* Fort Myers *
The Fort Myers waterfront was very active with the Edison Festival of Light and we had a front row seat to it all!
Events for the week-long festival included a Mutt Strut, 5K, children’s parade, classic car show, crafts on the river, stemtastic day of discovery, food and craft brew trucks, and ending the week with the grand parade. The festival has been taking place since 1938.
We learned of the Mutt Strut too late to include our mutt, as that would have been fun, but we were able to view both parades book ended through festival week. The parades passed by on the main street just feet from the marina and less than 50 yards from the Now or Never.
The children’s parade was a day parade and of course celebrated our youth. Remy enjoyed all the action and seeing everyone too!
We learned of reserved seating for the grand parade about two weeks prior. It was a fundraiser for the Boy Scouts and provided seating along our marina for a small contribution. It certainly was easy to waltz up to our seats minutes before the parade started and not have to worry about going up early, hauling chairs, and wrangling for a spot.
By the day of the parade, we had organized seats and a cookout on our deck dock for 10 prior to the parade! This included three looper boats and our family Tiffany and Mark.
The parade kicked off with fireworks over the water and then a 2-hour fun filled parade. We were seated right by the television station platform and all the entries stopped to have their entry, music, or dance filmed. We were in the center of it all and it was great to be with friends!
The highlights of the parade included the Indianapolis Police Motorcycle Drill Team. A group of twenty officers perform on their department issued Harley Davidson’s at parades and major festivals around the country. We also enjoyed the local high school bands (there are a lot of high schools in the area), and the colorful Mexican dancers.
The Police and Sheriff’s Department floats included, multiple vehicles and equipment for water, swamp, hazardous waste, tactical, as well as drones, horses, and fun. Let’s just say our Captain, Sheriff and Chief David never dreamed of any of these vehicles or equipment let alone all of them for one department. Oh, and Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno had his mug on everything (and has only been Sheriff a year)!
It was a wonderful evening that will go down as a highlight of our stay in Fort Myers and our overall adventure.
We also hosted a looper gathering of 18 mid-week on our deck dock. Having a much wider dock than most next to the Now or Never is the perfect place to meet up. Loopers from two marinas with four dogs were present.
This was our largest dock tails in Fort Myers, up from our regular impromptu gatherings of 8 – 10. The characters rotate as the boats come and go but the camaraderie, the stories, the fun, and the friendships make it so wonderful. Before we knew it, it was dark and we had been at it over three hours, it was time to find something to eat as it was closing in on looper midnight of 9 pm. We used to laugh at the thought of everyone turning in so early, it is now common practice for us too!
Remy continues to love the dock life at Fort Myers. Her regular posse includes Tank (lab-st. benard mix) and Stella (pit bull mix). And Buster a small wire-haired terrier is trying to fit in too! Plus an array of other dogs who come and go along the way.
We were blessed with several visits from our homeport crew. Ohio River boaters Bill and Lea Ann along with Peggy and Kenny stopped by the Now or Never one afternoon.
Our home port dock mates Rhonda and Mike, along with fellow river cruisers Rene and Brad came as the pony express delivering some parts and supplies from home. Tasha met up with Rhonda to get some things to them to courier down as they were headed to Tarpon Springs to meet up with Rene and Brad. They all came for lunch and an afternoon on the deck dock.
A total surprise visit from our home port, dock mates Maria and Jeff. We had no idea they were in the sunshine state, a quick call and a couple hours later they were visiting with us on the Now or Never.
Seeing friends has made the journey so much sweeter, we can’t thank everyone for venturing our way!
We continue to use our bikes and ride to Publix regularly. There is only so much we can carry without losing our load. One tragedy happened and one averted. David lost part of his load, dropped his sunglasses, and proceeded to ride over his sunglasses. Tragedy. Tasha also had us ride to get ginger ale that was on sale – who doesn’t like a good sale?, even if it means risking your life as so David thought. It was a buy two 12 packs, get two free!
We loaded one 12 pack in a backpack and three tied down on the back of David’s bike. These are small bikes to begin with and David was afraid the weight might pop a tire or shift and fall during the journey and cause him to wreck. He was certain Tasha saving $5 (it was more!) was going to cause him to lose Life or limb. We made it back unscathed and had we had baskets as Tasha has asked for, it might not have been a problem (they have since been ordered!).
We met up with our looper friends Karen and Danny (OnLine) whom we first met in Clearwater. They are at another marina in Fort Myers and met us downtown for lunch. They came back to our marina for an impromptu dock tails and we made plans to meet up again for the light parade and cookout. We love the looper camaraderie and how we continue to see boaters time and time again.
We adventured to our 2nd Friday night music walk which is held each month. The downtown streets are closed to vehicles and bands and dj’s abound. Twelve performers in the heart of downtown cranked out country, funk, rock and more. The streets are packed, the restaurants overflowing, and music playing everywhere you turn. We were able to score an outside table with Tiffany and Mark at the Downtown House of Pizza and enjoy slices of pizza this time (you may recall this is where we bought the large pizza and hauled it home in the box via the bikes!) We also popped into the local creamery for ice cream. It is so fun to be outside in February enjoying the music, eating dinner and ice cream, and yet it was still warm!
We are wrapping up our time in Fort Myers and have loved the experience, the visits from the home port crew, and the camaraderie of boaters. We realize our adventures sound like a commercial for Fort Myers, we really see why it is a favorite winter respite for loopers. So much to do and so close to the waterfront! We plan to return and are on four marina waiting lists for next year! Yes, no one can confirm for a year out and they put us on their “list”!
We are watching the weather window as we prepare our voyage to Marathon in the Keys for the month of March. We are not on any firm schedule after Marathon, nothing is planned out past the Keys, though our hope is to travel north up the East coast and spend the summer on the Chesapeake Bay and then in the fall head back down the East coast and winter in Florida again. It’s a loose plan that we hope will pan out.
We are trying desperately to remember everything about each day. The people we meet, the sights we see, the auroma in the air, the destinations that are so unique, and the JOY we feel being a bit foot loose and fancy free. This is a wonderful journey, one to not take for granted, and one to ENJOY. Tasha sings to herself often the Seals and Crofts song – We May Never Pass this Way Again. Because we know, We may never pass this way again.
Our adventure will take us upwards of 10,000 miles, stopping about every 50 miles to spend a night or a couple of months, and enjoying the community. We have spent our lives hurrying to a destination or a moment in time and not enjoying the journey.
This trip is all about the journey, seeing the heartland of our country by water, sharing it with longtime friends and those we meet along the way, and experiencing hundreds of communities we would have never stepped foot into if not for our great loop adventure. This journey has been an incredible opportunity, and we know each day is a blessing and a gift. A huge gift is being able to share it with our four-legged spunky pup and we are happy that all of you choose to follow along!
Here we come – Florida Keys!
Cheers! D, T & R
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