Upon arrival, we chatted and caught up on what is happening in our lives. Goodland was hit very hard by Hurricane Irma and caused lots of damage to many of the homes in that small area. Fortunately, although their home had some damage, it was not as severe as many had in the area. Their boat was on a lift in the water at the back of their home and that and their dock had no damage. The tiki hut did need a new roof, but the wooden part of the structure was able to be reused. The worst part was all the flooring in their home had to be removed and replaced as well as the sub flooring because water had come in! That was a major job as well as cleaning up the palm trees that toppled in the wind and the loss of mulch and plantings. Dave and Sharon worked so hard to get everything done but they did a terrific job!
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| The back of their property with their boat, tiki hut, and screened back porch! |
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| Their boat was safe on the lift during Hurricane Irma! |
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| What a view from their screened porch! |
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| We are blessed to know and spend time with Dave and Sharon! |
Ken and I put on our bathing suits and the 4 of us took a ride in their boat to The Lump where we go each year with them for shelling. People can only go there 2 more days (March 1) when they will close the island so that the terns can be undisturbed during their mating season and can nest there. We had a fun 3 hours on The Lump looking for shells and enjoying our lunch.
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| Daisy likes to ride to The Lump too! |
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| Heading out to The Lump! |
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| About 7 years ago, this house made up of numerous cement domes, was on land! We were able to walk around them! So much beach erosion! |
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| This is The Lump and it is fairly isolated! |
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| The Lump has experienced lots of erosion to. It is about half the size of several years ago! |
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| Shells everywhere! |
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| The terns will be nesting here soon! |
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| .....and there are lots of them! |
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| The water was so refreshing because it was a very hot day! |
On the boat ride back to their house they drove around the island to show us some of the hurricane damage. One of the boat storage places that was 3 stores high was totally flattened during the hurricane and they are still cleaning up.
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| Heading back to Goodland! |
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| The skyline of Marco Island! |
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| A dolphin gave us a little "show"! |
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| Several photos of the damage in the area from Hurricane Irma! |
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| This boat is still a ground! |
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| Where boats used to be stored in the non-existant 3 story building! |
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| Damaged boats still remain in the "used to be" storage area! |
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| This boat dock took a pounding! |
We spent time chatting under their tiki hut before leaving for Cocomos Grill, a restaurant on Marco Island. Dave had caught and cleaned some sheephead fish which we took to the restaurant for our dinner. The chef will grill, fry, blacken, or use Jerk seasoning on the fish when he prepares the filets. Then you get a salad a one side dish for $12.99 per person. Not a bad deal! I chose coconut shrimp for my entree and it was delicious as was the fresh fish. What a treat!
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| It is very cool under the tiki hut! |
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| Dave provided the fish for dinner! |
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| What a great fish fry! |
On the way back to their house we stopped at some open lots to see the protected areas for the burrowing owls and they were out and about, so photographer Ken was in all his glory!!! He also got a picture of an osprey with his "fish catch"!
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| The county marks off the living areas of the burrowing owls! |
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| They are very small and so cute! |
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| Supper on the claw! |
We stayed for tea and coffee at their house before leaving for Harbor Lakes at 7:15. The drive back went well but we were extremely tired by 9:15 when we arrived at Wilbur.
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| Great painting on the water tower of Goodland! |
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| A view of the clouds from their screened porch! |
What a special day with special friends.
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