Year 3: Visiting Mark’s Family in Florida
Date: Monday, April 21, 2008
Weather in Southern Florida: Sunny, Warm, and Wonderful
Location: Bonita Beach, Florida
Southern Florida is at her best at this time of year and we are certainly enjoying the warm days here after a winter in New England. We haven’t been here since Thanksgiving of 2004 so it has also been wonderful reconnecting with Mark’s family. His sister Mary Ellen and her husband Lee flew to Tahiti to sail with us in French Polynesia during the first year of our voyage and Mark’s brother Steve flew to Fiji and spent three weeks with us this past season. So we had seen some of his family, but
not all of his nieces and nephews and their families and not his sister Jeanie. So we are here soaking up the sun and enjoying our visits with family.
Shortly after we arrived on Wednesday, Mary Ellen and Lee’s son Danny came to visit with his two boys, Daniel who is five and Noah who is three. We were amazed at their agility in the pool. They both swim and dive like little fish. On Saturday, brother Steve’s family came to visit, along with sister Jeanie and new beau Chuck, Jeanie’s son Jimmy, and Mary Ellen and Lee’s son Danny with Daniel and Noah. Steve has a daughter Stacey who has two children, Katie and Trent. They are now six and nine
respectively, so they have really grown since we saw them more than three years ago. Steve’s daughter Kristie also came to visit with her eight month old baby Hayden. We were so excited to meet him. Mary Ellen and Lee’s home has a huge lanai with a swimming pool, so we frolicked in the pool all afternoon. Mark’s family loves nothing more than a rousing pool volleyball game and even Noah, the three year old, is quite proficient in slamming that beach ball across the pool. Hayden is a little too
young for volleyball, but he certainly enjoyed being in and under the water.
Sunday we all traveled from Bonita Beach to Steve’s home in Alva. Steve’s “home” is his trawler, Nordlys. Alva is just north of Fort Myers on the Caloosahatchee and Nordlys is docked in the Rialto Harbor Marina. The marina has a grounds keeper that has turned the marina area into a tropical paradise. The trees are all dripping with lush green vines and Spanish moss and flowers are everywhere. There was even an old mulberry tree that had the most delicious berries I have ever eaten. The marina
owners love horses, so there are lots of beautiful horses on the grounds. And to give things a country feel, there are lots of chickens as well. Oh, I’d better not forget to mention the “pet” alligator in the canal where Steve’s boat is docked. Swimming is not something you do here! Steve is a residential designer and his office is located on the marina grounds in a lovely little guest house that he designed. We walked the grounds, took Nordlys out on the river for a little cruise, and came
back and spent the night in the guest house. It was a magical day in Steve’s little slice of paradise. I’ve posted photos below of our visit to Rialto as well as our visits with family.
We are now preparing for the next leg of our journey to the desert in New Mexico to visit with our son and his wife. I’ll check in again from Los Cerrillos.
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| 080419 Florida–The Cousins Visit |
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| 080418 Florida–Danny & Boys |
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| 080420 Florida–Visit to Steve’s |
