Sanibel Car Show

Larry, Peter and I drove over to Sanibel to see the Island's annual car show.  Of course, one must stop for Apple fritters [YUM], a short side trip to the Sunday Farmers' Market to get some crab cakes, and finally, the car show.  As usual, parking was an issue in Sanibel, but we lucked out each time. 

We ended up walking in the wrong direction [away from the entrance] and chose to use an opening in the fence to get into the show, but I'll get back to that later...

There were many modern cars, the usual suspects like newish Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mustang, Corvette, a new Bentley, an old Rolls, a passel of Oldsmobile 442's, and odd socks like a Model T, a bug-eyed Sprite, and a token Riley.  Oh, and a Ford Falcon.  All good fun, all well worth seeing. Well worth the price of admission.

The star of the show, in my not so humble opinion, was this 2015 Porsche 918 Supercar Hybrid.

This backside could be the only view that many people see of this car.  It's busy, out of this worldly, and has its moniker spelt large across the back. 

The quarter view is somewhat better, and far more distinguished, but still very busy.

The front view is much more reminiscent of the Porsche most people might like for Christmas.

And here's the winner: it's a hybrid:

A reasonably sized V8, developing over about 600 horsepower.  Range, of about 420 miles on a full tank of gas and fully charged batteries. Of that, about 12 miles was due to the batteries...

The electric motors provide about 200 extra horses, which makes this 'hybrid' 'likety-split' fast. How would you like zero to 100 mph in 4.2 seconds.  Hang on to you teeth!

Price? the 2014 model sold out at a paltry $845,000 [US$]  Read all about it by clicking here.

So after staring and awe'ing, we found the entrance and paid to get out.  Seems the staff were surprised but pleased.  So were we.

Naples Botanical Garden

Yesterday was our second visit to the Naples Botanical Gardens with our friend Rick, often nicknamed Rickster. His membership renewal was due yesterday, so we must have been there a year ago.  Last year there was lots of construction to create an orchid display area. The results were nothing short of stunning, but as it turns out, I don't have a lot of orchid pictures to share from the orchid display area; most of the orchid pictures are from orchids set in trees throughout the gardens.

At the entrance, they have a few ponds with these lovely waterlilies.  

Also at the entrance were these spectacular leaves, a marvel of engineering beauty.

Further along in the garden, we saw some Calabash trees in bloom: they bloom right from the trunk or from the bark on a branch.  Neat or what?

Many trees throughout the gardens have orchids tied on to them. Many varieties are being used and if they should all 'take', it should be quite a show over the next many years.

Some of these orchids are hybrids and quite spectacular.  It's exciting to see orchids up in the air where they belong.  Considering this is a very young botanical garden, the amount of established and flourishing airborne orchids is quite outstanding.

There are impressive sculptures throughout the gardens: here are a few Herons in cast aluminium.

There are quite a few arbours in the gardens, this one covered in Queen's Wreath.  It looks like Wisteria, but actually is quite different.  Another popular name for Queen's Wreath is apparently the sand paper plant since the backs of the leaves are very sandpaper like.

Next we have Peter and Rickster ambling under this magical place.

Here's another sculpture that was quite exciting.  Hope you like it also.

They planted a bunch of Coconut seeds, and it was interesting to see what kinds of palms grew from the seeds.

After a day of ambling among the plants, it is compulsory to relax a bit...  Pete does it well...

Chris and Joan on the other hand, don't do relax all that quietly...

This is from a bush that blooms this way.  What fun.

Next is a little orchid that I think is a Florida native; it sure looks at home and brings some colour and brightness up about 20 feet from the floor.

Below a waterfall, these waterlines sported a three inch high border: quite fascinating for us.

The garden also has a great butterfly garden: Here's the underside of a Zebra butterfly.

Next is Joan and Rick, in the butterfly garden.  What a great place for friends to be.

Here's a little [about an inch high] Atala butterfly, once thought to be nearly extinct. Now it seems to be doing well, thanks to all those responsible.

Of course, this is one of my favourites, usually found along the expressways near San Diego.

So there you have it, our revisit to the Naples Botanical Gardens.  I sure hope you enjoyed our visit as much as we did.

