Florida Inner Journey by the Numbers

Just back from another fabulous Florida trip in the trekker.  Here are the stats:

- 93 days
- 9407 km
- 15 States
- 3 countries
- 16 State or county parks
- 17 beaches
- 10 churches
- visited 4 sets of friends
- chatted with 150 people
- quite a few warm sunny days
- quite a few cooler and rainy days
- best place Destin: shopping, beaches, seafood, sightseeing, walking
- 2nd for me Turtle Beach, Sarasota County: rustic, great sea shells, conch blowing at sunset
- 2nd for Marie: Fort Myers: condo, yoga classes, shopping, warmer weather
- 3rd best place: tie Lake Louisa SP and Silver Springs SP: inland, lake, orange orchards, glass bottom boat rides, birds
- best visit tie: Fr Jack Lau, Oblates Novitiate, banks of the Mississippi, Godfrey Illinois; Betty and Glenn Clarke, Indian Shores Beach; penthouse condo near Clearwater
- surprise activity: 5 day Carnival cruise out of Tampa to Grand Cayman and Cozumel: really liked it
- visited Stones River National Battlefield Park in Murfreesboro, TN
- visited EWTN studios in Irondale, AL
- visited Paducah, KY (where the Tennessee R joins the Ohio not far from the Cumberland and Mississippi R junctures)
- visited Our Lady of the Snows National Shrine, Belleville, IL from where we could see the St Louis Arch
- on the way down went took I 81 to I 77 near Roanoke, VA, then to I 95 and FL
- on the way back took I 65 to Nashville and I 24 and 64 to IL, then I 70, I 69, I 75 and I 94 to Port Huron

It was a most amazing trip.  Only problem with the Trekker we experienced was a seized caliper in Destin which we had fixed in 3 hrs.

To come: lessons learned and some more pics.

Catching Up Exchanging Stories and Jokes.

Since my last post we have been to Fort Desoto Park (5 nights), Largo (1 night), Indian Shores (2 nights with the Clarkes), Garnd Cayman and Cozumel (5 nights Carnaval cruise) and now in Zephyrhills for 2 nights.  It 's all good, good, good.

We did a lastminute cruise and found Carnival to beof great value.  Ofcourse, foodand serenityare not up to Oceania's premium level, but we weren't disappointed.

Americans are  thefriendliest,chatiestpeople.  Havingmetdozens of people now, we are truly at ease strikingly up a converrsation withanyonewemeetor see.  It's great another friendly manner hascaughtus up.  We meragreatcouplefrom Utah, A couple of Mormonswith 4 kids at home.  Theywerenotmuch olderthan our own kids.  We had a blast atthedinner table exchangingstoreis and jokes.

Sorry Bout the spelling.  Willcorrect when Igeroutif thesun!

Best

Turtle Beach

So we are camping on Turtle Beach and the weather has turned great.  It's 80+ every day so far and no rain.  But last night the weirdest thing happened.  We had a dew storm.  A heavy fog rolled in and condensed on the tall pine tree above our RV and it started to rain dew.  It rained hard dew most of the night.  I did step out from under the tree and it was not raining.  Weird, a dew storm.

So where is Turtle Beach?  It is on Casey Key just south of Sarasota.  It's a Sarasota County campground right on the beach.  The Gulf of Mexico is 200 footsteps from where we are parked.  This is the best kept secret place to camp in Florida so shhh, don't tell others.

To day we went to Siesta Beach on Siesta Key, a 8 km drive north.  Voted the best beach in America a few years ago - yes the No. 1 beach in the US.  Acres of white sand, endless beach front, soft warm waves and a mile long sand bar to stroll on.  OK, you get the picture.  But I forgot to mention the thousands of beach bods strolling and lazing in the sun.  Free parking, washrooms, concessions, picnic tables, volleyball nets, beach exercise classes - all absolutely free.

Every night we catch the sunset.  There is a man who blows a conch shell like a trumpet at sundown on the beach.  There is another man playing a recorder and a woman playing the guitar and singing softly. Too much.

This the way to live, especially on FEBRUARY!

Real Estate

The real estate market in Fort Myers is starting to heat up again after bottoming out in 2012.  I was told the 1 bedroom condo we are renting would cost about $50k now and was as low as $20k two years ago.

More pertinent to us is the vacation rentals market.  I summarize prices as follows for the peak January to March period:

- 1 bedroom condo in city with pool $2000/mo
- 2 bedroom condo in city with pool $2500/mo
- 1 bedroom condo near beach $3500/mo
- 2 bedroom condo near beach $4000/mo
- 1 bedroom condo beach front $1200/wk
- 2 bedroom condo beach front $2000/wk

Ouch, some of these rates make me flinch.  Everyone is on a budget, us included.  Hence, it is important to find what you can afford and make it work.  We found the 1 bedroom condo in the city works for us.  We can drive to the beach in 20 minutes and the shopping is that much closer.

As we head north we will be camping.  State Park nightly rates are about $33 taxes included.  That is our preferred choice.  Secondly are RV parks or resorts which charge anywhere from $40 to $75/night depending on season and location.  We have a 50% discount at some parks with Passport America however the discount is usually not available in peak season.

