3 weeks to Florida and Back...part #4 Off to Naples

The purpose of my nearly 3 weeks in Florida was actually not vacation related...I had agreed to spend nearly 2 weeks in Naples and my youngest sister and her husband's place on the Harbor Channel, while they visited his homeland and family back in Denmark.  I agreed to keep an eye on their place and watch and care for the 2 small dogs, one old cat, and 2 birds...while I sat on the dock, drank beer and grilled out on their Lanai …  pretty simple work in the sunshine, mainly keeping the animals healthy and alive, and working on my tan and my Cigar Smoking and Beer Drinking Skills.

I also had listed some friends to visit...some I got done, others it just didn't work out, but all in all, even with the axle related issues with the Jeep, most of the trip worked out fine...

I left from Venice before Noon on Saturday October 12th  {damn has it been that long ago already?} and arrived early afternoon.  They were flying out for Europe on Sunday and I needed to get instructions, etc...I might note the weather the entire time was Hot and Humid, even for South Florida in mid October.  I did have 2 days of hard rains the second weekend, October 19th and 20th...but all in all, the weather, despite the heat, was enjoyable. I spent much of the time, especially in the early evenings, out on the dock and the large majority of time, after dark, at the Lanai Bar, watching baseball, football, and enjoying beers and a few good cigars.

The first Sunday {10/13}while Kelly and Michael were preparing to head to the airport across the state at Fort Lauderdale, I headed north to North Ft. Myers to the Annual "Nam Jam" for Vietnam Vets at the Old Shell Factory {a place my Grandmother Houseworth frequented many a time back in the 1950s }.  There I hooked up with my Vietnam Buddy John Claflin, aka:  "Johnny C" whom I was stationed with, but only about 3 or 4 months, at Nha Trang, but we became lifetime friends, and we finally got together last April at the Dayton "Sky Cop" Reunion I host...we hooked up again for a few hours at Ft

Myers, then after the "Jam" we went out to eat at the Gulf Side Bar and Grill called the "3 Fisherman's Restaurant"

Once done there I headed south to Naples, where I would begin my 12 days of "work"...

I would spend much of the next days lounging around the place, watching a selection of Westerns and other old movies on the tube that I could pull up at anytime...that was during the heat of day, as mentioned before, the rest of the time was near the water or at the Lanai Bar.

I also searched the local listings to find a good solid repair shop with same reputation to have the Axle Leak looked at and worked on...."Happy Wallet" was the place I chose and it worked out well...more on that later.

More on the Naples portion of the trip in Part #5...


Back Later.....

Photos...{Top} The Naples Pier...made one trip to here during the stay...the previous weekend storms had stirred up the usually Clear Blue Waters...{2} My usual evening/Sunset View...off the attached dock, where I tried, usually without success to fish...I did catch a few, but mostly damn Salt Water Catfish...not what I was hoping for...{3}Me and "Johnny C" ...at Fort Myers at "Nam Jam" and {4} 50 years, almost to the day earlier, standing on the roof of a local Steak House and Hotel in downtown Nha Trang, RVN, October 1969...we both, at the time, were working with the 14th Security Police …  Me in Law Enforcement, John in Security...in the 1969 photo he is on the left, while I'm on the right, just the opposite of the 2019 photo....{5, 6, 7}  From the dock and Lanai I captured this Big Guy hanging around the dock and shrubs, one of the Damn Catfish, I had to cut loose...and a nice big piece of meat on the grill....I used it {grill} on more than one occasion to fix "supper"...