2014 -The Mini Golf Alternative

March 11 - 2014

The plan of going to Casey Key never materialized today because of the ominous clouds above made us cautious about taking a two hour ride to our destination. I admit, I am a fair weather biker, if there is even a chance of bad weather I leave my bike parked. -  I can hear the hard-core bikers out there groaning now  J

http://www.baronbob.com/iwipers.htm

You have to admit that riding through a downpour is not only uncomfortable; it can be down right dangerous! – I don’t know about anyone else out there, but I can’t see a thing in the rain! How do you do it? It would be nice to have built in wipers on my glasses for those unexpected downpours that on occasion happen in Florida. 

They actually exist! (You can find anything on the Internet – lol)

Wonder if you can get them in prescription lenses....

One minute you are driving along enjoying a beautiful sunny day, the next you are a looking like a drowned rat…(maybe more of a drowned mouse) Sure rain gear will help with keeping your clothes dry, (if you have time to get the thing on) but what about the actual 'seeing' where you are going?? 

After almost six years of riding I only got caught once in the rain, (maybe my luck has run out) A couple weeks back we experienced a sudden cloud burst, we had to pull over or I would of ended up in the ditch. Anyway, by the time we pulled over we were already drenched so even if we did have a rain gear, what would be the point. (it didn’t help that the stretch of road we were on was so barren that there was not even a shrub that we could take cover under) Further up the road you could actually see the clear skies and it would only be a few minutes more before that one lone cloud moved on, so we waited it out. As the rain dripped off my helmet and into my eyes I thought that there must be something out there if this were to happen again. That incident prompted me to rummage through the Internet for the answer. (I would be lost without my Internet - lol)

Here is what I found: one guy uses swim goggles, it seems to work for him, however needing prescription glasses I would need to wear my regular glasses under them – my experience: putting anything over my glasses is most uncomfortable (that is why I invested in prescription sunglasses in the first place)… The next suggestion I found was to use a product called RainX   – however, I am leery to put it on my prescription sun glass lenses without talking to my eye glass guy first.  

My conclusion, I will continue to watch the sky before I ride! Hence the change in plans J

So we were not going to go to Casey Key today, :(  But we were already suited up, we might as well go somewhere. We made the executive decision to stick closer to home, just in case. Now the only question is, where? Going for a nice ride along the beach in Fort Myers is definitely out of the question this time of year -unless you enjoy breathing in exhaust fumes from the millions of cars cruising that road to gawk at all the young girls in bikinis on spring break. - We learned that the hard way last year - however, my other half probably didn't mind.... he would probably never admit that to my face...lol

My brain was still focused on Casey Key (one track mind) so I was drawing a complete blank, lucky my other half came up with a plan. Lets go and play mini golf! We at least get a bike ride in, stay close in case of bad weather and have some fun too! Perfect!

Fort Myers has three stand-alone mini golf courses each with it’s own theme. Smugglers Cove, Jungle Golf and Castle Golf. 

It is amazing how different mini golf courses are today, reminds me more of an amusement park. They have certainly come a long way from the old little windmill when I was a kid. – Those kind still exist, don’t they? (showing my age now lol) 


We had already been to Smugglers Cove   a couple of times, so I wanted to try somewhere different.  Smugglers Cove is a must see though, it even has alligators that you can feed! Mind you, they are just the little baby ones… wonder what they do with them when they get too big? 

 Smugglers Cove
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We decided on Jungle mini golf mainly because I liked the animals. J 

The weather actually cleared up and those dark menacing clouds disappeared by the time we pulled in. It was still on the windy side though, so I was glad we changed our plans. (yeah, I know, it is amazing that I get to ride my bike at all with all my “good weather” requirements lol) 

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The clerk was very friendly - wouldn’t you know it, a former Canadian! (and fellow biker) She had actually been born in Boston but had lived in Canada for most of her life. She recently lived in Richmond Hill Ontario (a few hours drive south of us) before returning to the states and now lives in Florida. (Almost heard her life story, wasn’t sure if we were ever going to get to play golf - lol) Can’t blame her for wanting to leave the cold J If I could, I would move here too!

There was also a scavenger hunt you could play as you went from each hole looking for the items on the card – if you found them you would win a prize. Just added another element to the game and made it fun. 

I lost this time 65 to 59
I usually am better, honest!
 – I blame it on the wind…

It turned out to be a beautiful day actually,  I didn’t regret having played mini golf instead. Had a little ride, hit a little ball around and had a little fun, what more do you want in life J

 And there is always next week…

 I just think these flowers are so unique! 

Just something about the name that strikes my fancy too J

Bird of Paradise