George Washington

 On George Washington's birthday, I honor our first President by presenting an image of General Washington on horseback, at an entrance to the Boston Public Gardens. 

Bored

 

After lunch, a young man had to wait, and wait, and wait, while his parents chatted with their friends. 

More from Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe

 

Before going inside, let's appreciate some of the character on the porch.

This is where I should admit that, even though I am a pretty conventional guy, part of me loves to come across funky places.  Joanie's is that.

Joanie's fills the eyes.  

"If you want fast food, Keep traveling.  42 miles west or 66 miles east.  Happy trails, ya'll."  Should I point out that contracting "you all" results in "y'all," not "ya'll"?  But, heck, I am a New Englander, not exactly the right person to correct Florida crackers.

And, BTW, the food was good.  I had a fried shrimp basket and my friend had a chicken salad. 

Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe

I was coming from Naples and my friend was coming from Miami.  We needed a place for lunch midway between.  The problem is that only the Everglades are there.  I did some research and found that there is one restaurant out there, namely Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe in Ochopee. 

The reviews are very good.  So, why not give it a try?

It sure has character.

 

As it turned out, Joanie's is surprisingly good.

Water Symposium

Water is hugely important to everyone's health and wellbeing.  But it feels even more central down here in Southwest Florida.  Restoring the Everglades.  Hurricanes.  Droughts.  Red Tides.  Algae blooms.  Fishing.  Beaches and tourism.  Providing fresh water to a rapidly growing population.  It goes on and on.

I attended a symposium about water.  One of the more interesting presenters was Dr. Barry Rosen, a scholar and professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. 

Dr. Rosen is a phycologist, i.e., one who studies algae.  Last year he published a scholarly book about identifying freshwater algae, featuring numerous color microphotographs to aid in classification, including those of harmful algal blooms.

 

Dr. Rosen says "I'm all about algae, photo documenting common and rare forms in high resolution, full color images to assist the next generation of phycologists with better tools for their identification. Harmful algal bloom research too."

Fort Myers Art Show

  The recent Fort Myers Art Show was very crowded and I had been doing several other things that day. So I rushed through it.  These colorful birdhouses were near the exit.  I liked them.

This artist did very intricate pencil drawings.

Very odd, very unusual.

Jennie

 Jennie is a Dominican.  She grew up in central Florida, where her family chased storms, doing hurricane repair work.  Her mother remarried and moved to Michigan and Jennie followed her.

In Michigan and now in Naples, Jennie sells real estate and fixes up deteriorated properties and flips them.