Day 97, Year 8: Fun Day with Steve
Date: Friday, February 8, 2013
Weather: Another Beautiful Day, High Temp in the 70’s
Location: Rialto Harbor Marina, Alva, Florida
Today was a low-key, fun day spent with Mark’s brother Steve. We started the morning at a public park where manatees hang out. Mark and I have tried unsuccessfully to see manatees and dugongs all around the world, but we were success today. The manatees seek a reprieve from the cool winter temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico by coming up the river to the warm waters of the local power plant discharge canal. It seems to be a win-win situation for the power plant and the manatees and we certainly enjoyed seeing these guys up close. We then ran some errands before going to see some of the homes Steve has designed. We didn’t get to go inside, but just looking at them from the outside was so impressive. From there we drove to downtown Fort Myers to have a late lunch at Joe’s overlooking the Caloosahatchee River. After lunch, we went for a long walk along the waterfront and then headed back to Rialto Harbor Marina just in time for a 5 pm river cruise on the Rialto launch. It is a very large launch and seventeen of us fit in with lots of room to spare. The Caloosahatchee is a wide river with lots of little waterways. We explored three of these narrow waterways and enjoyed the plants and birds along the way. We didn’t see any alligators, but that was fine with me! When we got back to the marina, we then went to dinner on the boat next to Steve’s. We enjoyed meeting the next door couple, Bear and Dort. They have an old Navy transport boat that has been refit as a pleasure craft and it has tons of room inside. Sue and Dennis, the couple who live in the house across from the Rialto boat docks, were also there for dinner. Tomorrow we drive north to Gainsville to join Mark’s sister’s family. So the fun continues.
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| 130208 Day 97 South Carolina, USA–Day with Steve |
