ROAD TRIP TO FLORIDA

Ann never got to Florida in all the years that her mom and dad wintered there. So, we got the idea to take Mom and Dad on a road trip to Florida over our winter break. Dad opted out, but Mom was game and we set up plans for the journey.

We flew back to LI from Nanjing, China and had an early Christmas celebration with the family and set out on the road Dec. 22. The trip down is great - we travel through some beautiful country and there is a cold snap with snow on the sides of the roads all the way down through Georgia. The driving is easy - no bad weather to contend with and we listen to the radio, play games on the iPad, converse, look at the countryside and the time melts away.

We arrive to the Holiday Inn in Naples which will be our home for the next week. It’s well located, simple and functional. The next day Mark and Kelly drive up from we head to Naples and take a stroll along the pier - it’s windy and cool, but the sun is bright and we enjoy Mom’s commentary about living in this area.

Over the next week we 
  1. •visit the Marco Naples Hitching Post campground and see the house where Mom and Dad wintered for many years
  2. •visit Aunt Anita in the same campground and cousins Skip and Karen in a nearby campground 
  3. • take a trip into the Everglades and see alligators along the side of the road
  4. • drive down to Chokoloskee the oldest post office in the US which is a trading post deep in the Everglades - now made into a museum 
  5. • take an airboat ride through the Everglades (fast and noisy, Pelicans land on the boats because the drivers feed them, saw alligators and raccoons)
  6. • do some bike riding over to Marco Island and around the local area we brought our bikes with us)
  7. • walk through the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary which has 2.25 miles of boardwalk through a swamp with 200 species of birds, alligators, plants, panthers, bear, orchids in the Everglades
  8. •pick up the grapefruit requested by Dad
  9. •have brunch with Bill and Jana as they head down to the Keys for a vacation
  10. • get in a bit of beach time as well 

Everyone is complaining about the weather as it is much colder than usual, but it is still much warmer than NY!

Our trip back is again, blessed with good weather, and we miss a big snowfall. Great companionship and a great trip.

Photo Gallery: click to see a larger image.