Shady Acres is probably a typical Florida RV Park where people go to spend the entire winter. There are some modular homes here but most people are in either mobile homes like ours (class A) or large fifth wheel or travel trailers. Many are here for two or more months. We are only spending 6 days here. Our parking space is prt of a long row of spaces about 25 feet wide. It was a tight fit to get the RV between the concrete pad and the electrical box. Geoff had to go back and forth two or three times before getting lined up right. It was also complicated by the RVs stored in the spaces across the narrow road.The first night here, the park was having an ice cream social. Bring your own dishes and $2, and they supplied the ice cream. Wow, the thing was packed, and they said it was more people than usually show up for these things. But they had enough ice cream and cake for every one and it was fun to meet some of the other campers.
We had several places picked out to visit while here, but the first day we headed for Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, a swamp area with one of the last virgin cyprus forests left in the US. It is home for aligators, lizards, wild cats, and lotsof birds. They have over 2 miles of boardwalk over the swamp andthe weather that day was beautiful. We found out about it from the couple in the next RV over at our park. The first half was a little disappointing, but we did see aligators, wood storks, and other birds we had not seen before. It was a nice walk.
On our second day we went to the Edison and Ford Winter Homes, which is a display in downtown Fort Myers. Thomas Edison wintered here for many years and even built a laboratory in which he did experiments to try to find a domestic source of rubber between World Wars One and Two, in case the US was cut off from its supplies from foreign countries. He was successful, but the advent of syntheic rubber made it unnecessary. The site has been highly restored and the location of the largest banyan tree in the continental US.Day three, we went to nearby Sanibel Island, an upscale resort area, but with very nice beaches open to the public, nice bike paths all oer the island, and good shelling. We biked and spent time on the beaches, but also kayaked Commodore Creek off of Tarpon Bay. It winds among mangrove trees and was a nice trip, but some areas were quite shallow and difficult to get through.
On day four, we went to Manatee Park, where manatees winter in the effluent stream from a nearby power plant. there were a few there but, when it is colder, there can be as many as 60 there at a time. We saw a few, two with babies, but it was not very dramatic, since you only see their backs or tails for a moment and then they go under again. Also the water is very dark and not easy to see very far below the surface.
Day five was cool and rainy, the first since we arrived. The other days were all 80+ days but this day started at about 65 and stayed there all day. This was a day for taking care of some business, and doing laundry. The RV park had a pig roast in the evening. We made our barbequed beans in the crockpot. Having our bikes here has been nice, since we are a fair distance from the park office and getting on the bikes to go over there or to go to the pool has been nice.
Tomorrow we head out to Fort Desoto State Park near Tampa. We will be there during the Super Bowljust a few miles away but will likely not even watch it.
