Christmas on 65th Avenue, Okeechobee, Fl.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

A few weeks ago we all agreed to have a Christmas pot luck meal for the folks on our street plus a few folks from our extended street family.  Since we always eat too much around the holidays, it was decided the menu would be a lighter affair with soups, sandwiches, salads, and, of course, desserts without calories!  We drew straws to decide who would host the pot luck, and...well...Kitty and I won, or lost, the draw depending upon your respective view point.

Now, you might think that getting ready for a pot luck feeding 30 people is a lot of work.  Well, it really wasn't much trouble thanks to all of our helpful neighbors.  Organizing the menu, setting up tables, chairs, and table decorations went smoothly with several folks lending a hand.  And, the clean up afterwards was a snap.  Heck, we just might make this an annual tradition at this Simmons house.  Oh...excuse me while I pick Kitty up off the floor!

Here's the hungry folks in Ancient Oaks enjoying some friendly conversations before the feast!

Carol & Jenny

Carol 

The "incomparable" Henry

Jenny

Joan & Kathleen

Joan, John, and Pat 

This is Pat showing Reba her tonsils!  That's Joan on the right in disbelief!

Penny & Debbie.  Debbie is either laughing or sleeping, not sure which!

Ron & James.

  Every picture I have of James looks like he has no hair.  Must be something wrong with my camera!

Ted and Karen

This is "Two Step Ted".  AKA "Eagle Eye"

Jerry, Pat, Randy

The waiting line for food

The Feast!

Here's the group after eating.  Everyone looks a few pounds heavier.  Must be something wrong with my camera again!

These ancient folks in Ancient Oaks are all great people.  It's such a treat to enjoy our friends on Christmas since many of us are not able to be with our families today.  With great friends like these folks, it's really like being with family.  We're the 65th Avenue family!  

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Beaches on Sanibel/Captiva Island, Florida

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Today is the final day of our four day island hop with our neighbors Ted and Pat.  We are camping on an island on the Caloosahatachee River near Alva, Florida.  So far, we have visited Gasparilla Island, Marco Island, and today we are going to Sanibel and Captiva Islands.

After crossing the causeway that leads to Sanibel Island, we headed to the south end of the island to see the light house and check out the beach.

This is a shot of the four of us with the Sanibel Island Light in the background. 

Kitty in front, Pat in the back and Craig and Ted in the middle.

 The beach adjacent to Sanibel Island Light House.

Drift wood on Sanibel Island  

Curious Laughing Gull

This bold Pelican has become the center of attention

I almost tripped over this Pelican resting next to the path leading from the light house to the beach.

We decided to head all the way up Sanibel to Captiva Island.  Here's picture of the beach near the north end of Captiva Island.

Now we're getting serious about collecting shells!

All that shelling is hard work and we were all ready for something to eat.  So, we stopped at the Green Flash Restaurant on Captiva Island.  The Green Flash overlooks the intercoastal waterway and Pine Island in the distance.

After a scrumptious lunch, we decided we had time for one more beach stop.  So, we headed south back to Sanibel Island and stopped at Bowman Beach.

These Royal Terns are enjoying the beach along with us.  Note the sand here is a darker color.

These Sandpipers were everywhere on Bowman's Beach!

It's getting late and the sun is reflecting off the gentle Gulf Waters.

Well that wraps up our Island tour.  It's great to visit the beaches in December when the pace is a lot slower and the temperatures are a lot cooler.  Counting the island we camped on, we have visited five islands and walked on several beaches collecting shells during our four day trip.  We always enjoy the Florida beaches and it's extra special doing it with great friends.

Tigertail Beach on Marco Island, Florida

Wednesday, December 10, 2014


This is the third day of our island hoping adventure with our neighbors Ted and Pat on Florida's southwest coast. (Please see my previous blog date December 8th & 9th)  Today we are heading to Tigertail beach located on Marco Island just a few miles south of Naples.

Marco Island is the largest of Florida's 10,000 islands.  With that many islands to visit, we will be busy for several decades!  But, this current trip is only four days and we have a total of three islands to visit plus we are camping on an island on the Caloosahatchee River north east of Fort Myers.

With so many islands to visit, they have to be special to warrant a return visit, and Marco Island is more than worthy of a return visit.  Tigertail beach is blessed with powdery white sand, a variety of plentiful sea shells, modern restrooms, showers, snack bar, and beach rental equipment.  On this cool December day by south Florida standards, we had the most of the beach to ourselves and enjoyed picking out only the best shells that were begging to be picked.

The delicious water front lunch we enjoyed at the Snook Inn had us all fortified with plenty of energy for several hours of shelling, and the additional half mile walk around the lagoon to get to the beach.

Walking around this lagoon helped us burn a few extra calories.  It was a little cool to wade through the lagoon today and we aren't good at walking on water, so walking around it was our only choice.

Tigertail Beach is well worth the few extra steps to get there.

This view is looking south toward Marco Island hotels and condos.

Pat has her ear bags on and Kitty has her hood up today!

This Osprey is making sure those ladies behave!

