January 2, 2018. Stay-at-homes, then Out and About.

January 2, 2018.  Stay-at-homes, then Out and About.  We spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day here in the villa.  I tried to get some pictures of aerial fireworks which were going off all around us.  Unfortunately, none turned out.  But, I did get some photos of a diving pelican and the super moon.  The pelican was successful.  The third frame shows him tilting his head and swallowing his catch.

We read, watched football games on TV and just relaxed.  New Year's Eve was a nice day as was yesterday morning.  However, a cold front has pushed its way south and the temperatures dropped into the 50s whipped up by a 30 mile-per-hour wind.  I know you are suffering with sub-zero temperatures and aren't the least bit sympathetic.  But, it was uncomfortable enough that we walked in circles around the living room in the villa.

Before you make fun of us, I'll tell you no, we didn't get dizzy.  The room is 25 feet wide and 30 feet long.  So, each lap is about 100 feet.  That means 53 laps is slightly over a mile.  And, 106 laps is two miles, and so on.  Whoa, now I am getting dizzy.  Maybe we should just bundle up and walk outside.

I read that 90% of the USA had below-freezing temperatures yesterday.  Many parts of the country are getting snow.  We will be spared that.  However, northern Florida may get some later this week.  We are in southwest Florida.  We are 300 miles south of the Georgia border.  If it snows in Jacksonville, FL, it will be substantially warmer here.  So, we don't have it so bad. 

We explored the area around us today.  Between the mainland and Captiva Island is another island called Pine Island.  We haven't been there before so we drove to it today.  We asked Heidi, the property manager, about it and she gave it a lukewarm endorsement.  She referred to it as "old Florida" with none of the major developments common near the shore.

She was right.  There is nothing there which dazzles the tourists.  But, it is quiet.  As you pass over to the island, you pass through a village called Matlacha.  It has the usual tourist shops in low-lying structures painted yellow, blue, green and orange.  In one of them is housed the Blue Dog Bar and Grill and that's where we had lunch.  The place was filled to overflowing even at 1:30 today.  The food was good.  I had grouper and Annie had shrimp.  I know.  Fish isn't what you'd expect me to order.  However, when traveling, we try to eat what the locals eat, just for a change.  I don't expect I will order fish when we get home.  I'll be back to dead pig and beef.

That's all for now.  Stay warm.  Goodnight.