Yesterday (Sunday) the Geezers left the campsite at Homosassa Springs and made the 3 hour (at Geezer speed) drive to visit Mike's Brother, Gerry and his wife Carol in Winter Haven, FL. As a bonus, their daughter Kelly and her husband, Tracy were there along with daughter Mackensie. It had been a couple of years since Mike had seen his brother and over 10 years since he had seen his niece. Made the old boy feel good. We had a nice dinner and visit. Mike continued to chat with family while Al took a paddle around the nearby lake - seeing a few neat birds and a gator or two.
Monday morning we got an early start (9:00 GST) and made our way further south. We made a stop in LaBelle FL for lunch at Flora & Ella's Restaurant - been in continious operation since 1933. Ellas granddaughter still runs the kitchen - turning out some pretty decent chicken and dumplings and great home baked pies. It's good we stopped, because this little piece of Americana is going to close in 13 more days - gone forever. It's so sad to think that we are becoming a nation of chains controlled by big corporations who put out "safe" food - nothing special, just appealing to the lowest common denominator and maximizing profit over service and the personal touch. (He sits on his soapbox in a McDonalds parking lot - oh well!)
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| Flora & Ella's in LaBelle |
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| Soon to close |
After lunch we continued south on 27 and 29 and set up camp at Collier Seminole State Park, located right in the middle of the Florida Panther reserve. There are only about 100 of these beautiful cats in the world - we are hoping to see one.
After setting up the Geezer abode, we ventured out for a little sightseeing ending up in Everglades City and the little settlement of Chokoloskee (Google it) at the end of the road on the tip of the Everglade wilderness. We will explore the area by kayak in the coming days and report back to you.
The trip so far - 3,870 miles and counting!
ella's is closing in less than a fortnight? might we see photos of the joint, of the people, of the food? we appreciate that uploads from the lot at mickey d's is a challenge, but at least a promise?
ReplyDeletebest of luck on the panther sighting.
duck d'or
Mike, Your photos have been posted.
ReplyDelete