April 05 - 06, 2011

Rain, rain, rain. Dark sky, high winds and a temperature drop. Not a beach day. We said goodbye to the Daleys as they were heading home ( with all the bad weather they did not get home until 4am Wed morning ) and we were planning on heading south to Punta Gorda. A last minute phone call from Boyd and Carol (who had arrived on Anna Maria Island the night before ) changed our plans to "doing lunch" at Rotten Ralph's on the bridge St wharf. A sailboat is still sunk from the previous storm. Great visit and then we hit the road. Stopped in Punta Gorda to visit Danny Gallagher from Amherst. And we were in for a surprise. His girlfriend, Dale MacLeod, is from PEI and she went to school with Leslie. Her sister Valerie  and I were in the same class in high school. To make it even more unique, Valerie is married to Paul MacEachern's cousin. Oh the stories and people we chatted about. And Marion and Danny Grant ( who I hung around with on school weekends ) had just been to Dan and Dale's for a visit. The world is getting smaller every day. Spent the night in Fort Myers.

Wednesday the sun was out but temp had dropped. We had a full day with a drive across the 80/98 thru the central part of Florida to Palm Beach on the Atlantic. Miles of sugar cane, orange trees, corn fields, and greenhouses kept us company along the way. We stopped at a Safari compound and had a very interesting drive thru an animal habitat. Saw lions, zebras, rhinos (really ugly big animals), ostrich, many kinds of antelopes, giraffe, water buffalo, monkeys ( they were loose on an Island because they cannot swim). Some of the animals were coming right up to the vechiles. Had never seen these wild animals so close before. The next adventure was Palm Beach. Oh my - the money spend in this town. The houses, the landscaping, the stores - even the Fire Dept was something else. And we have never seen so many policemen in such a short time. They patrolled 2 at a time - not 2 people in one car but 2 cars together. Absolutely no speeding. The homes are huge and one place we are sure had artificial grass because it was so perfect. Our hotel is a bit of a dive but clean, on the beach and reasonably priced - one of the very few under $500 a night ! Before supper we toured the home of Mr and Mrs Flagher built in the early 1900's and is now a museum. The front hall alone is 5000 sq ft. Two stories with several quest rooms, each have their own bathroom and heating, library, dining room, master bedroom, billard room, ball room, parlour and on and on. Their railcar is also on display. After a nice long walk on the beach we toured the city and found a place to eat.