Happenings in and Around Bonita Springs

Sunday November 23rd

It has been quiet for me these past few weeks since I have been working with four other neighbors getting bids for a "cage" for my patio. What that means is nothing more than putting a screen enclosure over my concrete patio.  We have interviewed several different companies over the past few weeks and are about to make our decision.  It has left little time for exploring.  I did spend some time with family here to celebrate my brother's birthday on November 17th.  It was fun and I will leave those photos out of the blog.

I decided to get back out there and find some new things to explore in and around the area.  The last day or two were definite winners.  My niece and her two children were in visiting for the holidays and we managed to play miniature golf with her, her two children and my brother and his wife.  Now it has been ages since I played last but I did ok.  We played at Congo River Miniature Golf  as a last minute thing..  This place was pretty big and had small alligators in a pond at the end of the game.   Go figure.  Alligators....small or large give me the shivers.  I can't seem to get away from those creatures!

We did go for a bite to eat afterwards to Culvers....Home of the Concrete Mixer.  What is that you ask?  It's nothing more than frozen custard with two blend ins.  I chose double peanut butter blended in with cookie dough custard.  Yum.

http://www.culvers.com/flavor-of-the-day/

On Sunday morning I was walking the dogs and ended up walking with a couple who spotted a five foot alligator on the banks of someone's back yard.  The owner had her dog with her and the couple I met quickly yelled that there was an alligator nearby....a five foot one!  He must have been looking for a snack.  The owner called across the pond a hearty Thank You and quickly put her four legged furry family member in the screened-in patio.  This couple said that they saw another one near their home and it was seven feet.  Yep...this must be the Everglades.  Alligators...sheesh....I just better get used to seeing them and sharing the area with them.

This afternoon I stopped by a local farmer's vegetable and fruit stand.  Yummy.  There were samples. Watermelon and cantaloupe.  I was a bit disappointed, though, when I heard that the U-Pick strawberries would not be ready for another week or two.  They needed more warm nights so I will return in a few weeks to pick some.

I picked up my purchases, got back in the car and headed over to the Taste of Bonita Springs. which was not far from the farm. This event was a lot of things besides food but local restaurants did provide their menu items for tasting .....for a price of course.  There were rows and rows of food vendors and in the end I settled for a Grilled Grouper slider from Little Hickory Island Grill and Marina Restaurant which is between Bonita Beach and Ft Myers Beach.  Well worth the price.  I will definitely look up this restaurant when I am near the beach again.

To my surprise there were many other things going on at the Taste of Bonita Springs.


Some classic.....and not so classic cars

Music with a female vocalist scantily clad.  She sang pretty good too!

And one of the best parts of the event.....the parrots.  This one is Max.   Star performer.   He even played dead when a little boy pretended to shoot Max with a (unloaded ) squirt gun.  Max just turned upside down, closed his eyes .......and waited for the applause....and the donations to the Everglades Park attraction which cares for these beautiful birds.

Here is Smurfie..

Can you guess why he's called that?  He is the largest Macau bird in the world....and very photogenic too! 

It was a hot afternoon....bright sun at a temp of 85 degrees.  I was starting to melt and after saying goodbye to Smurfie I headed back home.

Bonita Springs has a lot to offer that I haven't even begun to explore.  Stay tuned for more of those offerings!