Life In Bonita Springs

Where Ever You Go There You Are

When people move to Florida from a northern state, some have a difficult time making the adjustment. It is an adjustment to a new atmosphere, new climate, new elevation, new humidity.  While we do have seasons in Southwest Florida, they’re just not so drastic that they’re easily noticeable.

It’s been over 20 years since I moved to Bonita Springs, Florida.  I vaguely remember being homesick or maybe it was just season sick.  A few years down the road I’d made a life for myself, raised a family and without any fanfare woke up and found that I was a Floridian.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit “up north” again.  There’s hills and trees and the leaves were changing.  It was also cold and overcast and the forced heat had sucked every ounce of humidity out of the air.  It made me home sick for Florida, home sick for sunshine, humidity and to my little old dog lying in the sun on the back lanai.

The visit made for good pictures, though.  If you’ve been in Bonita Springs for a while and you’re missing fall leaves, these are for you.  Unfortunately, the cold air doesn’t accompany the images so you won’t know how I suffered for these shots.

And Don’t Forget to Make a Wish

This may be one of the most trying years some folks will have to find something to be thankful for. So much has drastically changed for so many in such a short time. If someone would have told you ten years ago what our country’s economy would be like today could you have imagined it?

What’s happened to America is about more than real estate, bad loans, over extended credit and bail-outs. It’s was a long time in the making to not only get our finances but our perspective of what is important in life, so backwards. The aftermath isn’t helping matter much, either.

The daily bombardment of bad news is grinding and exhausting and, quite frankly, this country is just too tired and drunk on misery to look away. It’s an addiction. It’s everywhere you turn; TV, the web and in print. Sure, everyone says they could all do without the constant connection but most can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Maybe everyone is just looking for a way to feel better. If they get to watch someone else’s sordid or woeful life story unfold in front of them, maybe they feel better by comparison.

In the spans of less than half of a century, as a nation went from watching Leave it to Beaver’s mom baking cookies to watching The “Real” Housewives of Orange County get new boobs and jewelry, as a source of entertainment. Why? I guess not only does bad news sell but so does the tragic, cosmetically enhanced daily life of a group of Stepford’s who couldn’t afford their homes and cars, either.

Things really have gotten way off track. In retrospect, things went wrong when it was mostly the material things that people found themselves valuing and not the things that really mattered like good health and family. Times have changed and while it may be difficult for some folks to not get their morning orange juice dispensed through a hand carved ice sculpture, that fact of the matter is that it wasn’t what was really important.

While our consumer nation was busy keeping up with the Jones’s by buying McMansions, cars and stuff that they couldn’t afford, the hands of time kept moving. There probably isn’t a person that wouldn’t turn back those hands to enjoy more time with their children, their family, their grandparents or someone they miss who has passed on instead of worrying about a car or a home.

If you’re healthy and have the good fortune of spending this day with your family, people who are borrowed family or just a group of friends you consider family, enjoy it and be thankful for them.

If that’s the only thing in life that you have, consider yourself fortunate. There are many people who wish they had your riches and would trade places with you right now regardless of where you live, what you drive or whatever credit score is.

Money can buy many things but it can’t buy back time, health, family or true friendship.

###

Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area.  Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor.  If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.

You can subscribe to a weekly email newsletter by visiting www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com and entering your email in the subscription area on the left pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog. Oh, and if you’re reading this content anywhere else but www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com or Naples Daily News it is probably stolen.

Florida Stone Crab Season Oct 15-May 15

What did you have for dinner this week?  Well, I’m on my second stick of butter and I’m only half way through the bag of stone crab claws that was delivered right from the boat.  When I mentioned my connections for air boating, swamp buggying and canoeing I totally forgot about the crab claws in my fridge.

When someone says they know someone that fishes or crabs and they ask if you want to buy some fresh off the boat you always have to say yes. I said yes and will probably eat my way to a heart attack from the butter. 

In case you’re interested, I found this great article on sweet Florida Crab Claws and the harvesting of crab claws. 

If you’re looking for a place to get fresh stone crab claws in the Bonita Springs, Florida area try one of these local favorites:

Randy’s Fish Market Restaurant, Rodes Seafood Restaurant and Market and

Big Hickory Seafood Grille.  Big Hickory has waterfront dining and is accessible by boat or car.

This Was a Courtesy Tour a Friend Gave Me - Not For Hire.

