Wasting Away Again in Margueritaville

The Keys were in true form as I eased up northward. Great puffs of white clouds drifted on the bluest of blues. Once you clear the islands (there are about 2,000 of them) you enter out onto bridges which sometimes arc upwards and downwards or become straight causeways. You look out to your left or to your right and you have the flat green and dark blue ocean. There are usually fishing boats cruising around the water and the occasional helicopter or little white blimps floating in the sky. I stopped for a brief video spot and then kept going. I was heading to Sanibel Island for a one-night stay and shoot, I would have to figure out some other lodging for the following night.

You took a bridge which dropped onto the island. The route was already slowly-moving, bumper-to-bumper traffic giving me a “here we go again” frame of mind. But cruising in the car is actually pretty cool. On the island, scores of families bicycled on adjacent bike paths, proving to be another means of retarding car traffic.

The main stretch of the island had pricey restaurants, but there was a DQ and a place that sold hot dogs!

Having been in a more bummer mood, I took myself out on a run along the coastline. The beach was covered with shells and a late afternoon tide. Birds were on the prowl with beaks and people with buckets. I was wondering what people were collecting and stopped during my cool-down sea shell hunt to ask a couple of older ladies. In a very friendly and southern tongue they mentioned they were looking for shells and sand dollars for Christmas ornaments, and explained how they use them. They also mentioned that they heard some people hunt for scollops (scallops) to eat.

The restaurants were busy and a needed something healthier than a hot dog. I did the obligatory stint at the bar, as I thought I’d leave the tables for peoples. When solo, you often find yourself seated at a bar. Generally, with the exception of a pub, or if I wanted to get sauced with locals, I really don’t like sitting at the bar. The underneaths of your forearms adhere to the stickiness of the bar and your elbows begin to hurt. There is usually more noise, like this night, which saw an acoustic guitar dude signing Dave Matthew and the like. I wanted nothing more than to be away from people. I have been steeped in tourists for the past many weeks and wanted to clear my thoughts. The medicine of my run was gone and the long drive to a mirror of everywhere else had brought me back to what I had left.

When you are by yourself you end up watching things on TV that you normally never would. It’s similar to being on a plane. One part captive audience, one part nothing else to do, and another part thankful for a distraction. I’ve watched some films and parts and some in their entirety. The TV has had What Women Want (Mel Gibson), Hot Chick (SNL’s Rob Schneider), Harry Potter Part something-or-other, and other films that I would not have paid to see but glad I saw them. These are usually in the hours right before sleep. I’ve watched the Wild on Versus and its been hard to get to sleep with the intensity that watching hockey brings out in you. They are a team that makes you proud, but frustrated.

During my shoot I ran into a family that was checking into a room I was shooting prematurely. No big deal. I asked where they were from. They were from Massachusettes.

As I left the island I gassed up the car at a station. The cars in the lot had license plates from Connecticut, Massachusettes and Michigan. When I hit the road, I stared at this truck with a dad and his son in it. I thought to myself “They got to be from here.” I looked down to see a license plate from Connecticut.

I stayed at a Red Roof in Naples. Compare this $60 a night to the places I’ve been in. I’m just as content. Besides, I usually get to park right next to my room. This becomes much easier to load and unload all my gear. This one in particular had an IHOP right next store. How nice it was to have a burger!

Naples is a spread-out city. The upscale drag had a nouveau-Italian look to their building fascades. Pubs, art galleries and lots of Italian restaurants. It got its name more as a selling point than heredity. As I got in my car to leave my look-around, I saw a palm with ‘Makedonia Greek.’ I thought to myself “Awesome,” until I realized its political overtones. I’ll spare you the geo-politics.

Well, I’m still trying to find a beautiful nuances of each place. I am conscious that it is tinted with my tired eye. It is important for anyone that reads this to keep in mind that I take these things in on the go. For example, the majority of my coverage of Key West was done on a day of two plus hours of driving and two video shoots (a day’s worth of shoots). So, walking over five miles on top of that, through masses of tourists and the like, does not give me a totally objective view. You’ll have to pardon the synicism.

The general demographics is not too surprising. Below Daytona the population is predominately Caucasian. You don’t have the African-American representation that you normally see in the south. There is a very strong Latin population, mostly seen in the service industry. The Asian population is very sparse and the Native population is somewhat represented. In most these here parts the tourist, service-industry abounds. So, you find a job doing that, being that or you go elsewhere. There are homeless. It was most visible in the Keys where they were sleeping in the parks and anywhere else that was remotely comfortable. I saw one poor man with diabetic legs, puffed and swollen to the point of rupture.

There are plenty of flip-flop sandal-wearers here. Plaid shorts and polos are popular too. A lot of guys have the unwashed, pony-tail hair and there are plenty of woman with leathered skin. For spring break gawkers there are plenty of chances to see chicks and dudes with as much skin bared to the sun as possible, and glassy-eyed from booze. (Though this mainly pertains to areas like Panama City Beach, Daytona Beach, etc.) Instead of being appealing, I find it quite the opposite. It’s like in the hot dogs at the gas station. You know the ones that have been on the cooking rollers for far too long. They have past their edible state long ago and now just ooze in their greased skins.

A run and a swim in the ocean. I swim out and lay back on the naturally-buoyant saltwater. Trying to keep my toes up I let the waves bring me back into the shallows. There wasn’t much to see with my mask and snorkel. I will say this part of Fort Meyers is better than the previous!

OK, so I plan to get my shoots in and get ‘er done! I heard tell my Godfather is going to be in the region and hope to connect with him. Although it may have to occur on my northward drive day, I thought a good idea might be to meet in Tarpon Springs! I’ll be damned if I see this entire state and don’t spend time visiting one of the largest Greek communities in the Western Hemisphere! We’ll look into that.

I’m glad that back home finally got some nice weather. Every day here is in the 70’s and 80’s. The sun shines and the clouds are of the cottony, billowy kind. You see palm trees everywhere and the picturesque ocean. At night you can keep the sliding doors completely open and sleep to the relaxing sounds of waves and the wind in the palms. It is beautiful. But, like too much strawberry milk, such a thing loses its savor when it is ceaseless. It might make sense to get as much of it as I can take before I return home!

I hope this week brings you beautiful weather and happy birds. Be sure you listen to them! They are most alive now! I’m looking forward to their song!