Used cars, Sanibel beach, and a Sign

Sorry for not posting more often: the life of snowbirds can actually be quite hum drum at times.  No complaints mind you, it's just not as easy to describe or photograph hum drum.

While driving around, Peter and I came across a used car lot with some older cars for sale.  This flashy Corvette took centre stage: it definitely has the WOW factor.  Of course your mileage may vary...  Amongst the older Jags and American cars were two that I thought unusual.  One was a 1955 Chevrolet convertible, same old, same old in every way except the wheel covers, but it was a Canadian made fibreglass replica!  I had never appreciated that replicas are being made of so many cars: buyer beware! The other car of interest was a 2003 Panoz Esperante, a small but very fast two seater sports car that is quite rare.  It looks much like the Miata that's been customized, but still commands a $40k price.

On another day, Cragen took the four of us to Sanibel for some serious beach combing before joining friends for supper.

This is pretty well as busy as the beach gets where we go; it's in an area of palatial houses, away from motels, hotels, restaurants, and all the tourist services that pack the tourists in one condensed area, but again, I digress.

The houses are well back from the shoreline, with the beach itself very wide.  After a very high tide, the serious shellers come out, in the middle of the night if necessary, flashlights and shell bags at the ready. We try to go when the tide is low and hope for the best.  Today just proved that hope is not a method...  There were very few good shells.

It was sunny and hot, and poor Cragen couldn't find any shade.  Pete's shirt provided some relief and Cragen wasn't too embarrased.  In the background you can see an example of the Sanibel Stoop, as well as large paddle board in the gentle surf.

At supper, David and Phillis presented Joan with her annual gift.  Last year it was a six-pack of Horse-piss Beer, this year it was the sign pictured below. Needless to say there were squeals of laughter. Good friends always know how to make you laugh.  Priceless!

Pelican Preserve

Today was a good day for a walk along one of Pelican Preserves boardwalks.  Of course, butterflies are not necessarily in the butterfly garden, and here's a beauty waiting foe me.

The boardwalk goes through a swamp area where ferns abound. Here's one growing on some Cypress knees.

We were advised to look out for a Pileated Woodpecker, and we were surprised by finding quite a few of them, slowly pecking their way to a fresh meal.  Unfortunately, all the woodpeckers were quite a distance away, basically at the far reach of my camera and lens. Not the greatest shots, but I hope you can enjoy them anyway.

Here's a little lizard sunning himself on the edge of the boardwalk.  I just loved his curled tail.

Next is what I think is a red headed woodpecker.

And lastly, we stopped in at the butterfly garden where this guy was drinking in the nectar.  What a wonderful garden: all the necessities for a butterfly heaven.

Miramar Outlet Mall

Sunday; it must be time for the Outlet Mall.  

Cragen has been limping off and on for about a week, and has been confined to the condo for most of that time.  We even went to Sanibel to do some beach combing without Cragen who cried at our departure...  [but that's another story]  So this was to be Cragen's first outing: the very large outlet shopping mall. 

One of the nice things around here is that people take their dogs in most of the stores at these malls, even the restaurants...  No judgement here, just the facts.

The mall is huge, I mean really really huge.  There are fountains every few hundred feet and you can see our intrepid shoppers being led by Cragen at the start of the day.

The ladies were on a mission to find a favourite eatery.  As you can see below, it was kind of a forced march.  When the eatery was found, Peter and I went back to another fine restaurant that specialized in hamburgers, while Cragen and the ladies had a meatless lunch.  Cragen was a hit with the waiters as usual, so the ladies received great service...

Meanwhile, the guys found the well respected hamburgers.  I don't need to tell you the name of the restaurant since it's on every hamburger.  No dyes were used, so it's definitely healthy.

We didn't find the Mall very busy, but the parking lot was kind of full: that sort of lets you know how big this mall really is, the people are just absorbed by the stores and it never looks all that crowded.

Four hours later, Cragen was following rather than leading, I was the only one without a purchase, so I ended up carrying the bags, and we loaded up for the condo.  Peter ended up with a red golf shirt that should have cost $60 or so, but only cost $10.  He found it lost in a group of shirts that should have cost $15.  

