and
I needed some things and I’d been given a gift card from my old boss that I
needed to spend.
Friday Jack treated us to lunch at Joe’s Crab Shack,
and
then we went to the Edison Ford Winter Estates and Museum. That was really interesting, I never knew
that the two of them were good friends or even half the stuff that they did in
their lives. Their winter estates are
side by side homes on the water in Ft Myers.
Thomas Edison even had a lab down here where he invented a bunch of
stuff. The history lesson was great.
Saturday morning I had Jack and Gloria come over for a big
country breakfast. Jack has always liked
me cooking him breakfast. J Or any meal for that matter. ! We spent Christmas Eve with them and then
Christmas day as well. That evening we
attended the mobile home parks big Christmas pot luck dinner.
That was interesting. J
Monday we just spent the day with Jack & Gloria. We were shown how “seniors” survive on a
fixed budget, Jack was so excited to take us to Wendy’s for our first ever “free”
senior drink, a $.99 chicken sandwich and a free “key fob frosty”. He fed all 3 of us for 3.18!! J
Our only problem will be that those drive thru are a bit too
short…
Tuesday we left Ft. Myers and headed for the Florida Keys. Our stay in the Keys was scheduled for Wed.
and Thurs. nights, but we had decided to split the trip into 2 days of
travel. We had decided to spend one
night at an Indian Casino parking lot.
Thank goodness it was a cool night with a breeze as we didn’t have AC that
night. None the less it was a FREE
night.
Next morning up early and off to the Keys.
SITE REVIEW: Upriver RV resort. Really nice, big paved or concrete spots with
patio area, full hookups, lots of grass. Lots of snow birds spend 4 – 6 months
down there. There are also a bunch of
park models set permanently that people from the north lease year round. (945.00 per month, plus utilities) I’d go back.
Cost $48.00 per night though.
Sounds like you've fully adapted to life on the road. :)
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