Home from Florida

Despite all outward appearances of the Ft. Myers Howard Johnson, our room was surprisingly comfortable and we slept well waking a little after 5:30 am. We did our German lessons and watched a couple episodes of Counting Cars on television while we waited to hear from the rest of the group. We did out last minute packing and preparation before piling in cars at 8:30 to stop for breakfast at First Watch in Ft. Myers. Mary and I both had eggs Benedict and enjoyed them although we would have preferred the eggs to have been cooked slightly longer. We both like the eggs a little gelled rather than the whites and yellows completely runny.

After breakfast we drove to the Ding Darling Nature Preserve on Sanibel Island. We had been here several times before and always enjoyed the visit. Today was cold and very windy by southern Florida standards. The temperature was in the mid to upper 50s but seemed much cooler with the wind coming off the water. We spent about 30 minutes at the visitor center looking at the displays and reading about the area’s history of bird species preservation. At the gate to the wildlife drive we were admitted free with our Senior National Park pass and drove to stops along the way to view the birds of the area. Because of the wind and colder temperatures, there were fewer birds out and no alligators or turtles. The birds we saw tended to be low in the mangrove thickets. We took the few short walks that are available in the preserve including one along a power line path to the water. We didn’t stay there long because the wind off the water was so intense and there was no visible wildlife. Our last stop was at ancient middens dating back over 3,000 years. There was a mountain of shells that had been piled up by the many ancient cultures after gathering native shellfish. We made a quick stop at a Walmart where Cindy got some Zicam chews and we picked up a turkey sub and some bananas for our evening meal.

We started toward Punta Gorda Airport for our 5:30 flight. After goodbyes, we went to the Allegiant desk where we learned that the flight to Cincinnati was delayed about an hour and that we couldn’t check our bag until after 3 pm. We sat outside security for a short time until we checked our bag and walked the short distance to security where our Global Entry status allowed us to take the TSA PreChecked line. We moved quickly through the process without removing shoes, jackets or taking tablets out. However, I was randomly selected for a partial check; my carry-on electronics were swabbed which took very little time. We sat at the terminal until our flight was ready to board around 6 pm for our flight home. The Punta Gorda terminal is very small with six gates in one room. We enjoyed our sub and bananas while we waited, taking walks to stretch from time to time.

We arrived at CVG around 8:30, Mary picked up the bag from the carousal while I tried to catch the shuttle for the Florence Hilton. I missed that shuttle, so I had to call the desk again and get the next one in 30 minutes. The temperature was 16 degrees, quite an adjustment from our two weeks in Florida. We made the drive home from the Hilton and were in bed by 11 pm, tired but glad to be home after a great vacation.