We picked up plenty of shells to add to our collections.  The cool fresh air, pristine sand, sunny skies, and plenty of laughs made this a marvelous day we won't soon forget.  With only one more day left on this island trip, we saved the best one for last.  Stay tuned there's more to follow.

The Legend of Gasparilla Island, Florida

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

OK, raise your hand if you have ever heard of Gasparilla Island or the legend that surrounds the island's fascinating history.  Well, you won't find this story in any of your history books because the legend of Gasparilla Island was passed down from generations by word of mouth.  Historians are not certain how the island was named.  It could have been named after an early Spanish missionary, or, it could have been named after a blood thirsty pirate named Jose Gaspar, who had a lusty appetite for gold, silver, and women.

Jose Gaspa 1756-1821

 More about this legend in just a moment.  But, first let me bring you update on our travels.  Kitty and I are on an island hoping adventure with our neighbors, Ted and Pat.  We are camped at WP Franklin Corp of Engineers Campground located north east of Fort Myers and west of Alva, Florida.  Gasparilla Island is the first stop of our island adventure, and we are all anxious to get started.

We woke up this morning to a beautiful sun rise at our campground.  Here's what we saw...

Gasparilla Island is located along Florida's west coast just a few miles north of Captive Island. You'll hear how Captiva Island was named and how it ties into the legend of Gasparilla Island in just a moment.  Gasparilla Island is a quaint little island with no gas station, several local restaurants, hotels,  a state park, the town of Boca Grande, a light house and range light.

It was cool and blustery during our visit, and the surf was hammering the shore.

Not many folks are on the beach on a day like today!

This range light was originally erected in Delaware in 1891.  The 105 foot steel-skeleton tower was dismantled piece by piece and shipped to Gasparilla Island in 1931.

This active light house was built in 1890 and is located on the southern tip of Gasparilla Island.  It was abandoned by the Coast Guard in 1967.  The station was rebuilt and returned to service in 1986. 

This light house also houses a museum depicting the history of the Island.  But, there is no mention of Jose Gaspar and his evil ways in this museum.

Jose Gaspar and his band of evil pirates ruled the Gulf waters around Gasparilla Island for nearly 30 years.  They would raid merchant ships taking their gold and silver treasures.  The men that they captured were either executed or joined the band of pirates.  The women were held as captives on a nearby island later named Captiva Island for "captive women."

According to the legend, one of Gaspar's captives was a Spanish Princes named Josefa.  Gaspar fell in love with Josefa and asked her to marry him.  She refused his offer by cursing him and spat in his eye.  In a fit of rage, Gaspar drew his sword and beheaded her.  It is said that he felt so badly about killing his beloved Josefa, that he buried her body near the location where the above light house stands today, and put her head in a jar and kept it on his boat.  Some say the decapitated ghost still roams the island looking for her head.

In 1821, Gaspar was planning to retire.  While dividing up their treasures, the pirates spotted another merchant ship and couldn't resist the temptation for one last exploitation.  It turns out the merchant ship was actually the USS Enterprise.  In the ensuing battle, the Enterprise blasted Gaspar's pirate ship with canon fire and it began to sink.  Rather than surrender, Gaspar wrapped the anchor chain around his waist and jumped off the ships bow.  He was last heard yelling, "Gasparilla dies by his own hand."  Most of the pirates were either killed during the battle, or later hanged.  The few that managed to escape kept the legend alive by telling others about their adventures.  And now you know the legend of Gasparilla Island!

Island Tour Starts atWP Franklin Campground near Alva, Florida

Monday, December 8, 2014


We were looking for a campground that with a convenient location to allow us to visit some fascinating islands on Florida's west coast.  WP Franklin is a Corp of Engineers campground located northeast of Fort Myers and west of Alva, Florida.  The campground was built as part of the Okeechobee Waterway and sits on an island in the Caloosahatchee River affording waterfront sites for all.  What better way to start an island hopping adventure than to camp on an island!

Our beach loving neighbors Ted and Pat, are traveling with Kitty and me for this trip and this is our first visit to WP Franklin Campground for the four of us.  It is definitely a campground we all plan to return to in the future.

After getting our campers set up, it was time for lunch along the river.

L to R: Kallie (our standard poodle), Ted, Pat, Craig, and Kitty

This is our waterfront site.

This is Ted and Pat's waterfront site next to ours.

This is a view of the west end of the campground.

The Franklin dam is in the center of this picture and the lock is to the left

The Caloosahatchee River flows from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean via the Okeechobee Water Way.  There's all types of fish in this river, as well as, manatees, gators, water fowl and yachts like this one.  If you look real hard, I think you will see my name on the side of this boat! Ha!

This Coot enjoyed watching us as much as we enjoyed watching him!

This evening we all sat around Ted's campfire and enjoyed the multicolored Christmas lights reflecting off the silky smooth river surface.

After a festive evening, plenty of fresh air, a few funny stories, and tons of laughter, we finally called it a night and headed to our respective campers.   Our long awaited island hop begins in the morning. Our first stop is an island with an fascinating history and most modern day folks have never heard of this place.  Details to follow!