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OT - but this is still amazing and awe-inspiring - bridge to Sanibel

SWFLHurricane said:
Look Bro....I was at South Seas for a yr in 1981...one day me and another Chef went to Tween Waters for Lunch...and met the owner Tony Lapi (still owns Tween Waters) before we left both of us had much better job offers, so we gave our notice, and 2 weeks later we both were Sous Chefs at Tween Waters. In the back of Tween Waters was the Marina...all the employees were allowed to take the motor boats out (just had to pay for the gas) and cruise the area near Buck Key Preserve.
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Sooo...1981 you say?

1981 was the year my Pop Warner team travelled down to sleepy li'l CAPE CORAL for a football game...this was pre-Midpoint Bridge...

So each of us got to stay with a family of one of the Cape Coral players. I loved all the canals, that was one of my lasting memories, and the primary reason I moved to the Cape when I got a job in SW FL. I can even tell you the exact time of the year, it was right around Halloween.

How do I know? It was the very first time that they ever showed the movie Halloween on broadcast TV (I was only 10 when it was first in the movie theaters), which we then followed up on by going to see Halloween II at the movie theater on Del Prado near where they (eventually) built the Midpoint. ****, we were only 13, but nobody stopped us from seeing R-rated movies.

Good times! Sorry I don't have any pix, though...
 
TheOriginalCane said:
Sooo...1981 you say?

1981 was the year my Pop Warner team travelled down to sleepy li'l CAPE CORAL for a football game...this was pre-Midpoint Bridge...

So each of us got to stay with a family of one of the Cape Coral players. I loved all the canals, that was one of my lasting memories, and the primary reason I moved to the Cape when I got a job in SW FL. I can even tell you the exact time of the year, it was right around Halloween.

How do I know? It was the very first time that they ever showed the movie Halloween on broadcast TV, which we then followed up on by going to see Halloween II at the movie theater on Del Prado near where they (eventually) built the Midpoint.

Good times! Sorry I don't have any pix, though...
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First place I lived on the Cape was S.E 46th Lane, right off Vincennes near Cape Elementary. It was on a Canal. Lived there from 74 until 76...then moved to Viking Court, up the street from the Old Del Prado Inn, and also on a Canal. Was catching Snook the size of your arm those days in both Canals. Of course this was wayyy before the Mid Point Bridge. Back then, the end of Everest Pkwy was a place were we went to party. Along with the Old Rose Gardens.
 
SWFLHurricane said:
Butch's home was messed up pretty bad. At 1st I didn't think he'd make it for the 87 reunion, so we went in separate cars. My dumb *** waited till the last minute to make reservations at the Gables Inn, but come to find out they were booked. So I ended up at the Roadway Inn. Then as luck would have it, it took forever to get into the Watsco Center. They had a bunch of wannabe Rent a Cops giving me a hard time in ref to entering. I finally was able to get in (Thanks to Sarge) who saw me dealing with these imbeciles. Jesus do I miss the University Inn across from UM....
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Oh, yeah, the good old days of the University Inn. Most people don't remember that UM owned BOTH a motel AND a married student apartment complex across US-1 from the main campus. I had a workstudy job for the UM Housing Office in my freshman year, I used to ride around on this truck (with a scrawny one-eyed Cuban guy that everyone just called "Cardona") and we would drop off furniture and stoves and refrigerators at all the apartment buildings.

Oh, and replacement beds, for some reason the athletes kept breaking theirs...and they had the extra-long single beds in the athlete apartments...

My freshman year, the University Inn was "overflow housing", I knew a bunch of classmates who first moved their in August before they eventually got on-campus housing when people moved off-campus or dropped out of school. A year or two later, they sold it, and then it was converted to condos. I had several friends during my time in law school who lived in the University Inn.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
Oh, yeah, the good old days of the University Inn. Most people don't remember that UM owned BOTH a motel AND a married student apartment complex across US-1 from the main campus. I had a workstudy job for the UM Housing Office in my freshman year, I used to ride around on this truck (with a scrawny one-eyed Cuban guy that everyone just called "Cardona") and we would drop off furniture and stoves and refrigerators at all the apartment buildings.

Oh, and replacement beds, for some reason the athletes kept breaking theirs...and they had the extra-long single beds in the athlete apartments...

My freshman year, the University Inn was "overflow housing", I knew a bunch of classmates who first moved their in August before they eventually got on-campus housing when people moved off-campus or dropped out of school. A year or two later, they sold it, and then it was converted to condos. I had several friends during my time in law school who lived in the University Inn.
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Loved the fact it was so close to Campus. When Chuck was at UM, I stayed there 95% of the time (Gables Inn or Holiday Inn the other 5%) Super affordable as well. Those days (from 95-2000) was quite a trip for me, from Ft Walton Bch to UM was a long *** trip. If Wifey, and or the kids came with me we stayed at the Gables Inn though...alittle nicer but alittle more expensive.
 
