Cape Coral - Day Eight - January 23, 2017

I was up early this morning trying to create this blog, at least get a good start. The house was quiet and it was just me, my coffee and my computer, and Steve and Sue had a great wifi connection. I got some work done and then one by one everyone else woke up and soon we were all fed and dressed and on the road to explore the area. We ended up in Matlacha, a quaint little area full of shops and

The Blue Dog 

eateries. We had our lunch at the Blue Dog Bar and Grille. This is a great little place with a fantastic menu. Carol tried a flight of local beers and I think each one was better than the last. Carol kept saying Mmmmm try this one, this is the best, until she tried

Carol's beers

the next one. . . The food was great, Carol had Conch and I had a 'Hippie Chick' sandwich..with fries of course. Not only did we eat here but the ladies found lots of t-shirts to buy. Carol and Sue are very fashionable now, and this was yet another place that does not carry anything in size. From her we wandered up and down the street and found lots of little shops and galleries. Some of the art was

Lots of brightly colored shops

outstanding, some designed especially for the tourist audience but all appreciated.  Some of the art was very unique and no one down here seems to be shy in their use of color. We found one

Lawn Airstream

spot that specialized in sculpture from found items (junk) and they had a lot of very cool stuff, even a small Airstream for the lawn. After we all had our fill of brilliant color and interesting shapes we moved on to Pine Island and drove out to an old resort, the Tarpon Lodge, for a couple of drinks. This is one of those old south Florida places that is reminiscent of someplace where Hemingway would had hung out.

What a great old place to end a day of scouting around. The service at the Tarpon Lodge was spectacular and the company of our friends was even better. It is such great fun hanging out with Sue and Steve. That evening we ordered pizza at a local place and sat around retelling old cruising stories and ended the evening with a new card game called 'Nines' -this is genuinely a fun game and I am sure that this will not be the last time we play...and by the way I really suck at Nines...

The gang of old cruisers