Baby its Cold Outside

Calgary has been getting a bit of the winter this past week. It has snowed for 7 days straight in this town. Calgary has had 5 times the snow of an average February and we are only halfway through the month. With this cold weather and the arrival of Valentine's Day I am reminded of how lonely I am and therefore I must write a blog entry. The cold is making me pine for the sweet sun and surf of southwest Florida. So why don't we return to my adventures in the Florida everglades.
So what day are we on now. I haven't written anything in awhile and its been a month since I returned from my time in F-L-A. I do know what ever day it was we were going for a fan boat ride, but first let me tell you about Marco Island. So it was Day 5 of the quest, the quest for fun. We checked out a massive beach in Marco Island. It was quite large and littered with bits of broken shell. We were only allowed to take used shell, live ones were strictly verboten.
We did little at the beach, but walk along it and maybe tip toe through the water. It was pretty cool though the resorts along the beach and the water of the Gulf of Mexico. Walking through the water left some lovely salt stains on my shorts, but it was all in good fun. The trip to the beach was short though because the real reason we were in Marco Island was to try the world famous Grouper sandwich of the Snook Inn.
The Snook Inn was a friendly place situated on the mouth of one of the canals leading to the rich and famous types living in the area. Famous is the operative word here when you go to the Snook Inn. I believe every one of the items on the menu at this place was world famous. This included everything from the Grouper sandwich we had come for to the salad bar you got with it. I think their tap water was even world famous, but maybe not for the right reasons. My question is there anyone out there reading this blog who has ever heard of the Snook Inn? I want to know. Anyway the sandwich was good and the grouper fish is delicious. The salad bar was darn good with giant sour dill pickles and pickled mushrooms that made the trip too healthy eating well worth it. So maybe the Snook Inn is not as world famous as it claims, but I would definitely recommend if you are ever in Marco Island that you check it out. With are appetites satiated it was now time for us to move on to Everglade City and the opportunity to be face to face with a gator.

Take me down to the Everglade City where the gators are plenty and the streets are empty, ohhhhhhh take me home. Who wants to go on a fan boat ride? I do! Your bearded tour guide has always been interested in the fan boat. I have always seen it movies and on fishing shows and it just looks like a good time. I remember seeing Matt Dillon gliding along the everglades in a fan boat in the 1998 John McNaughton classic 'Wild Things.' The scene may have had nothing to do with the narrative, but it sure made me envious of Dillon's lifestyle. Just imagine spending your Sunday flying around the swamp on an aluminum hull with a giant fan blowing behind you. Intriguing isn't it? Our fan boat ride may not have been as glorious as I have witnessed in the movies, but dang it if it wasn't a heck of a time. Our trip took us along a system of creeks and canals through the thick marsh of the glade. We met a very friendly raccoon during our trip who was quite fond of dog biscuits. He wasn't as large as the raccoons you may be use to seeing and he did not seem to be as annoying either. He was cute. We also saw many different birds and the pelicans were so crazy they came and perched on the front of our boat.
Oh yeah we also saw some gators. Apparently during the winter the water in the glades is more salty and this is not desirable to the alligator so we didn't have too many run ins with them during the boat ride. The two we did see were pretty sedate and didn't seem to even take notice of our presence. Trying to pet them though may have been a bad idea. Anyway the gators our pretty cool. The fan boat ride was a lot of fun and again chef recommends.
So day 5 was the most active of my week in Southwestern Florida. In contrast day 6 was probably the laziest of my days in Florida. Most of the day was spent by the pool and then we went out for some of Canada's best ribs at Michelbob's. I miss wearing shorts and sandals everyday.
Well that's it for now. You pretty much know how day 6 went for me so next time I'm skipping ahead to Day 7 and the trip home. It is worth the wait. Later.