Ft. Myers and Environs 1

All set to leave Tampa at 8:30 am, only to find my buggy was trapped in the parking lot by other pilgrims.  I don't know if you can see this too well, but it is the buggy in the LaQuinta parking lot, hemmed in, fore and aft.

They don't sign up your license plate at this motel, so I just had to wait until I got bailed by at least one of neighbors.  The one I most needed to move showed up at 10:30, and we were liberated.

Problem was that the wait took up the time I had planned for a visit to Ybor City, which is near and dear to my friend Patty Cooper's heart, since it was a major cigar making center and, believe it or not, cigar-making is one of her research areas!  So, I will try to get there when I head north again.

Heading south for Ft. Myers, I decided to take a side excursion to Myakka River State Park (where I'd hoped to camp, but they were full).  What a lovely place -- miles and miles of trails for you hikers and several very sweet campgrounds.  All set on a gorgeous river, complete with alligators at certain points.

Lolled about there a bit too long, making the rest of my trip to my next "home port" a little rushed, since when I called in, the guy in the office couldn't assure me he'd be on deck after 5.

Despite a flying trip to the grocery store, I did make it before he vanished.

I just don't know what to tell you about this place.  It is called an RV resort (I'll say in a minute why I picked it).  But it is nothing like the "resort" I stayed in south of Tampa.  That place was well away from the highways and full of those humungous rigs (and, of course, matching dogs).  This place sits right on RT 41 (close enough for a car to pop off the highway and land in my front seat), and is as blue collar as South Philadelphia.  I'm sort of mushed in between two seasonal (one might even be year-round) residents, with absolutely no privacy on either side.  The site doesn't even offer a picnic table.  And, as you might guess, there is no cable hookup.  I have been told by someone who KNOWS that this is because the owner had a dispute with the cable company, and just tore all the hookups out.

Now, this is very far from any idea I might have of a resort.  So, I do have an issue with the place's name (to whit, Ft. Myers RV Resort).  On the other hand, there's something far more interesting about this place than the last, wonderfully pristine resort I visited.  Tomorrow, I'll take a walk around and get some pictures for you.  It's really kind of funky.

As to why it is that I am here in the first place -- in working out the details of meeting up with Jennifer, it was turning out that I should stay someplace close to the Ft. Myers airport.  Well, this is the closest place (maybe a little to close for full comfort); so I made my reservations and, of course, there are no refunds.

All that said, the guy in the office was a riot, knowing full well that this is not a choice location.  The other  people I met in the office were, I must say, as kindly and good-natured as I've so far met along the way.  One woman (who'd just gotten off the phone with her daughter) told me that it's snowing so bad in Ohio, that the police are muscling people off the highway.  A couple standing with us from Texas thought that was pretty exciting, since there has not been any weather to speak of in that state (at least according to them) for the whole winter.  Another woman was just tickled at all the banter, and decided she'd come back tomorrow to get her mail because the office guy was on a prolonged call from a demanding customer and it sure wasn't sounding like it was going to end quickly (or well).  The rest of us were having a fine time making fun, and she left giggling.

So, this is a kind of rough place; but I'm not yet ready to run off.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Believe it or not, it is supposed to drop here to 36 degrees tonight.  But that does beat Lawrenceburg KY, which hovered around 20 today, with the wind chill factor saying it felt like 6-8!!!!!!   Brrrrrr.......!!!!

Heading south again

Well, I gave my talk at U So Fl today and it went nicely.  Quite a wonderful group of students.  And it was good to see some old friends among the faculty, including one guy who I hadn't seen for many, many years, who is retired, but visits here to teach each winter.  He does military ethics, and is currently working on the issue of what are called 'automatic drones'.  The unmanned drones we have today (which have been making all kinds of strikes and killing off all kinds of terrorists, as well as some innocent bystanders . . ) have no pilot on board, but are directed by someone on the ground.  These automatic machines will be self-directed in just the sense that THEY (not some human being looking on) will actually decide when to send off a bomb.  This is striking some moral philosophers as peculiarly problematic, and there is now a movement afoot to stop the development and deployment of these weapons.