SWFLHurricane said:
First place I lived on the Cape was S.E 46th Lane, right off Vincennes near Cape Elementary. It was on a Canal. Lived there from 74 until 76...then moved to Viking Court, up the street from the Old Del Prado Inn, and also on a Canal. Was catching Snook the size of your arm those days in both Canals. Of course this was wayyy before the Mid Point Bridge. Back then, the end of Everest Pkwy was a place were we went to party. Along with the Old Rose Gardens.
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Yeeeppp.

My best friend from undergrad/law lived on SE 32nd Terrace, right off of Palaco Grande, about 4 or 5 houses in from the river. Used to jump on the boat with him, we were out in the Caloosahatchee in a minute or two. Took the boat over to the other side of Sanibel many times to meet up with people and drink.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
Are you just randomly Googling?

The St. Johns does not pull from as far south as Boca, that's just nonsense. The St. Johns starts between Yeehaw Junction and Vero Beach. Everything on the east coast from Lake Okeechoobee and southward flows southeast.

There's basically a ridge that runs approximately along the Turnpike. There are rivers on the west side of the Turnipike, all the way up to Central Florida, that flow southward. The Peace River starts around Bartow and empties by Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte. The Everglades "river of grass" officially starts in Kissimmee.

On the east side of the Turnpike, until the Turnpike gets very close to the east coast around Fort Pierce, rivers go north and/or east, such as with the St. Johns.

In SE Florida, you have short-distance rivers like the Loxahatchee aned the St. Lucie that flow south and/or east to the Atlantic.

Unless that you are saying that all the water from Boca magically flows north, jumps over the Loxahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers, and then joins up with the St. Johns up in Yeehaw Junction. That would be impressive. Maybe Del Boca Vista Phase 2?
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Not random googling ... just going from recollection .... know it meanders 310 miles from source ... Vero Beach swamps ... not Boca. I keep a small Boston Whaler in a wet slip on Lake Beresford in DeLand ... and follow the river's rise and fall pretty closely. We had to move our boats from the covered wet slip a few days after Ian passed due to the rise to a floating dock. The river finally crested last night. People can wade through the parking lot to a ramp (now under 3' of water) to get to the floating dock to check on boats, run motors to keep batteries charged, run bilge pumps etc. All of the marinas around here are closed, launch ramps are still closed, and won't reopen until the level recedes. The marina operator said "you can wade in to the ramp and go check on your boat but you should carry a sidearm as I've shot two gators this week in the flooded parking lot". The rise to the current level was not anticipated by anyone and broke the 1930 record.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
Yeeeppp.

My best friend from undergrad/law lived on SE 32nd Terrace, right off of Palaco Grande, about 4 or 5 houses in from the river. Used to jump on the boat with him, we were out in the Caloosahatchee in a minute or two. Took the boat over to the other side of Sanibel many times to meet up with people and drink.
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My BEST friend growing up on the Cape lived at the end of Savonna Pkwy in a friggin Mansion (right on the Caloosahatchee) his Dad was an Architect, and owned the famous Looking Glass lounge in Ft Myers....When they moved, they bought a house off of Palaco Grande on a cul-de-sac.
 
Rickd said:
Not random googling ... just going from recollection .... know it meanders 310 miles from source ... Vero Beach swamps ... not Boca. I keep a small Boston Whaler in a wet slip on Lake Beresford in DeLand ... and follow the river's rise and fall pretty closely. We had to move our boats from the covered wet slip a few days after Ian passed due to the rise to a floating dock. The river finally crested last night. People can wade through the parking lot to a ramp (now under 3' of water) to get to the floating dock to check on boats, run motors to keep batteries charged, run bilge pumps etc. All of the marinas around here are closed, launch ramps are still closed, and won't reopen until the level recedes. The marina operator said "you can wade in to the ramp and go check on your boat but you should carry a sidearm as I've shot two gators this week in the flooded parking lot". The rise to the current level was not anticipated by anyone and broke the 1930 record.
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Alright, fair enough. My brother's house is on the Wekiva near SR 46, we frequently boat up to Blue Spring for a few hours with his kids. Used to camp all over that area when I was in Boy Scouts, Hontoon Island, Camp La-No-Che, you name it, I've been there.

And when they were widening I-4 when I worked at NASCAR, I'd sometimes drive out the 415 from Lake Mary to avoid I-4 traffic. Got friends all over the waterfront in Seminole and Volusia.
 
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Rickd said:
Not random googling ... just going from recollection .... know it meanders 310 miles from source ... Vero Beach swamps ... not Boca. I keep a small Boston Whaler in a wet slip on Lake Beresford in DeLand ... and follow the river's rise and fall pretty closely. We had to move our boats from the covered wet slip a few days after Ian passed due to the rise to a floating dock. The river finally crested last night. People can wade through the parking lot to a ramp (now under 3' of water) to get to the floating dock to check on boats, run motors to keep batteries charged, run bilge pumps etc. All of the marinas around here are closed, launch ramps are still closed, and won't reopen until the level recedes. The marina operator said "you can wade in to the ramp and go check on your boat but you should carry a sidearm as I've shot two gators this week in the flooded parking lot". The rise to the current level was not anticipated by anyone and broke the 1930 record.
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I've found Thousands of $$$$ in Artifacts on the St. Johns...I'm talking some High Quality stuff. Most were in the Lake George Area...and the rest near Palatka around the Holiday Inn. There's a Creek called Pea Creek...and we'd be out in the water waist deep with Home-made Pitch forks jabbing down at the Arrowheads laying at the bottom. Some of my oldest finds (10,000-12,000yrs old) were found in that creek. This is back about 15-17yrs ago.
 
