Hiking Cadillac Mountain

Sunday, September 20, 2015

There was a nice sunrise around 6:30 but it was overcast by the time we got up at 7:45.  

Wendy stopped over with our eggs from Keepin' It Local and our snack bars from Kim's Kitchen.  We decided to hike the Cadillac Mtn. North Ridge Trail after Wendy and Dan went for a bike ride.  We all met at the Hull's Cove Visitor's Center at 11:00.  

We left the Park Look Road at 11:16.

 

Wendy and Dan look so much more relaxed than we do.  For some reason, we remind me of the American Gothic painting...

We did stop several places along the way to take photos, because that's what we do.

Up we go...

Looking toward Bar Harbor and the Porcupine Islands.  It's turning out to be a nice day.

Taking a break and catching our breath.  Wendy and Dan are such good sports to hike with us, we are a lot slower than they are; however, we are a lot faster than we used to be thanks to our workouts at The Brickhouse Gym!

HA...I edited Wendy's thumb out but it's still there for some reason.  

We reached the summit at 12:34, found a spot out of the wind and had our lunch.

The View at Lunch

Wendy was totally disgusted that there was a gift shop and bathroom facilities on the summit of Cadillac Mountain ;o(  Although I could see her point, I did not hesitate to use the bathroom.  Then, to add insult to injury, we purchased coffees and a HUGE chocolate chip cookie in the gift shop.  We enjoyed our snacks while searching for the summit marker, which after all the times we have been on the summit, we have never looked for...

And the winner is...

DAN!

We took pictures at the summit before heading back to the car.

Two old farts on the summit of Cadillac Mtn. and we didn't use the car.

Turned out to be a perfect day but quite windy on the summit.

We even took a #BrickhouseStrong photo and shared it to Facebook for all the gym peeps.

#BrickhouseStrong

We were back at the car by 3:15, plenty of time to head to the Jordan Pond House for popovers and tea/coffee/chai. 

The outside seating was closed because of the wind so we were seated inside, along the corridor.  It was very noisy, the service was okay but the popovers were overcooked and the serving of butter and jam was very skimpy.   The price has increased to $10.50.

Bill and Dan bought t-shirts in the gift shop before we headed back to our cottages.

We met again at Little A's for pizza and to watch the football games, although the Patriots weren't playing.  We have eaten there before and really enjoyed the pizza; however, tonight's was not the best.  

Overall, a great outside day but a disappointment in the food department.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Martineaus Come to Visit 3/17/15

Bill took a quick shower and went to buy eggs since we ran out while Wendy and Dan packed.  They were heading to Tampa for a Yankees game later tonight and a flight home tomorrow morning.  Hard to believe that their visit is already over.

Before they could go we had to get our second annual St. Patrick's Day family photos taken.  

We used the CamMe photo app to take the pictures and the LiPix app for the frames.  Poor Titan, he's such a good sport; not that he has much choice.

Once the photos were done, they put their things in the car and off they went, all completed by 10:30. ;o(

We walked the dog, had lunch at home, bought ice coffees at Dunkin Donuts and settled ourselves at the park for the afternoon, which was gorgeous...86*, not a cloud in the sky and a light breeze.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed having Wendy and Dan visit and we look forward to next year.  We still have a couple of things on our "to do" list that we didn't get done.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Martineaus Come to Visit 3/16/15

Play Ball!  Today is Red Sox day! 

Bill and I took Titan for a quick walk while Wendy and Dan did some reading on the deck.  We left the house about 11:00 and drove to Jet Blue Park in Ft. Myers for a game against the Mets.  

The temperature reached 90* and tied the record high.  Thankfully we had standing room tickets on the Green Monster but under the roof, so we were in the shade.

Looking over practice fields

We grabbed some lunch while they "saved" our places, then we switched places and they grabbed some lunch.

That's quite a hot dog!

It was a decent game with most of the recognizable names starting.

Nothing says baseball like a nice cold beer for $7.25

 

Vaping?  Who ever even heard of vaping?

We ended up leaving after the 7th inning (Sox 2 - Mets 3) because we wanted to do some shopping and I didn't want to leave Titan alone for more than seven hours.  I'm a worrier, what can I say?  We drove to Bass Pro Shops in a nearby shopping mall so Dan could look for a long sleeve sunscreen shirt.

This one has a waterfall and large aquarium inside.

From there we went to another mall (there are lots of huge malls in Ft. Myers) to the Reebok outlet store so I could look for a pair of sneakers that they both recommend...Nano's.  Whatever.  I found a bright yellow pair, I like to call them my Big Bird shoes.  Originally $119, on sale for $79, with a 40% discount and another 20% AAA discount.  I paid somewhere around $30.  Cha Ching!

Yup, these are YELLOW!

Today Dairy Queen was celebrating their 75th anniversary and they were giving away FREE ice cream cones.  Who doesn't like FREE ice cream?  As luck would have it, Wendy found us a DQ almost right around the corner from the Reebok store.  Way to go Wendy!  The ultimate discount!!!