You know I’ve got connections, they’re just not the sort of connections that most people expect when they hear about “connections”.  This would be part three in the trilogy of Florida connections.  First there was the Canoeing the Imperial River, then there was the Touring the Florida Everglades and now there was the swamp buggy tour of east Bonita.

This wasn’t just any swamp buggy I got to ride on, either. It was outfitted with rims.  Who knew you could put dubs on a swamp buggy?  Gangsta outdoorsmen.

See this swamp buggy and the people on it?  They aren’t riff raff.  They’re bona fide Florida wilderness outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen.  There was a lot of camo being worn.  In particular, lots of camo hats.

The Cheap Seats in East Bonita

This picture serves a few purposes.  First, there’s camo hats to prove that there was a lot of camo out there.  Second, it shows the tough guy "host" in charge of this trip and three, it shows the riff raff in the back ground.  Who sits on a river bank drinking beer, laying in a half culvert pipe at 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, just a-waitin’ for someone to ford the river?  Believe me, there wasn’t much going on out there so we were probably the only show in town.

Not Everyone Gets To Play

Just because you want to drive off into the woods doesn’t mean you’re allowed to.  There are a lot of places that most people aren’t allowed to go.  There’s a lot of places that motorized vehicles aren’t allowed to go, at all.  You have to get permission to do things in the woods.  Hue, the owner of this swamp buggy has permission.  Plus, he’s old school and knows a lot about the woods and what to do and not do out there so he should have permission.

For the most part, I gathered that you shouldn’t touch most things out their because it’s either protected or will bite you.  I’m all about staying out of jail and the emergency so I took only pictures and left only footprints.  I would imagine that gun use is probably regulated out there too but you wouldn’t know it by the condition of some of the signs and posted notices riddled with holes.

Butterflies Are Everywhere in The Woods

From the pictures the land looks dry and brittle but up close there’s tons to see.  You just have to pay attention to the details.  There are little flowers all over the place.  You know, Ponce de Leon named Florida after flowers.  The butterflies like the flowers.  They were everywhere and had the most unusual colors and markings.  These are some of the little flowers that I found out there: 

Aren’t these cute feet?  Duct tape aside, I mean.  That boot on the right belongs to Goldie Locks.  She’s really pretty and very tolerant of duct taped boots. (not really) I’d take her picture for you but her eyelashes are so long I was worried they’d get stuck in the shutter.  Maybe some other time, with a telephoto lens, from a safe distance. For the record, she is absolutely nothing like this, mean vicious creature.

This snake was so mean he was snapping and biting at the vehicle, like he could win that battle.  He had been feeding in a puddle of minnows and tadpoles and was fat … and angry.  I saw this beast *after* I had walked around in weeds taking pictures of tiny, cute flowers. I was probably asking for it, wasn’t I?  She’ll be staying in the swamp buggy from now on.  We hit the trail for home as the sun was going down.

Special thanks to the great hosts who took me on their Sunday excursion to the woods. It was a lot of fun and I’m so glad I got the chance to go and a reason to wear a camo hat. This was a friendly ride from friends. They do not offer tours to the general public.

Fall Festival Season in Bonita Springs, Florida

Bring the family to the YMCA of the Palms on Saturday, November 21, 2009.  There will be games and activities from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Some of the activities include:

• Live music from J Frost & 3 Below, The Brandon Anthony Band and The James Willhite Band
• Great Food and Drink
• Kids Games, Bounce House, Rock Wall, Inflatable Slide, Crafts & More
• Crazy Fit Challenge with Prizes
• YMCAMembers:  $5 per Family, $3 per Adult.
• Non YMCA Members: $8 per Family, $5 per Adult.
• Child Watch is FREE to Members

For more details call the YMCA 239-992-9622 or visit

www.ymcapalms.org/bonita-springs/bonita-fall-festival.html

The YMCA is located at 27200 Kent Road, Bonita Springs, Fl

Looking for something to do that’s fairly inexpensive?  Catch a game at FGCU Alico Arena.  The cost is about that of a movie.  Find the game schedule here:

http://www.fgcuathletics.com

Riverside Park Taste of Bonita

The 16th annual Taste of Bonita 2009 is back, and some of the area’s best restaurants are serving up their best once again.

The Taste of Bonita food festival will be held at Riverside Park on Nov. 15th. from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Riverside Park is located on Old US 41 in Bonita Springs, Florida. Dozens of Naples, Estero and Bonita Springs restaurants are scheduled to participate and an estimated 8,000 plus people are expected to attend.

