andy’s sister Kristine and her terrific husband Gary are visiting from North Carolina.
We love when they’re here because they enjoy exploring and doing things that we haven’t yet done in Southwest Florida. Their two week-long visit includes enough quiet time and enough adventure to make the two weeks fly by without wearing us out.
Around the time we heard they were planning to spend some time with us I got wind of the happy coincidence that David Phelps was going to perform a concert at a church on Marco Island. That concert was last Sunday night. Oh my word! But more about that later.
Marco Island is just under two hours south of where we live and there’s a lot of interesting Florida adventure between here and there. We decided to leave early in the day and meander down to Marco, stopping at places Randy and I had already visited and thought Kristine and Gary would find interesting.
We left around 10 am after struggling through the loss of the extra hour of sleep that is the beginning of daylight saving time. Our first adventure was to see what interior Florida looks like away from the coastal and tourist areas. We drove down I-75 to Ft Myers and then turned inland on Hwy 82. We passed orange groves that looked completely dead and orange groves that looked like they were thriving. We saw herds of cattle and endless fields of crops we couldn’t identify. We saw sand flats that looked like turf farms stripped bare. We saw homes and businesses that looked unlivable but knew weren’t.
And then, in the middle of nowhere, we turned onto the road leading to our destination, the planned community of Ave Maria. Ave Maria is about 30 miles northeast of Naples, just south of Immokalee. Ave Maria has an interesting history, and has been dubbed the town that Domino’s Pizza built. It has a unique and gorgeous church that alone is worth the drive to see. We toured some of the model homes and visited the information center. It was a beautiful day for a Sunday drive, and the destination was unusual and interesting. It seemed to us an oasis in the middle of old Florida wilderness.
We headed for Naples next to show Kristine and Gary one of our favorite haunts there….Seed to Table. It’s remarkable how quickly Florida scenery changes. We were out in the sticks one moment, and in wealthy Naples the next. As far as I know, Naples has no disadvantaged areas. If it’s got a Naples address, it’s pretty much unaffordable to middle class folks like us. It’s beautiful to drive through (developments with sky-high HOA fees have magnificent landscaping and curb appeal from the road) and visit, and though my sister Lisa lives there, we didn’t seriously consider Naples when we were deciding where in Southwest Florida to live.
We love Seed to Table. It’s a grocery store that claims to be like no other you’ve ever seen (probably true) and bills itself as the happiest place in the universe (probably not true). With restaurants, bars, live entertainment daily, and a vibrant and electric atmosphere, it is pretty special. Our mouths started watering the moment we walked through door. There was a balloon sculpture station set up for kids, and live music blaring from the upstairs entertainment venue. It took about 15 minutes for us to get our bearings and figure out how it all worked.
We came to eat and enjoy the experience of the Disneyland of grocery stores before the concert. And enjoy it we did. Randy and Gary had the largest plate of nachos we’ve ever seen, I had excellent chicken carbonara and Kristine had soup and a sandwich she couldn’t even finish. We bought a few gourmet grocery items to bring home and left there smiling from ear to ear. Since we haven’t been to every place in the universe I can’t say whether or not it was the happiest place, but it was the happiest place we’d been that day and that counts for a lot.
After a quick stop at Lisa’s to change clothes we headed down to Marco Presbyterian Church for the concert. Randy and I have seen David Phelps in concert several times, but Kristine and Gary have not, though they are long-time fans. Phelps has gone through some personal physical trials recently including a bout with pneumonia. His voice cracked in a few places but it was no less spectacular than it’s ever been. If you’ve never seen or heard of him, here’s a sample video. And a bonus if you liked that one.
We left there smiling from ear to ear too. David Phelps uses his voice as an instrument, not just to sing. He tells stories and evokes emotion, all while giving glory to the God we honor and worship.
We arrived home safely that evening, tired but happy. Very happy!
It WAS a perfect day.
P.S. For icing on the perfect day cake we woke up Monday morning and unbeknownst to us, while we were gone on Sunday, the roofing company finished the roofing job they’d started late last week. We expected we’d have to put up with the noise and hammering all day when they finished on Monday. Having it done while we were gone made it a Perfect Day, Plus 1.
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