The Hottest Summer Ever

This is the oddest summer I can remember here in Collier County since 1974! Our summer this year was the hottest on record – EVER! How fortunate we are that the guy who invented air conditioners lived quite a while ago, so we are able to use them in weather like this. Our pool stayed like bathwater, which is okay with me. 

Back in 1974, when we arrived, the businesses on 5th Avenue taped white paper on their store-front windows and made signs for people stopping by to read: See you in October! Really, the downtown area just closed up for the summer. Yes, some might have stayed here, like the pharmacy and Ingram’s Hardware store and Sunshine Grocery, but most were gone and back North to visit families for the summer. Very few restaurants downtown were open, so the employees also had a vacation, whether they wanted one or not. This year the restaurants had great bargains to lure people in, and they were filled whenever I saw them! Great prices for summer!  

The Elk’s Lodge on US 41E has been a busy place! Last week they lured people in with the outstanding Billy’s Grilled Bone-In Pork Chop Dinner with Baked Potato, served with Jackie’s Buttered Carrots, Becky’s Homemade Banana Pudding and Rae’s Homemade Strawberry Shortcake. Wow, what a feast! Everyone enjoyed, and the “Antler’s” (teenage table servers from a local high school) were again making it a wonderful evening for everyone.

Please check the Elk’s schedule for upcoming events1

• Each Friday a group of us meet with some retired fire fighters (mostly from the East Naples area) but also with a retired Fire Chief from Broward County, a really nice guy who now lives here in East Naples, who is down to earth and straight as an arrow. We meet for lunch at various restaurants. They mainly keep their friendships alive and enjoy the conversations that only retired firefighters would enjoy, but a few of us, who were not firefighters, attend because we were a great support system for them, so we have been included. I’m one of those.  

• Do your remember Frankie’s Italian Deli, kind of hidden behind the Big Walmart on 951? Well, he moved to a much easier location to drive to – on US 41 E near the entrance to the original Lely community, before there was Lely Resort and near one of my favorite restaurants – Eurasia. Remember that wonderful family that started that restaurant? What dear, sweet people they were, and raised sons to take after them. So, we still get to see their family, and Eddie, the original owner, taught them everything he knew about operating a restaurant. What are YOU doing tonight?
• *And last but not least: In this crazy weather we’re having, are any of you bothered by allergies? Oh my gosh, I can’t stop sneezing or stop my runny nose unless I take a Mucinex. Thank heavens they have something for people like me. People look at me as though I have a disease, but after 20 minutes, the good ‘ole allergy medicine takes over, and I stop sneezing and coughing. I hope we get some more rain. It’s been so dry! What will we do when the fire season gets here? Come on, RAIN!