At any rate, it's fun to be back doing some philosophy in the middle of this trip, and I've enjoyed my visit here.

Turns out my motel is just across the street from the back entrance to Busch Gardens.  Here is the roller coaster I can see from my doorway.  The screams are a little nerve wracking . . .

And here is some more Spanish moss, and what I believe might be mango that was at the edge of the parking lot and sits for the time being on the trunk of my scooter.

Just another day in the sun . . .

At the risk of boring everyone to tears, I must say that I have had a very quiet, sunny day here in Tampa.  It rained and rained yesterday, as it had the whole night before.  But today was just beautiful.  I doubly appreciated just how beautiful it's been when my niece, Meg, told me this afternoon that it was snowing at her house in New Jersey.

Aside from enjoying the weather, I've been back at working on my film project.  I do hope to get this 5-hour first draft down to roughly 2 hours soon . . .

Ah, there's nothing quite like being a filmmaker on the road.  I'm sure the people around me think I am as strange as can be.  I have no elderly male with me and, of course, no matching dogs.  And I am not in need of any sort of help handling my "rig."  At 65, I am reminded that I remain the odd duck I have been all my life . .

Tomorrow, I pull up stakes, batten down the hatches (as my dad used to say on his boat)  and head from the SW to the NE side of Tampa, neighborhood of  the University of South Florida, where I'll be giving a talk on Friday.

Saturday morning, I'll head south again.  This time to Ft. Myers, where I'll do some exploring and meet up with Jennifer at the airport on Tuesday to begin a week with friends Mead and Janet at a women's resort there.

I must say, it will sure be good to see Jen and our friends . . .

It's Raining!

The rain has been coming and going here for the past couple of hours.  I shouldn't be surprised; but I am.  I also fully expect it will stop and clear momentarily.  (Although it has frequently been raining with the full sun out.)

I have very little to report today -- a quiet day in which I've been working on my research project (editing an interview of a feminist philosopher), and walking around every hour or so.  This was all part of the plan -- to do some work along the way, resting from driving.  We'll see if I last sitting still until Thursday, which my schedule says is the next move.

I did get a chance to photograph one of those ducks for you.  I will have to ask Janet James what, exactly, it is.

And since I keep talking about Spanish moss, I've got a couple of pictures of that for you, too:

 

Hello Tampa

Well, I made it to Tampa but, as seems the norm for the time being, not without difficulty.

Left St. George Island (reluctantly) on Friday.  Got on the road and had a strange noise and wobble in the buggy.  I was many miles on the Gulf Coast road going only about 45 mph, so it didn’t much bother me the first couple of hours.  But once I hit I-10 W, it was obvious that something was seriously wrong.  I was going to try to hold on until Lake City, but thought better of it.  Good thing – I got off the highway at the first exit I saw with a tire place sign – Jimmie’s Firestone.  Much to my relief, Jimmie’s surrogate, Glen, knew immediately what was wrong.  Not one but both of my front tires were separating.  I’d never heard of this; but I learned that  it does cause a feelable, seeable bubble in the tire, which is on its way to blowing or, at best, going flat.  And so the mystery of the tire in Chatanooga is solved.  Apparently all of my tires show little road wear, but are old.  The two front ones needed to go immediately, and Glen got them changed.  That’s 3 out of 6 that are now new on this trip, and I’ll have the other three (which  are safe for now) replaced before heading back north.  

And, to just finish bellyaching about mechanical trials and tribulations – my hot water intake started to leak the other day.  Held on until I got to Tampa to get it fixed and the good news is that the connection just needed some tightening (after a surprising freeze in TN).  Cost me ten bucks and I am very much looking forward to a hot shower in my own wonderful space.

Ah, the romance of being on the open road in an old jalopy . . .  But other than these things, the buggy has been perfect. 

Made it to my first Tampa destination yesterday, albeit later than I’d planned because of the tires.  This is an “RV Resort,” which I picked out because I knew I would be overdue for laundry by now.  And it was also a place where I thought I could get the water leak addressed.  Right on both points.

