Florida

Flew the 'red eye' from Portland to Miami on New Years. After an uneventful, although sleepless flight we landed in sunny Miami, groggy but ready to drive to the Gulf coast for 3 nights. Now I know why it is called the red eye. So very tired, and feeling my age.  After finally finding our way out of the airport area, we witnessed 2 road rage incidents that involved getting out of cars, yelling and banging on windshields.....all before 9 am in the morning. And no, it wasn't us. Needless to say we were glad to get out of there.
 Driving through the Everglades was beautiful, but I kept seeing "logs" in the canals...hundreds of them. Well, we stopped to have a look see and found out they were Alligators. I have never seen so many in their own habitat. Luckily most of them were just content to lie in the sun. I was amazed that some people were actually fishing and kayaking right along next to these creatures. No thanks....
Arrived on Captiva Island and settled into our quaint little beach cottage. I love the colors of Florida. Everything is painted like ice cream sherbet. EVERYTHING.......and all flavors.
Looking forward to eating, relaxing, shelling, and sightseeing. Little did we know that our plane was flying just ahead of a cold front that hit Florida the next day. Brrrr...I am glad that we packed some warm clothes. But guess what....quaint little beach cottages do not have heat sources, just air conditioning, and it was cold, down to freezing in some parts of Florida. So the oven it was. Cranked that baby to 400 degrees, opened the door and we were toasty. Found lots of shells and mailed some home. Relaxed and enjoyed the island. Fresh fish for lunch...yes indeed. At least it was sunny. I just felt sorry for the natives...when I could see their face. They were so bundled up in winter wear I thought I was back home.
I am writing this from a Ft. Lauderdale hotel on the day before we set sail. The weather is getting warmer, and I am nervous, but excited. 5 ships are scheduled to sail out of Port Everglades tomorrow....I just hope all of the taxi's are in service....until next time.