Day Two in Cape Coral with the Hazens

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 224 - November 11, 2017

Sleeping in a real bed feels so good! I woke up earlier than Patty, and went out and had my first cup of coffee with Cecil and Danny, and when Patty was up and showered, we went out to the lanai for breakfast! Grapes, a fruit plate with watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple, and a real treat, Canadian "butter tarts"! 

Breakfast!

We are planning to have Glades Boatyard put Daydream on our trailer with their TraveLift on Monday. Although Kim at Glades had said the TraveLift was fully booked on Monday, she said there could be a cancellation, so we wanted to be ready in case there is a cancellation.  We had arranged for River Forest to reconnect the negative terminals to the batteries on the Silverado and that we would be coming to pick it up during the weekend. We also arranged with Glades for permission to park the truck and trailer at Glades. The problem is, River Forest and Glades are on opposite sides of the river, they are both past Labelle, and the closest bridge is in Labelle. All of these are more than 50 miles from Cape Coral. We have been puzzling the logistics of all of this for some time.

Danny to the rescue! She offered to drive us to River Forest to pick up the truck and trailer, and bring us back from Glades while Cecil pursued his Saturday passion, college football! About 10:00 a.m., Danny, Patty and I piled into the Hazens' Honda Odyssey and headed out! We drove first to Labelle, crossed the bridge there, and drove to River Forest Yacht Basin. We made a stop at the Ortona Lock Boat Ramp, which is a mile upstream from River Forest. This is where we launched and where we will technically "cross our wake." We had such a hard time launching there due to the ramp being narrow and steep and lacking a dock that we had decided long ago that there was no way we could retrieve there. I wish I had take a couple of pictures there. One would be the ramp, and other would be the huge pile of hurricane debris pushed up in the turn around for the ramp. It now would not have only been difficult, it would have been impossible to use the Ortona Lock Boat Ramp.

The truck and trailer were indeed ready and waiting for us at River Forest Yacht Basin. We then had to drive back to Labelle to cross the river again, and then drive farther to Glades, where we fortunately found a good spot to park. Although the office was closed, we left a key with one of the employees to take to the office in case they needed to move the truck and trailer. Glades is mainly a long-term storage facility, and we all thought that most of the boats stored there would never see the water again!

We drove back to Labelle, and stopped at the Town Wharf, which has very nice docks, power and water, which are free. We intend to stay here tomorrow night and head to Glades, which is 15 miles farther upstream first thing Monday morning. By this time, it was lunch time, and Danny suggested we stop at their favorite place in Labelle, the Log Cabin BBQ. This is indeed a log cabin, and it was packed when we arrived, but we got a table. We all ordered the pulled pork sandwich with two sides and sweet tea. The styrofoam cups of tea were indeed sweet and huge! Then we got a complimentary cup of soup, our sandwiches and side, and a complimentary cup of ice cream. If you are ever in Labelle, we can highly recommend the Log Cabin BBQ!

On the drive back to Cape Coral, Danny gave us a driving tour of Ft. Myers and Cape Coral via the surface streets. It was interesting to drive by  the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford homes in Ft. Myers. It was also interesting to see the different sections in Cape Coral, which developed in stages over the years.  New developments are still going on, apparently to the chagrin of residents of adjacent developments. What, NIMBYs in Cape Coral?

We got back home about 3:30, just in time for the Georgia - Auburn football game, which we all watched until supper. Cecil cooked the spaghetti and Danny made the salad. They are taking such good care of us, and we really appreciate it! Baxter likes them too!

Cecil and Danny Hazen