We planned to head to Ft. Meyers beach next to enjoy what we had heard were world class shelling beaches. I'm not much of a collector for stuff like that, but for some reason I had an itch to do it this time. I had already began my Florida shell collection in Cape Canaveral, but haven't found any shells since then. So, the day we head out to Sanabel island to collect shells, we stopped first at the shelling museum to learn more about them. It was actually a museum on mollusks where they showed the native florida shells and shells from around the world. They even had microscopic shells. It was fascinating. Did you know that certain types of mollusks can be venomous and/or their shells can carry a deadly bacteria to humans? That almost put a halt to our entire expedition. We still ventured to the end of the road which turned out to be Captiva island and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset on the quiet beach and found a few shell keepsakes. These islands are both big vacation spots and the single road gets very crowded, but we still managed to stay out of the thick of things.
A different day we visited another well known attraction, the Thomas Edison museum and Henry Ford winter residences. Because Thomas Edison was such a fabulous inventor I expected the museum to be wildly interesting. However, it was underwhelming. My dad's phonograph collection and descriptions of their intricacies are more fascinating than the entire collection in this museum which should speak to how comprehensive Dad's collection and knowledge really is! I think we are spoiled by his home museum. Regardless, I enjoyed the beautiful gardens. I had no idea Edison was such an avid botanist. The house tours allowed us to peer inside the rooms and imagine visiting him back then. It had an amazing view. They had a self guided tour with audio recording and the entire park and museum was very wheelchair accessible so Adam enjoyed it for as long if not longer than I.
The RV park where we stayed was a site in itself. It was more like adult summer camp than an rv parking lot. They had shuffleboard and lawn bowling tournaments (and leagues), bingo, poker, pool parties, breakfast options, blood pressure day, and a weekend drawing for prizes. Many people rode around on their golf carts or scooters visiting friends in their homes and going to the pool. I keep saying how nice it is when one of these parks has a pool and I have yet to go swimming. It's a nice feeling where sometimes people don't lock their doors and come and go during the day or just take in the sun on their lawn chairs out front. This park was a bit different than most we've stayed at thus far in that there were several more permanent structures. These were truly many people's winter getaways or full-time residences which could explain some of the camaraderie as well.
When my grandmother was alive and living in FL, I always heard she was very social. I didn't know exactly what that meant then, but I can imagine her now participating in these activities, loving every moment meeting everyone and knowing everything that's going on. It makes me smile. I wonder what I will be like when I reach their ages and actually retire? I'm not participating in their activities now, will I then?
The park we stayed at in Homestead had a tiki hut in the center that they opened a few nights a week and sold beer, bands played there on the weekends and had Karaoke Friday nights. At least that park had more of a mix of age ranges and circumstances, like vacationers as well as people living there during their contract work period, and they mainly sung country songs I knew. Now, imagine Karaoke night with the retirees. That wasn't my crowd, but neither was the other really. So in both cases we listened from afar and enjoyed the lively atmosphere. Everyone seemed to be generally happy to be there which made both places a nice place for us to stay.
Once we finally leave Florida I think I will actually miss Camp Elderhostel. I can see why people look forward to retiring here. They get to regress to their childhood camp days and savor doing as much physical activity as they can for as long as they can. Many people ride their bikes everywhere (especially to the beach). They have these three-wheeled bikes now with large baskets so you can carry your groceries or surf board easily. For those of you who fall off your bikes all the time (and you know who you are) you would not have to worry anymore with the three wheeled bike! It's just difficult to put in your car. So in all we have enjoyed our stay here in Florida but are starting to look forward to moving on to wide open spaces. New Mexico or bust! (Well, maybe we'll stop a few places in between)
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