Since we had not initially planned to be gone today, Jackson took a call for work. I heard him saying, "Oh, you've got snow where you are? They had snow where I was headed so I didn't go!" At least he cracks himself up. ;)
Once boring old work was finished for the day we headed for lunch and the beach. Shockingly, we went to Tropical Smoothie for lunch again. I don't stray from excellence. ;) We opted to go to a less populated part of the beach today just to switch things up a bit. I wasn't paying attention and accidentally stepped on a plant with burs on it. Suddenly my foot exploded with pain and I had to perform surgery (some may call the pulling out of a bur something less than "emergency surgery." Those people aren't welcome in my world!) on myself to get rid of this nasty, painful beast of a bur. (Jackson insists I explain that the bur was the size of a marble. I say it appeared to be more of a volleyball- like size. We've agreed to disagree on this story as he claims I'm really turning on the drama here. Whatever. He wasn't the one with the injury.)
Once surgery was complete and I was mobile again, we took a short walk. My foot was still a little sore from all of that trauma so we cut the walk short and decided to just catch some rays. It was a solid decision and those three hours of sun felt darned good.*
*One of us does not responsibly use sunscreen and will be bringing more than their fair share of sun home on their face and balding head. One of us is scared to death of wrinkles and slathers on lotion like it is their job. You figure it out.
This part of the beach was really empty and we probably only saw twenty other people all day. Incredible!
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| I'll miss this. A lot. |
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| Sun, surf and sand. Lovely. |
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| Jackson bidding the water a sad farewell for now. |
Once the sun had burnt one of us to a crisp (any guesses yet?!) we took a drive down Gordon Drive to look at the front of the houses we adore from the beach. Gordon Drive is the premiere address in Naples and the fronts of the homes did not disappoint. I wanted to ring each of the homes' doorbells to ask how they'd accumulated their wealth. I didn't. (One day I really should ring the bells and ask. Perhaps that's an idea for the novel I keep meaning to write so that I can retire. Don't take my idea!) A little internet searching told me that two of the homes along this road recently sold for $42,000,000 and $47,700,000. One the buyers recently sold his tool making business to a conglomerate for over $250,000,000 and had always wanted to live in that area so he bought his favorite home when it wasn't even on the market. The $42M home sold in 15 days. Both were all cash deals. I also found that many of the folks that live on this road are actually billionaires who use Florida's lack of a state income tax to their advantage. Clearly my tax skills could be used down there. Perhaps all of this information being available on the internet just killed my book idea. Darn!
We gassed up Susie's SUV and headed back to the condo to get cleaned up, pack, clean and change the sheets. (Quick plug to show that we are excellent house guests should anyone else have extra room in warm locations this winter!) As we pulled out of the complex to head for the airport we got word that our flight was delayed. This just meant that we had time to stop for dinner which was welcome news to two hungry beach bums. We ate at "Rib City" which we'd heard great things about all week. It was pretty good, but we are still Sonny's devotees.
Ft. Myers has a super nice airport that was all but empty this evening. After an extra security screening for me (I asked if I needed to remove my sweatshirt and was told I didn't need to. Then I got scolded by the very next TSA agent for not removing my sweatshirt. One cannot win with those agents sometimes!) we were at our gate with about ten minutes to spare. Ahhhh- I love cutting it close and spending minimal time in the airport. Success! Jackson was even cool as a cucumber this time. Usually he's a frantic mess. I guess it must be that sunburn slowing him down a bit... ;)
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We've had warmer welcomes...
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Coming back to a snowy car stuck by snow drifts was an exciting, chilly adventure. We found that the roads were in great shape except for a ramp from I-70 to I-465 where the guy in front of us hit ice, lost control and narrowly avoided being t-boned by three lanes of traffic. I am not sure how we didn't watch that man die to be honest. Instead he put his car and reverse and got on the ramp as he intended to. I hope he said some thankful prayers-I know we did! Our neighborhood isn't in the best shape and Jackson parked his car in a snowbank. I'm still scratching my head on that one. We'll blame the sunburn again. ;) Once we dug his car out and a found a better place for it we were ready to call it a night. I didn't even make us unpack before going to bed. Now that's how you know I'm exhausted. Jackson made it to the meetings he was so worried about missing and I'm working remotely for the day. Once we get little MacKenzie back from Upland all will be well with the world again! :)
We'd like to thank Susie again for her hospitality. We had a great time!
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