Singles day?

Friday, Feb. 24, 2012 FORT MYERS, FL – It was already quite warm when we headed for the showers this morning, so we didn’t get too ambitious with our agenda today. Just a trip to an outlet mall, an afternoon bike hike and dinner out! There are dozens of huge shopping malls in the area, and a couple of them are factory outlets. It was actually Val’s idea to go to one. After a visit last week to an outlet store, he realized what deals you can find, so he thought it would be worthwhile to see what else was out there. And, believe it or not, after a morning’s shopping, we came out with three things for Val, one purchase for the RV and nothing for Brenda! I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, so I was content to enjoy the air conditioned coolness as the mercury rose outside. The Miromar Outlet Mall had about 145 stores, nicely laid out in little outdoor streets with fountains, benches and flowers that were beautifully maintained. The thermometer in the RV read 87 degrees when we came back for lunch, so we ate outside where there was a bit of a breeze. Then we slapped on the sunscreen, grabbed our Tilley hats, and headed off to Lakes Park, a municipal facility with playgrounds, bike paths, paddleboats and even a mini-train. There are plans to establish, in addition to a community garden, more botanical aspects such as a fragrance garden, medicinal garden and children’s garden. The park’s website advertised rentals of various types of bikes, from two-wheelers to four-seated surrey-type quadracycles, and types in between. We found the kiosk (in the ice cream store) and asked for two singles, expecting to get a pair of bicycles. We paid for an hour’s rental, but when we went outside to get our transportation, the attendant presented us with a two-seater surrey. This was, in the eyes of the rental people, a “single”! There were no regular bikes anywhere to be seen, so we shrugged and hopped on, after confirming we would get half our payment back when we returned. The pedal mechanism for this side-by-side vehicle was a simple coaster bike style, with no gears, so we had to pedal like mad to get anywhere. Off we went along the paved pathways, along the side of several large ponds where we could see pelicans, ibis, and cranes. The path also took us through a woodsy area, and along the mini-train tracks as well. Although we had to work away to keep going, there was a breeze coming off the water that made it quite pleasant. Still, we both decided to cool off with an ice cream cone when we got back. We asked for the single scoop size and watched as the same attendant dipped her scoop into the tub of ice cream, tamp the contents into a cone, and then dip it a second time, and top off the first blob! This was a “single”! After a respite on our little patio at the RV park with a cool drink and a good book, we decided to try a local seafood restaurant that several people had recommended. However, when we got there, it was so crowded that our wait time, we were told, would be an hour and a half! So we hunted out another Carrabba’s for a repeat of the fantastic Italian meal we had at Tampa International Airport a week ago. We were singularly impressed!