August 11, 2014
I got up early and cleaned my truck so Phil and James had places to sit. It was only once I was finished and sat down to talk with them that they informed me that they would no longer be going. They decided they would be too pressed for time and didn't feel like doing all of that traveling. I was bummed but not heart-broken. Now I had the time to travel somewhere else. I ventured north to Fort Lauderdale. As I left along Ocean Drive, I followed a midnight black Rolls Royce. A man in a red Ferrari coming toward us on the other side of the road stopped, got out of his car, and took a picture of the Rolls Royce. Respect.
I had breakfast at an oceanside bar and diner and then walked the beach a little bit. I like Fort Lauderdale, it's much more relaxed than Miami. I then began the two hour drive through the Everglades on I-75 to meet my Uncle Art and Aunt Ellen in Naples, FL. Uncle Art would later describe driving through the Everglades to be like driving through Illinois corn fields. He was spot on. Most of the drive looked just like corn fields, the rest of the drive looked like pine forests. I expected Louisiana-like swamps.
Arriving at 3:30 PM, I met Uncle Art and Aunt Ellen at their condo in Pelican Bay. Their condo was beautiful and just minutes from the beach. We sat on their screened porch and conversed for a while before heading to the beach. We took a trolley over a wood walkway, through a thick jungle of mangroves and were delivered to a secluded and peaceful beach. We reclined in the shade of an umbrella for a while and then ventured into the warm water. The water was brown as a result of tannins released by the mangroves. Strangely, however, the water felt no less clean than the clear water of other areas of Florida. As we floated in the ocean, Uncle Art found everything from sand dollars to a live snail with his toes on the seafloor. I really enjoyed the beach with my Aunt and Uncle. Time flew by and we had to leave to get ready for dinner.
We ate at Pazzo!, a very nice Italian restaurant. I told them about my brother Chuck's comment the last time we were visiting them and other family in Illinois. Two nights in a row, we had gone to Italian restaurants. So, on the third night, instead of asking me where we were going to dinner, Chuck asked me what Italian restaurant we were eating at. We all got a good laugh from Chuck's comment and the fact that we were once again in an Italian restaurant. Luckily, I greatly enjoy Italian food. The veal I ordered was exquisite. It was one of the best Italian restaurants I have visited.
When we returned to the condo, Uncle Art flipped the TV on and we were shocked to learn that Robin Williams had died.
Odometer - 2690 mi
Naples beach
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