I just got back from a fun, relaxing, anti-Washington, DC vacation and am feeling the Florida vibe. I haven’t done one of these mid-winter long-weekend trips down to Bonita Springs in awhile but after seven long months of having too many clients and too much to do, I decided I needed to decompress. And I think half my facebook friends were down there with me.
Southwest Florida is so nice this time of year. Perfect weather for being a complete sand bunny (or pool bunny—there was a choice—yes I’m so blessed). The order of the week was sleep, read, eat, repeat. That’s about it folks. That much-needed vitamin D (it seems in DC there is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency) plus hours of snoring on the beach has given me a little energy boost. I finished two books, watched a couple of fun movies, caught up with my parents, took some nice walks among houses that are so, so, so out of my price range, and then came home to my gloriously comfortable bed and pets who really missed me—awwwww.
The highlight of the trip was an airboat ride through the Everglades with my parents. Now that was REALLY fun! My expectations were kind of on the low side to begin with, but it turned out to be completely worth every cent and minute spent away from my beach chair. The price of the tour from a company called Corey Billie’s Airboat Rides, was at least half of what the others were. As we were driving through the Everglades and passing various tour operations and national park land, my dad asked me what the name was again, so I told him to just look for the biggest rednecks he could find and make a right. As it turned out, Corey Billie is a Seminole Indian who owns the land and the tour company. I’m going to have to ask my neighbor John if a Seminole Indian can also be a redneck. Regardless, as our tour guide remarked, “It’s his private property, just like if you or I owned it.” (Hmmm, let’s not think too much on that—it was said with respect after all.)
Anyway, after our airboat driver opened up the throttle, away we went, speeding through the water at 40 mph. That may not seem like much, but it was just the right amount of “holy crap” for us. He did a donut at one point and moved around those random channels of water like a true pro. He was a totally awesome guide! He stopped the boat to let us get a close up view of one of the local alligators who hangs out in the area. I have to admit, I was impressed with how close he got (see photos of him holding the alligator’s mouth open) and how the alligator and the guides actually knew each other—like a pet-type relationship. There was one gator we did ignore because in the words of our guide, “He has an attitude and likes to bite, so we’ll leave him alone.” We also saw some beautiful birds—spoonbills and herons and more. So very cool! I totally recommend this tour to anyone visiting or living in Southwest Florida.
I also managed to have some yummy meals—including a wonderful (but expensive) meal at Coconut Jack’s Waterfront Grille on our last night and some mouth-watering white fish at the shrimp shack on another night. Both get the thumbs up from Mom and Dad (and me).
So now back to the diet, the yucky weather, the traffic, the fast-paced and too hurried business of northern Virginia. That’s why vacations are so great I guess!
From the Observation Deck 