Because we were all sunburnt and there was going to be thunderstorms in the afternoon, we cancelled our snorkeling tour this afternoon. This allowed us to wake up later this morning, but just early enough to get to the hotel breakfast that closes at 9:30. At least… that was the plan.
At 8:30 I woke up to a missed call from Mom. I thought she was just going to ask for our laundry, but it turns out Mom and Dad were scheming a much more adventurous turn for our day. We all knew at some point we were going to drive 5 hours round trip out of our way to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Sweet Tomatoes. They're mainly a self-serve salad bar and all their food is killer. Mom and Dad decided with nothing else on our hands, today was the day. But that couldn't be all. They decided we should visit the Edison Ford Winter Estates in Fort Meyers, too. Okay, sounds cool! As long as we're inside, I'm up for anything. And I was promised we were going to be entirely inside. Yay! Guess I'm getting ready now.
Anyway, we made it out of the hotel by 9:30 and ended up swinging by Starbucks and Krispy Kreme for breakfast. Nothing is better than a warm original glazed! Even Patrick loved it! We were then on our way to Fort Meyers, with a small detour.
Dad wanted us to see and drive some road called alligator alley. Well, that sounds horrifying! He kept insisting it would be a good road for Gideon to drive because it was long and straight, but we didn't believe him until we saw it. Turns out the alligators aren't on the road, but rather in a canal that runs alongside the road for most of its length. And the road was actually perfect for Gideon to drive. He did great and even made it up to 60 mph this time!
As always, me and Mom had to pee, so when Mom took back over we went to a gas station. I want you to look at this lock and tell me if you think it should work. Do these pieces go together? I was nearly certain I was going to have to go with the door open, little did I know not for the last time today, but it worked somehow.
In no time we made it to the Edison Ford Winter Estates. It was bright, sunny and beautiful out, if a little hot, and they had some beautiful gardens! Awesome to take a stroll around for about 5 minutes, but I was grateful when we went inside to purchase our tickets. I am burnt to hell, afterall!
And then, the guy tells me the most heartbreaking thing of all. The tour begins outside in the gardens across the street. I started bellyaching, but Dad assured me he remembered that most of the tour was inside. Ok, I'll play along for this small outside part.
Well, 24 outside stops (the whole tour, by the way), an annoying family who kept pouring water on themselves (and the vintage porch floors) to stay cool, and many many pictures later, we were finally able to head inside for the museum part of the tour. Keep in mind, my burnt self who was promised we would be inside had worn a long sleeve shirt under a T-shirt! I was dripping sweat.
But nonetheless, the sights were pretty cool, inside and out!
At the gift shop, we all decided to get those Fahlo bracelets that allow you to track an endangered wild animal. I chose a shark (obviously) and I was not at all disappointed! Her name is Valentina because she was chipped on Valentine's day! She is a scalloped hammerhead which is awesome cause pretty much all hammerheads are favorites of mine. So cute!
Anyway that entertained us for the whole ride to Sweet Tomatoes. When we pulled into the parking lot at 3, we were nearly certain we would have hit one of the least busy times of the day. Wrong. There was a line out the door. The woman working the door (who, granted, had only been working there a week) said she had never seen it like this before. But we drove two and a half hours to get there, so we knew we had to hunker down. We dropped Dad off to wait in line and went to park the car. It might seem rude to make Dad wait outside in the heat by himself, but he's from Florida! He can handle it better than we can. Plus, he had to pay for his it's all inside
shenanigans earlier. The woman estimated a 25 minute wait and that turned out to be quite the overestimate, because they almost immediately let everyone in line inside!
Now, building a salad from a salad bar with a ton of hot and angry Floridians pushing the line forward behind you is not for the weak. It was scary. When we made it to the end of the line, Mom asked me and Gideon to go claim a table for us while they paid because… you know… that's how a Sweet Tomatoes typically operates. Wrong. We got yelled at. Apparently they seat you now, just so everyone knows for the future. I made Mom talk to the woman that yelled at me when it came her turn to seat us. I couldn't look her in the eyes again. Sorry, angry Sweet Tomatoes employee.
It was worth all the stress, though, because man was that salad bar excellent. As was the cornbread and mac and cheese and cookies, obviously, but the salad bar has to shine the brightest. I would drink that avocado ranch if I could.
With stomachs and hearts full and wallets empty, we practically rolled out of that joint. And with that began the two and a half hour ride back to the hotel. Joy! We had to drive through the storm systems that we were avoiding by not going on our tour this afternoon, but by the time that we drove through them, they were tamer. So that was nice. No welcome to Virginia style rain here. Plus, Mom decided she wanted to hear the Waitress the musical soundtrack, so we got to listen to that for a good portion of the ride. Of course, after that, she had to listen to Encanto… I tuned that out and read instead. If I don't listen to Frozen or The Little Mermaid in my freetime, why would I listen to Encanto? To each their own, I suppose. But as a reward after that, we got to listen to the beginnings of the Hadestown soundtrack, so I'm not upset. A win is a win.
Me and Mom had to pee like crazy when we got back to the hotel, as expected after two glasses of sweet tea for me. While I was using the bathroom Gideon went downstairs to hang out with Mom and Dad and LEFT OUR HOTEL ROOM DOOR OPEN. ON PURPOSE. I was literally spread eagle on the toilet with the bathroom door open when anyone could have come into our hotel room. I dislike that I had a poop with strangers dialogue option. That should never happen.
At least Gideon brought our laundry down to Mom and Dad while endangering my safety, and Mom was able to wash all our clothes while we sat cozy in their room writing blogs, uploading pictures and generally updating the website!
Considering the sweat rings under my arms on my T-shirt and the fact that we had a 9:30 AM tour an hour away tomorrow morning, we called it an early night to freshen up and get some good sleep!
Nice deed of the day: I think we're tired of being nice. Give us a break, every part of our bodies hurts and we were promised we would have AC all day but we didn't.
Boy Meets Comb:
I think this segment has to end. I thought Gideon had the attention span of a goldfish, but I think even they would have tried $50 of nice hair products more than once before giving up entirely.
RIP Boy Meets Comb
July 20, 2026 - July 24, 2026