Yeah, I know, it's not a cone!  They ran out of cones, so we got a cup.  

We were home by 6:00, let Titan out and fed him, watched the news (Sox ended up winning 4 - 3) and went back to The Celtic Ray for dinner, which was their treat.  Not necessary, but very nice of them.  Thank you both!  We watched Dancing With the Stars when we got home and the three of them played Trivia Crack.  I don't play games on my iPad, I waste enough time without playing games.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Martineaus Come to Visit 3/15/15

What a busy day we had today!  After breakfast we went to the farmer's market at History Park.  It's a little less crowded than the one on Saturday.  We brought our purchases home and Bill headed to the walk-in clinic because he was feeling terrible.  The three of us decided to walk over the bridge while we waited for him.  It was a beautiful day on the bridge. 

The view from the bridge

I told them there were some really neat lizards at the far end of the bridge, which we saw fleetingly, but they weren't as colorful as in the past.  We could hear them in the bushes and Dan did his best to flush them out for a better look.

He's not a very successful lizard hunter.  Good thing it wasn't Survivor and we weren't depending on him for tonight's dinner.  However, to be fair, Dan did spot several stingrays, a shark and a few Gar fish in the harbor.  Wendy spotted a leaf but it was a pretty leaf!

Dan started jogging on the way back, while Wendy and I continued our walk.  We met up at Hurricane Charley's where Dan had already secured a nice table in the bar overlooking the harbor.  Bill texted me and was still waiting to see a Dr.  We ordered drinks, then decided to have a snack because it was after 1:00 and we were getting hungry.  Wendy and I split a lettuce wedge and Dan had an avocado sushi roll.  Bill arrived about the same time as the food and had a beverage.  The food was good but the service was very slooooooow.  

Bill went to get his prescription at Wal-Mart and we went home to let Titan out, then we met at the Icehouse Pub for a late lunch.  

From there, Bill and I picked up ice coffees at Dunkin Donuts and met them at Gilchrist Park, where we all relaxed for about an hour.  

 

 

It's a touch job but as they say...someone's gotta do it.  It started to look like rain so Bill and I headed home but they decided to stay awhile.  Wendy mentioned later that they might have gone by Hurricane Charley's again ;o)

None of us felt much like eating dinner so instead we had Wendy's guacamole and tortilla chips.  

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Martineaus Come to Visit 3/13/15

Another beautiful day!  Wendy and Dan drove to Fisherman's Village to "rent" bikes for a ride along the Harborwalk.  The rental bikes are actually free to borrow and there are several places around town where they are available.  We walked Titan to the hospital and were surprised when Wendy and Dan arrived.

They returned the bikes and went to lunch at a Thai restaurant they found online, we ate at home.  

The four of us took advantage of the great weather and went to Charlotte Harbor Beach Park for an hour to soak up some sun and feel the sand between our toes.  One of us doesn't like to wear sunscreen...

I would have suffocated!

On the way home we ran some errands, including Winn Dixie, Beef Country, Dunkin Donuts and Richards Whole Foods.  We stopped at Cubby's for homemade ice cream and sat at the little tables outside.  Life's short, eat dessert first ;o)

Wendy and I talked to Greg as dinner was cooking - filets on the grill! 

We watched The Amazing Race before everyone headed to bed. 

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Martineaus Come to Visit 3/12/15

Bill wasn't feeling well and woke up early coughing; however, the rest of us got up around 8:00.  After breakfast we dropped Wendy and Dan off at Gilchrist Park where they walked along the Harborwalk to the hospital, while we walked Titan from the Justice Center to the hospital and we all walked back together.  

We ate lunch at home, then went to visit the Peace River Wildlife Center at Ponce de Leon Park.  It is a nice rehab center for birds and other wildlife and every afternoon around 2:30 the pelicans get fed.  Today we noticed there was a Great Blue Heron nest in the trees above the venue.  You have to look closely but it's there. 

We were told by a volunteer that there were four babies and one had already fledged.  Very cool.  

The pelicans are quite aware of feeding time and flock to the gate to welcome the volunteer that has been feeding them for years.  

 

This enclosure also has some Sandhill Cranes that are disabled, including this one that has a defective beak.

Apparently this is a somewhat common defect and the birds cannot eat when their beaks are deformed but they can be hand fed.  There was also a bluejay with the same problem.

There are screech owls, bald eagles, vultures and lots of other kinds of birds.  If they can be rehabilitated, they are released in the same area where they were found.

From here we strolled along the beach wall to the fishing pier.

What's everyone looking at?  

This little watercraft!  We overheard someone say it had $60,000 worth of motors.  Good grief!

We enjoyed some downtime at home, let the dog out and headed to The Celtic Ray for dinner.  We sat outside on the gliders, had a drink and everyone ordered the fish and chips, which are the best around!

 

After dinner we went to T.T.'s Tiki Bar, where we had beverages and watched the sunset over Charlotte Harbor.  

 

 

Sunset rays

It was a great fun fulled day.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)