The Taste of Bonita event is planned and headed up by Rotary of Bonita Springs noon. The festival is a fund raiser for local charity programs.

Local restaurants will be participating in the Taste of Bonita event with most dishes and samples being offered priced under $5.00. This is an excellent opportunity for local residents to sample the cuisine of locally owned restaurants and support the local businesses.

Admission to the Taste of Bonita is FREE. Live music and entertainment will be on site, as well.

Ticket Info: Entry is free.  Bonita Springs, Florida 34135 Get Directions or click this map:

Farm City BBQ at Ave Maria, Florida

Did you know that the average American eats 22 pounds of tomatoes each year? Or did you know that it takes 12 busy little honeybees collecting the nectar from 2,000 flowers to make a tablespoon of honey?

The National Farm City Council has spent more than 50 years providing local organizations with educational programs about the people who grow their food. National Farm City Week originated in 1955, as farmers were facing financial hardships and the agricultural industry had lost more than 1 million farms.

With a declining public perception, Charles Dana Bennett and Merle Tucker started the Farm City initiative to form a link between urban and rural residents. With the support of Kiwanis and the American Farm Bureau Foundation, the Farm City Initiative moved forward.

The first Collier County Farm City BBQ began more than 30 years ago with a similar story. Following a bad crop season in Immokalee, the people of Naples invited the farmers to a barbeque. The following year, the farmers of Immokalee reciprocated the hospitality. The event still rotates from Naples to Immokalee annually. The 2009 Farm City BBQ will be held on Wednesday, November 25, at Ave Maria.

The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce initiated the Farm City BBQ to help facilitate relationships with the county’s urban and rural residents, attracting 1,000 attendees.
Register online at www.FarmCityBBQ.com or Visit the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center.

A map to the location can be found here:

Some Legs, Since This Post Doesn’t Have Any

This morning I woke up in a cold sweat and panic. Miley Cyrus was moving to Florida and she was buying a house for $157,842 in Fountain Lakes in beautiful, down town Estero, Florida. The breakfast nook is red, by the way. There’s no accounting for taste with some of those entertainment business folks.

First, you have to understand that there are no little children living in my house so I really don’t know who Hannah Montana is and I wasn’t even an achey breaky fan of Billy Ray. That was just as random as random could be. All I thought was that it must have been that black bean fajita I had before I went to bed. Thank God I’ve never eaten Taco Bell fast food. I can hardly manage home made delusions.

At breakfast I said under my breath, I had the weirdest dream about Miley Cyrus. It was then that I was told an episode of Family Guy was playing when I fell asleep staring Miley Cyrus as a robot. That totally explains everything.

Folks ask me how I come up with what I write about and usually I tell them that its something that happened this week in real life or an answered question from a reader that called or emailed. This week it’s about Miley dreams because my figurative plate has been full and I thought the online comments would be hilarious. I could use a little fun these days. I’m sure you could, too. The climate and the current events have been a total drag.

Truth be told, I occasionally write something about heated issues like foreclosure and bank bail outs partly to entertain myself. The online jackal faction is generally predictable and occasionally I challenge myself to use a word or two that is no more than a match strike from fun. I’ve not had the courage to strike the political match, though it would make for great jackal food. Frankly, the online comments digress to Obama, Bush and Reagan all on their own so there isn’t a reason to bring up the subject matter anyway.

What I say in print or online doesn’t really change the way the earth pivots on its axis, anyway. I’m just a blogger who get’s her fragmented thoughts tossed into print on occasion. I’m not The Bloggess, Crystal or Chickens in The Road by any stretch of the means.

While this column has no point this week other than finding a way to get Miley, politics and foreclosure into print I will further complicate things by now asking for you all just to be nice to each other for a change. The person beside you could be fighting a bigger battle than you know. Quit sucker punching each other, it’s highly unattractive.

Yes, this is what I wrote about this week. Yes, this is why Naples Daily News pays me the big bucks. Now, go forth and be nice to someone, even if they’re a Democrat.

###

Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area.  Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor.  If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.

You can subscribe to a weekly email newsletter by visiting www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com and entering your email in the subscription area on the left pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog. Oh, and if you’re reading this content anywhere else but www.LifeInBonitaSprings.com or Naples Daily News it is probably stolen.