Shells and Swans

It is hard to believe that two weeks have passed since I made the trip to Kissimmee.  A lot has happened for John and I since then, which is why I have not continued writing about that trip until today.  John had a medical issue which required hospitalization.  All is well now.
On Monday of that week my sisters and I drove to Cocoa Beach, about an hours drive east of Kissimmee.  So we are now talking about the Atlantic Ocean and not the Gulf.  That does make a difference, as I have written before, in the shells as well as wading birds we see.  It was a very cool day when we were there, jackets were needed for our walk on the beach.  Many shells could be seen scattered on the beach, which I had also noticed on the Bonita Springs Beach, a week before.  I think  that the hurricane had washed up many onto the beaches.  We were quite pleased to find a pile of conch shells, a few of which we added to our private collections.  I was also surprised to find quite a large olive shell.   Maybe you shell collectors know what I am talking about.

The pier at Cocoa Beach is privately owned, we chose not to pay the fee to walk on it.  Guess that we perhaps should have eaten at the restaurant at the end of the pier had we wanted to take in more views of the ocean.  We had a good lunch somewhere else, found a good movie to see, and then headed home in time to get Julia to the airport.

My sister Julia had to return home that Monday evening, John came to join Linda and I on Tuesday.  We continued to take short trips around Kissimmee. as well as one foray into downtown Orlando.  John remembered that he and I had once visited Eola Lake Park, a lake famous for its fountain and swans.  Strange, the first swan we saw there was a black one!

The park's lake was once a sinkhole.  A fountain (Centennial Fountain) was placed in the lake in 1912, it was replaced in 1957.  At night it changes colors like a light show.  Set against the backdrop of the city skyline, it is also quite pretty in the daylight.  Notice the swans in the foreground.

We made an interesting trip on Halloween day to St.Cloud.  More on that later.