May 30: up early and off to for a quick walk by the river before going to the car park and airport.
The airport was pretty packed. Our plane was there the flight was pretty good, our food was delightful!
After getting the luggage and rental car we went looking for a place to walk. Well we picked the wrong place, thus not a lot of walking but the temp was near 100 so it was good! We did get 3 new year birds! We stopped to pick up beverages at the 7 Eleven before getting to the hotel.
No I did not buy any, but they sure looked good! One of my favorite southern treats.
the Embassy Suites has a manager reception at 5:30 with drinks and snacks. Bud Light and chips, we passed! Went to Bahama Breeze for appetizers and a drink. Big news of the day: Justice system works, Guilty on all 34 felony counts.
May 31: Day 2 of Birthday week... We got up a little late, thus a late start on our day. We went to Lakeland to the Bar B Preserve for a wonderful morning of hiking and birding. 11 new birds in our pocket. Lunch close to the hotel. A bit of pool time before resting for the evening. Yes it is hot and humid. The temp neared 100 and I was actually a bit moist! It felt good.
June 1: Day 3 of Birthday week... After breakfast we headed to Naples Fl. Doubletree in North Naples was our destination. we stopped on our way to Naples a few times
Mom Purple Gallinule and chick (is black on the right side of mom)
Black Necked Stilt with chick in front of mom
Lunch in Bonita Springs at Backwater Jacks, wonderful grilled Grouper.
Our balcony at the Doubletree. Eric is 64 and 365 days old!
sunset over Bonita Springs
June 2: Day 4 of Birthday Week. Happy 65th Birthday to Eric! Wow he is catching up... We began the day at the beach.
This bush has shells placed on the branches. some of them have writing on them.
Wonderful Bday lunch in Everglades City. Grilled Grouper and the best Shrimp basket.
not a fancy place but the food is sooo good.
A bit of pool time before the rains come
we left the hotel when the rain was down pouring.. went for a beer and appetizer at Cooper Hawk Winery.
Very good Lettuce Wraps
A Rainbow to end the day!
June 3: Day 5 of Birthday Week. We go to Miami today!
We stopped a few times at familiar places to walk and bird. We found this handsome guy
he was a bit shy
We ran into a bit of rain so we stopped at Shark Valley NP to wait out the rain. Then took a quick walk.
It was an ordeal to get to our hotel as the road in front is closed to traffic! Of course they did not tell us and our phone call was dropped. We finally figured out what to do and got into our room by 3:30.
after unpacking etc. we walked the beach for a bit then had dinner at Havana 1957 a few doors down.
Eric said his chicken was the best he ever had! hmm.. he might be showing signs of forgetfulness already!
Mojito, Michaleada with Hatuey
June 4: Day 6 of Birthday week. We stayed in Miami Beach for our walking this morning. We found this Homemade? vehicle in the parking lot..
We seen a number of sunken boats in the bay...
This guy and his larger friends were hanging in the State Park
after lunch, leftovers from last night, we headed to the beach! nap and swimming
I am a bit overdressed compared to the other bathers! lots of skin showing on the beach...
the water was pretty calm and warm
After showers and snacks in our room we took a walk around the area. Found a place to sit and have a beer while people watching. Might go back to the area for dinner tomorrow.
The Lifeguard shacks are pretty cute!
our street, Ocean Drive
Need to de sand the feet!
our hotel with the lights on
June 5: Day 7 of Birthday Week. we left early for Billy Baggs State Park, did not find the birds we wanted to find but.. lots of Iguanas and a white morph Little Blue Heron posed for a pic
so did the Indian Pea Fowl
Miami Skyline
after a quick nap/rest we headed back to the beach. We were just getting out of the water when a women started screaming that someone was out in the water and had gone under. Well the lifeguards did their thing along with Ocean Rescue personnel. we could not see anyone out there with our binoculars but what do we know? Well after getting everyone out of the water and rescue boats and jet skis looking for a body. The son came from the sand, was not wet.. so glad it all turned out. the women was Turkish and did not speak English or Spanish so it was a bit difficult for the rescuers to communicate with her. Luckily some one near by could speak Turkish and helped with translating.
on our way to dinner we finally tried to figure out what this ballon was doing? Well its not a balloon and our theory that it was keeping these two buildings apart is wrong!
Dinner at Hosteria Romana. It was very good. The service was wonderful, my Mushroom pasta dish was delightful and Eric's lasagna was one of the best we had. Of course sitting outside and watching the people go by is a plus. Fun evening.
June 6: Day 8 of Birthday Week. up early to watch the sunrise! we have to get up early to see the colors too as we don't stay up too late!
After the sun came up we walked to breakfast at the Social Club, it was just ok but nice place. then we headed to the
Beautiful trees and gardens and fish! lots of big ones.
a quick stop at Collins Park
White Eyed Parakeet
we took a little break before catching our ride to Miami Port for a Mansion Tour. We really did not care about the mansions, we wanted a boat tour!
Gloria and Emilo Estafans home
Scarface was filmed at this one
car/boat: how cool is this?
skyline and ?? not sure if this was done on purpose
our final night here in Florida! wow what a fun birthday week, hot and humid, sunny and good food.
We went to Finnegan's Way for a small bite.
June 7 we get up really early to catch our 7 am flight. did not get up early enough! long lines at MIA for TSA check in.... they closed the door on the plane about 5 minutes after we sat down and only because they knew there was people stuck in the 45 minute line for TSA... whew... Great flight home, good food, good service. our luggage was waiting for us at the baggage claim! great to be back home!
Love the selfies❤️
ReplyDelete