Feb 26 The Outlet Mall - of course - and island devastation

Today we had to head to the local outlet mall and find Columbia. Not a lot of interest but Ted found another wash-and-wear shirt and I found a fleece vest for C$12! Ted was looking for shoes and pants but no luck. Usually good buys here in the US, especially his hard to fit feet!

  Ted is happy to be back near a Trader Joe’s for wine and our usual favorite things. Margaret does not drink so we can’t buy much. 

  Ted has made himself useful here by fixing a few things around the apartment, which Margaret only moved into in March before she went home last year. But traffic to get to local stores is often absolutely jammed.

  A trip to Sanibel and Captiva Island to see the devastation wrought by the hurricane took us twice as long as e expect. Nowhere to stop for drinks, etc. any more and 1.5 hours in line trying to get on to the main road off the island! 

  We were there in 1973 when we also learned to dive on the Keys. 

As Ted says, “What over-development mostly ruined, nature has finished off.” Sanibel had a lot of old wooden down home structures that families had owned for years. Now wiped out, many are destitute and relying on small government handouts which won’t last long The developers won’t be far behind. I hope they set up some building controls. It is still a prime turtle breeding ground where they are protected on beaches.

  Captiva showed less building damage but the flor will take a long time to recover. Houses that were no visible are now out in the open. But we’re told a lot of them are commercially owned so remediation will be fast and expensive. But done. Everywhere a huge building/landscaping boom with people from all over the US here to do the work.