So, today I did laundry, hanging out with a couple of women -- one from northern New Jersey, and one from Gettysburg, PA – who were wonderful, and made me feel perfectly at home in this very friendly place, which seems to be all white, straight people with, of course, those matching dogs.  I did not get to the shuffleboard court (where I am determined to hang out – loved that game as a kid),  but I finally pulled my awning down and IT WORKED!! 

There are ponds through this place and tomorrow I’ll take pictures of some of the ducks on these ponds.  I’ve never seen some of them before.  But they are obviously well settled here and walk all around and through the campers, and fully enjoy the patios of the rigs parked closest to them (which seem to have no one at home -- good thing,; they do make a bit of a mess).

Also spent a couple of hours today listening the UK women’s basketball game with LSU, which our girls lost.  Not being able to see it, I really don’t have an opinion about what went wrong; but it did sound like LSU had BIG players.  (I won’t comment on some commentators’ views that the refs were particularly hard on UK . . .)  But I do want to tell you about being able to listen to the games on my iPhone!  There is an iPhone app – ‘I heart radio’ – which lets you pick up the UK hometown radio broadcast of the games (AM 630).  I am amazed by it.  Haven’t yet messed around with it enough to find out what else you can get, but I’m hopeful  that (at the very least) I’ll be able to get as much NPR as possible while on the  back roads. 

And speaking of the back roads – I have failed to tell you that all along the Gulf Coast Rd. (Rte. 98) there are signs warning of bears!  I found this very surprising and mean to look into what kind and how many there are in that area.  I was very sorry to leave that road – there was a little cottage in a town called Sopchoppy that had the most beautiful live oak complete with an incredibly rich dressing of Spanish moss.  I keep regretting not stopping to get a picture for you.

So, further south now, I am finally in the welcome warmth of the Florida sun and enjoying it greatly.  I will be happy to get back to the state parks after this hiatus at the "RV Resort," then moving to a motel for a day and doing my talk at the University of South Florida.  Even more, I cannot wait to meet up with Jennifer, Mead, and Janet  in Ft. Myers!!

I do want to say, too, that yesterday I went through the area south of Gainesville that was the site of that terrible pileup last Sunday.  Didn't see much, except for several signs warning of dense fog and smoke.  But there wasn't any.  Nor did I see anything on the southbound side of I-75, and I was out out sight of the northbound (because of trees) for just a little while. How can there be no obvious signs of such a tragedy?  

Some pictures tomorrow. . .

Again, posted later because of no internet connection.

2/1/2012

Needing a good rest (I guess!) I slept 9 pm – 9 am overnight, out here on St. George Island.  So much for driving the better part of 6 days straight at my age . . .

 Woke up to a cloudy (but mild) day that gave off to some rain. That quit in the afternoon, at which point I hurried off to the beach.  It is every bit as beautiful as promised in the state’s St. George Island literature.  The pictures I plan to post with this entry should back that up (even though I took them on my old iPhone).  Given Sue Strong’s story, I was prepared to be terrified walking through the pond with alligators to the beach.  Happily, they were not in evidence today.  But there was a lively crane and a couple of very agitated great blue herons, none of whom I could photograph for all the carrying on.  Maybe I just didn’t see what they saw . . .

Tomorrow, it is supposed to be partially sunny.  If it’s warm enough, I plan on taking my chair and Kindle to the beach, where I expect I’ll promptly fall asleep . . .

This really is a peaceful, beautiful place . . .

The size of my thumbnail . . . 

Posted later because of no internet connection on St. George Island.  Written 1/31/2012

Well, I spent the better part of the day today (1/31/12) in Apalachicola, which is just as sweet as can be.  Lots of odd shops (many with various kinds of sea sponges for sale), antiques, and an impressive array of outfitters.  But there is nothing self-important about this town, and I really liked it for that.  Spent the first part of my visit doing (for a change) EXACTLY what I had planned – enjoying a latte at a funky internet café with a beautiful picture book on the area’s wildlife.   Then I just wandered, finding little galleries here and there, and finally a really, really nice bookstore (Downtown Books) whose owners make the very best of their modest space.  Going into places like this makes me guilty of my Kindle, and I always buy a decent book to ease my conscience . . .  More about the Kindle, though, at some point down the road. . .