Rickd said:
Not random googling ... just going from recollection .... know it meanders 310 miles from source ... Vero Beach swamps ... not Boca. I keep a small Boston Whaler in a wet slip on Lake Beresford in DeLand ... and follow the river's rise and fall pretty closely. We had to move our boats from the covered wet slip a few days after Ian passed due to the rise to a floating dock. The river finally crested last night. People can wade through the parking lot to a ramp (now under 3' of water) to get to the floating dock to check on boats, run motors to keep batteries charged, run bilge pumps etc. All of the marinas around here are closed, launch ramps are still closed, and won't reopen until the level recedes. The marina operator said "you can wade in to the ramp and go check on your boat but you should carry a sidearm as I've shot two gators this week in the flooded parking lot". The rise to the current level was not anticipated by anyone and broke the 1930 record.
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Found all these just off of the St. Johns in Pea Creek...The Blue one is 12,000 yrs old and worth in excess of $4,000...
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SWFLHurricane said:
Found all these just off of the St. Johns in Pea Creek...The Blue one is 12,000 yrs old and worth in excess of $
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SWFLHurricane said:
Found all these just off of the St. Johns in Pea Creek...The Blue one is 12,000 yrs old and worth in excess of $4,000...
View attachment 211155
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The history is crazy to contemplate. Indian villages on Hontoon Island ... on the St Johns River ... dating to over 12,000 years ago .... shell mounds were so abundant in the region ... surrounding lakes and lining areas of the river ... that the Florida DOT literally mined the mounds in the early 1900's when the primary highway systems were developed ... as aggregate for the road beds. So much for historical significance. Those spear points are incredible.
 
Rickd said:
The history is crazy to contemplate. Indian villages on Hontoon Island ... on the St Johns River ... dating to over 12,000 years ago .... shell mounds were so abundant in the region ... surrounding lakes and lining areas of the river ... that the Florida DOT literally mined the mounds in the early 1900's when the primary highway systems were developed ... as aggregate for the road beds. So much for historical significance. Those spear points are incredible.
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118653088_329759918144065_4011342007423644256_n.jpg
 
Rickd said:
The history is crazy to contemplate. Indian villages on Hontoon Island ... on the St Johns River ... dating to over 12,000 years ago .... shell mounds were so abundant in the region ... surrounding lakes and lining areas of the river ... that the Florida DOT literally mined the mounds in the early 1900's when the primary highway systems were developed ... as aggregate for the road beds. So much for historical significance. Those spear points are incredible.
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88121674_221028145683910_7789947631190409216_n.jpg
 
Rickd said:
The history is crazy to contemplate. Indian villages on Hontoon Island ... on the St Johns River ... dating to over 12,000 years ago .... shell mounds were so abundant in the region ... surrounding lakes and lining areas of the river ... that the Florida DOT literally mined the mounds in the early 1900's when the primary highway systems were developed ... as aggregate for the road beds. So much for historical significance. Those spear points are incredible.
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IMG_2541.jpg
 
Rickd said:
The history is crazy to contemplate. Indian villages on Hontoon Island ... on the St Johns River ... dating to over 12,000 years ago .... shell mounds were so abundant in the region ... surrounding lakes and lining areas of the river ... that the Florida DOT literally mined the mounds in the early 1900's when the primary highway systems were developed ... as aggregate for the road beds. So much for historical significance. Those spear points are incredible.
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SWFLHurricane said:
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Man ... you are like a one man Smithsonian ... incredible collection. Amazing. I spent 6 formative years (age 6-12) in a small Midwestern farm town ... SW Minnesota ... close to South Dakota. We had a buffalo run in a State Park outside of our town ... where indians used to run groups of buffalo off the cliffs and then ride down below to butcher the buffs and get meat, hide, etc. Used to find arrow heads there ... and in the Black Hills. But nothing like these. Where to you keep your collection?
 
Rickd said:
Man ... you are like a one man Smithsonian ... incredible collection. Amazing. I spent 6 formative years (age 6-12) in a small Midwestern farm town ... SW Minnesota ... close to South Dakota. We had a buffalo run in a State Park outside of our town ... where indians used to run groups of buffalo off the cliffs and then ride down below to butcher the buffs and get meat, hide, etc. Used to find arrow heads there ... and in the Black Hills. But nothing like these. Where to you keep your collection?
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All at Home (Safe)....I had alot more at one time. I sold $50,000 worth 2yrs ago, to a Private Collector who was one of the Original Developers of the Villages. He's an avid collector, and has been buying up entire collections around the State for a few yrs. Extremely Rich....Came over to my home in Orlando with $75,000 in hundreds (Dead serious) I have a close friend who has 10 acres in Pasco County, who has a $500,000 collection (and that's being consevative) Most of his finds are from his own property.
 
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