Finally gated communities like The Landings with all the golf, tennis, yachting and swimming you can handle are appealing.  A nice 2 bedroom condo costs anywhere from $120k to $300k plus $5k up front reserve fund fee.  The mandatory monthly club fee is $380 and the monthly condo fees ranging from $300 to $600 make this an expensive proposition.  I think I saw some seasonal rentals of 2 bedroom units for $3000 to $3500 per month but you had to rent for 3 or more months.

And that is the current story down here on real estate.

Fort Myers

Well we are into our 4th week here so time for some thoughts.

Fort Myers is a laid back and laid out community in SW Florida that attracts a lot of snowbirds like us. There is something for everybody here: golf, tennis, beaches, shopping, swimming, walking, biking and eating.  Founded in 1886 on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River which drains Lake Okeechobee, it existed first as a fort to protect settlers from conflicts with the Seminole Indians. With a population of 65,000, it is far enough south to escape the worst of winters wrath, even this year with those polar vortexes.  Metropolitan area pop which includes Cape Coral is 620,000.

The city is really stretched out.  It is about 50 km from North Fort Myers to the tip of Fort Myers Beach and the city has an area of 127 sq. km, about 1/4 the size of Ottawa, with only 8% of Ottawa's population.  The average annual mean temperature is 23.9 deg C vs Ottawa's 6.3 deg C.  Abundant sunshine is the norm with frequent thunder storms in summer.  Check out this image from space (Fort Myers proper is along the lower shore of the Caloosahatchee River in the centre of the image):

Where we are is in south Fort Myers, in a 1 bedroom modest but well maintained condo that is not gaited:

It has 2 heated outdoor swimming pools but they are kept closed unless the forecast temp is about 23 deg or more.  Hence the pools have been closed more than half the time we have been here.

Fortunately, across the street is one of the nicest gated condo communities we have seen, called The Landings.  In there they have several unlocked pools, golf course, tennis and restaurants that we can walk into whenever desired.  They have open houses every weekend so we were allowed to drive in and look around and there are no posted restrictions on walking in.  Here are a few pics so you get the picture.

We may try to rent there next year...

Finally here is a picture from our "go to" beach near the bridge to Sanibel Island.

We are finding it very relaxing, quiet and peaceful to be here.  The time passes quickly and we look forward to continued sunny days, good health and long walks together.

The Church Down Here

We have had the privilege of attending 2 different churches since arriving in Fort Myers.  They are both basically the same.  Resurrection of Our Lord sits on about 5 acres of nicely landscaped property and consists of the church proper and the education centre building.  The church is off a modern design, wood and plaster inside with lovely coloured glass.  Only one figure of Mary present and a cloth draped over a cross up high behind the alter.  The church is wider than it is deeper so no matter where you sit, you are relatively close to the front.

There were about 600 or more people at the 9 am mass last Sunday, and some were standing.  There were 2 priests, one visiting from Ireland and the other from London, ON.  The regular parish priest is a Msgr and has another priest lsited as a parochial vicar to help him out.  The other church had a total of 3 priests I recall. The service went fairly quickly until the Eucharist as it took at least 20 minutes to serve everyone.  There was a good mix of old and young, I would say average age 55ish or less.  People actually smiled and shook hands when we gave each other a sign of peace.  It was refreshing.  No flu season down here.

They had a second collection taken up for seminarians.  The Dicosese of Venice is flush with vocations having a total of 17 current seminarians it is supporting in their priestly education.  It was explained that each seminarian costs roughly $55k per year to educate and for food and accommodation.  Last week's offering for all purposes totaled over $32k.

Of course the music was fantastic, organ with violin sounds and a superb soloist.  There are 2 deacons, a Business Manager, Director of Religious Education and a Youth Ministry Coordinator listed in the bulletin.  They have daily mass, 2 afternoon masses on Saturday and at least 4 masses every Sunday.  This is their busy season with the influx of snow birds like us.  Strangely enough to me, there was no K of C Council listed.

All in all a very positive experience.  If I was ever to be a priest or deacon, I think Florida would be a good place to be.

Update: The reason there is no K of C Council here is because they have an equivalent men's club called the Resurrection Men's Club.  This group of parish men meet monthly, plan parish dinners, hold fish frys do a little fund raising and donate funds to local charities.  They hold elections to elect an Executive team and have various committees.  Sounds very similar to K of C without the insurance access benefits.

Parish Priest, Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism

What I like about this book is it's honesty.  It paints the picture of what it was like to be a Roman Catholic Priest in the 1880s New England.

Fr. Michael McGivney saw a need and moved to fill that by founding the Knights of Columbus fraternal benefit society. This well known lay organization of 1.8 million Catholic men offers life insurance benefits and gives millions of dollars and hours each year to charity.

He was hard working.  He tended to his parish with dedication, love of God and love of Church and, he tended to the community.  He directed volunteer benefit plays, ministered to the sick and imprisoned and delicately gave spiritual support to anyone who asked.

He succombed at age 38 to "priest fever", a combination of overwork, weakened immune system and complications from pneumonia and the flu.  It was not uncommon.

He drew himself up big in founding the Knights of Columbus and then returned to his calling as a parish priest, quietly serving.  He is being considered for canonization.  I think his cause is well deserved.  A great read, well researched and written book.