Only  the Oracle knows how much Chris and Joan saved...  Cragen fell asleep as we left the parking lot, Peter and I fell asleep when we got home...  The purchases went into the laundry, and Chris made yummy quesadillas for supper. Our world is unfolding as it should.

Bunche Beach

Saturday, at 8:00 am the local Audubon group met at Bunche Beach to participate in a serious social gathering with a side of bird watching.  These birders have accumulated so much experience in bird spotting and identification that they can glance at a flying flock of birds and identify the odd man out: it's absolutely amazing.  Then share their past experiences with such birds with good friends.  The actual bird watching is almost casual. For me, it's an entirely different experience, I'm definitely a newbie, and have so much to try to remember.  Yesterday was coolish [12ºC] and very windy on Bunche Beach, a very open beach.  It didn't take long for me to start shivering, so I left early.

I arrived at a very low tide  as you can tell from the next photo.  The washed up wood is at the high tide line, and the low tide waterline is at least a hundred feet or more further off the beach.

This green grass-like stuff is underwater at high tide, but shines with its own glitter and colour when tide's out.  I found it very attractive, hope you do too.

As I mentioned, the tide was out and birds were often quite far away.  Here's a flock exiting stage left as quickly as I could focus...  [my auto-focus quit on this lens...]

Bunche beach has a great view of the bridge to Sanibel Island.  Click on any picture to see all of them larger, and in this one, the skies are full of birds.

Due to the cool winds, there seemed to be less birds than usual, and as I mentioned, most were far away.  Footprints were everywhere, many belonged to birds.  Don't make any bets, but I think these were made by semi-palmated plovers. [I overheard Phyllis mentioning their flock].

As you can see, their footprints are very similar to little arrows, in every direction possible.  Maybe the arrows explain why they always seem to be wandering around quickly in all directions.   ... or maybe it's the wandering that make the arrows go every which way.  Maybe the grandkids could help me out on this one...

Pelican Preserve Butterfly garden

Quiet day at the Reserve today: the ladies went shopping, the guys did a few administrative duties and walked over to the local Butterfly Area.

This is a bloom of the Dutchman's Pipe Vine; it's a large 9" bloom that only lasts a day or two. The yellow part is the entrance to a large pocket that collects bugs and stuff that feeds and pollinates the plant. Apparently, it's a butterfly favourite.

This is a tired butterfly on the fly.

I suspect that this is a tired Monarch, but without my books, I'm not sure.

This next guy was somewhat tired also, but it's still quite pretty.

And of course, a heron never disappoints.

We went out at noon; maybe earlier and the butterflies will be a little less active and easier to shoot...

To be repeated...

Six Mile Preserve

The Six Mile Preserve is nearby and has usually been a source of many pictures; today was no exception.  The preserve is home to a number of Alligators, one of which doesn't seem to suffer at all from having lost his front paw, but I digress.  This year, I was shown this baby which I assume is one or more years old since Mama was nowhere to be seen.

This setting was the scene for turtles and an alligator last year: this time it was more turtles and an anhinga.  There are even different types of turtles if you look closely. [click on picture to see all pictures larger]

This is a larger alligator, probably 4 or 5 feet long.  Note how well it blends into its surroundings.

As usual, I forgot to to pack a few things this year: I have the book for Western Birds, but not the two books I have at home on Florida Birds and Florida Fauna...  I'll try to update the name of the birds bellow when I get them properly identified.

This medium sized woodpecker was quite a busy little fellow that didn't seem to mind the shutter noise.

This next little guy was busy visiting the undersides of the little bromeliads like the one in the picture.  maybe a drop of moisture?

He certainly has distinctive markings on his back.

This fellow had a small cap, so I'll venture a guess that it might be a Cedar Waxwing...

Here's another woodpecker that didn't seem to mind my being nearby.

I don't know how long the Slough is, but I did the boardwalk at an amble with many stops in about two hours.  The last six pictures were all make within a six foot vantage point at about 2:30pm, not usually a good time to see active birds.  Other than Anhingas drying out their wings, this small area contained most of the birds I encountered.  Strange or what?

Hope you enjoy the birds as I do...