Apalachicola is a real fishing village, right down to the smells.  The catch is largely shellfish – shrimp, clams, and oysters from large bays, fed with fresh water from several rivers.  Small processing plants sit all along Water Street, without apology to whomever might want to grab that waterfront land for mansions on stilts. My café was looking out on a couple of them.  It reminded me of a miniature, nicely scrubbed Cannery Row; or even more of Petersburg in Canada which, as far as I recall, can only be reached by plane or boat.

  Shopkeepers and sidewalk sitters were uniformly friendly and unhurried.  Maybe summer is a nightmare of speed and congestion here; but today (and it was a beautiful one), all seemed peaceful and admirably self-contained in Apalachicola, which, by the way, has (like Provincetown, MA) a ban on franchises – no McDonald’s (etc.) here.  At least for now.  The whole “Forgotten Coast,” or Apalachicola Bay area, is in struggle to keep from becoming over-commercialized.  So far, from what I have been reading and seeing, they are succeeding. 

Went from the village back to the east and on to St. George Island, which is also part of the Apalachicola Bay area.  The ride over the bridge to the Island took care of my missing the drive out to the Keys this year.  Nice big lanes, nice big shoulders , and nice big water on both sides for at least 4 miles.  (I think I said earlier that the island is 9 miles out on the Gulf.  Mistake.  It is somewhere over 4 miles out and, I be3eive, 9 miles long.)The Island itself is not yet overwhelmed with development.  There are lots of those teetering manses, of course, hogging most of the beach access. But they are not (yet) overwhelming the landscape.  And  then even that stops with  the perfectly wonderful state park at the eastern end of the Island.  The ride into the campground is, I believe, another  4 miles of  absolutely beautiful windswept dunes.  Reminds me of the Province Lands, outside Provincetown on Cape Cod (one of my favorite places since I stumbled on it in 1971). It also reminds me of the northern part of Long Beach Island (NJ) back in the 1960s, before the development kicked in (although the north of that island is still not nearly so bad as the south in that regard).

 The beach here is supposed to be gorgeous (for a full 9 miles); and from what I have been reading in the book I got from that neat bookstore in Apalachicola, there are all sorts of wild things on the Island.  Tomorrow, I will go out exploring.  Our good friend, Sue Strong, who has come here a number of times, says one has to walk from the campground past a pond with alligators.  I’ll let you know about that.   If you don’t hear from me in a post dated tomorrow, you will know where to look . . . 

Apparently, St. George Island  is also a well-known breeding ground for Loggerhead turtles, some of which weigh over 300 lbs.  Apparently, these sea turtles never die of old age, but always of some discernible disease.  Too early in the season for the breeding; but I would like to come back some time when it’s going on. Apparently, one can sign on to the effort to get the babies away from predators and launched  to sea.  My kind of project, if ever there was one . . .

Now in the campground, I find it very nice, even though my particular site is not as rustic as some.  It’s marked as a “handicap” site, has a concrete pad, and is directly across from the loo and showers, which come complete with a ramp.  (I guess I looked  that old and feeble to the ranger checking me in. . ). . But my neighbors (once more, in their breathtaking rigs) are all friendly and busily walking their dogs much of the time, donning exactly the right gear to match the weather and temperature.  It  occurs to me that nearly everyone has at least one dog, and most have two (matching) dogs.  These are almost uniformly small dogs (e.g., King Charles Spaniels and Shih Tzuhs [sp?]),of the typese (certainly not Jack Russell terriers)  who tend to look perfectly bewildered at why anyone would be taking them away from their most comfortable rigs.  So, I was surprised and more touched than I can say when this evening an ancient couple came walking along with two equally ancient and impeccably groomed collies. 

           But again, the dogs makes me miss home.  Maybe I should have at least brought Yoshi the parrot with      me . .

I’ll stay here for the next few days, just taking it easy before heading for Tampa.  Haven’t an internet connection out here at sea, so I’ll be posting this sometime in the future.  This is really a great place.  Wish you were here.