Blogger in Paradise

We had been anticipating the opening of the new Agave Restaurant. It’s Southwestern cuisine rather than Mexican. We used to live in the southwest and missed some of the dishes that are common there. We went and were quite pleased with the food. Although it is a bit pricy, the quality and taste is great. We definitely had a great meal and were well taken care of. Below are a couple of pictures of some of  the dishes. Oh, and I don’t want to forget, but they have over 150 tequilas and make great Margaritas. Here’s the website http://agavenaples.com/. Well worth a visit.

Chile Relleno

Camarones y Vieiras

Hi all. The cactus in our back yard just keeps blooming. Counted 39 blooms in one day this time. The blooms last a day or so. They open up in the morning and close when the sun starts getting to them.  Never ceases to amaze me that a cactus can bloom so prolifically. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

Who says cactus don't have large flowers.

The bees love them!

Last weekend we decided to meander down to the Naples Botanical Gardens. We had been there a few years ago, but they’re at a new location now. They’ve got 170 acres of plants and more divided into several different themes. It was Doggie Day at the park and a lot of dogs brought their owners. Unfortunately, we didn’t know this and left ours at home. The park is pretty nice. It’s new so not all of the plants are fully grown, but that won’t take long. Even though it has been cold this year, the place looked pretty good and I’m sure will look even better as our warmer temperatures get everything growing again. This is definitely a place not to be missed while you’re here. Below is a short video that will give you an idea of the scope of the place.  Click Here to go the Gardens’ website. Before you go, check the events calendar.

We went to one of our favorite restaurants for Valentine’s – David Wong’s Pan Asian & Sushi in Bonita. When we got there we found out that Sushi Thai now owned the place and David had gone to Las Vegas. We worried that the food would change. It is a unique menu with a lot of very tasty items. After having eaten our meal, we found our fears were unneeded. The food was great. Seems that they’ve put in a full sushi bar which is to open this Thursday. They said the original menu would continue and that Sushi Thai was going to add some of their own items. Sound great. Sushi Thai is a good sushi restaurant and combining the two should be a real positive. If you have the inclination, go eat there. You won’t be disappointed.

Tasty and Creative Dishes

It’s been awhile, but finally I got around to taking another meander. This time a friend and I went boating on Estero Bay. This is an area off the coast of Bonita Springs that is bordered by a number of our coastal islands. They are close together and form a bay with access to the Gulf through several “passes” – some of which you can’t use at low tide.

We started off at a pier near Barefoot Beach. The video below starts off and has a view of some of the boats and some of the houses on the waterway. Then, when we got going we saw a dolphin having lunch courtesy of some bait fish. We ended up at the entrance near New Pass and Dog Beach. Dog Beach is where you can take your dogs and let them run loose. It was a beautiful day – just under 80 degrees. Not bad for early February. A nice day spent relaxing. You can rent boats to do this if you don’t own or have access to one. Give it a try when you’re down here.

You may want to turn the sound down. Still learning about how to video with my Droid and there is a bit of wind noise.

As I’m sure everyone has noticed, I have a new German Shepherd puppy. We’ve been looking at training him to be an all around dog – gentle, obedient, and able to protect when needed. We’ve decided to participate in Schutzhund which is a training sport that teaches obedience, tracking, and protection. It requires brains, not just beauty. Of course, our dog is handsome, but he’s really smart, too. We’ll see if we can train him. I’m sure he can do it, but can we?

There was a trial at the German Shepherd Schutzhund Club of N. Fort Myers this last weekend so I went to see what’s up. It was a small trial with several people getting their BH (Basic Handling) certifications and one trainer going for Schutzhund III – a very high level. The first video below is the obedience part of the BH – you also have traffic and crowd tests which I didn’t upload. The second is the obedience part of the Schutzhund and the third is the protection part of the Schutzhund. I didn’t video the tracking part of the Schutzhund III test.  In the protection part you’ll see the trainer walking straight down the field pointing at blinds that the dog is supposed check looking for the bad guy. He finally finds him in the last blind and corners him. Then some attack exercises. None of the dogs were perfect, but the two that I’m showing passed. You can’t go for the BH (which is mandatory prior to Schutzhund) until your dog is at least 15 months old. That will give us time to train ours as he is only 5 months. Take a look. You’ll see dogs that can protect you and cuddle, too. There’s a little wind noise, so if it bugs you, just turn your sound down. Nothing important in the audio.

Instead of carrying around lots of pictures of our “kid” in my wallet like most proud parents do, I’m just posting some more here for my friends to see.  He’s doing great and is now 32 lbs at 15 weeks. He’s got his stay, come, heel, and sit and lie down commands down pretty well. He greets all the neighbors on his walks and is having a darn good time. Click the pics for the whole picture.

Taking a moment to rest

Puppy at the ready.

On the march

One of the nice things about the area is that many of the shopping centers are pet friendly. You can bring your dog into stores and eat at restaurants in their outside dining area. One of my favorites is The Grape at Coconut Point. It’s not cheap, but the food is very good and worth the price. Great wine list with almost all available by the glass. If you want to relax outside with your pet and enjoy a nice meal, this is a great choice. Other pet friendly centers include the Bell Tower in Fort Myers and Miramar Outlets in Estero. At this time of year it’s great to be able to take your pet and enjoy the great weather.

Dining at The Grape

I got a chance a bit back to play Palmira Country Club in Bonita Springs the other day. As a Realtor, they gave me a free round so my wife and I and a couple of friends went to try it out. Beautiful place. Great course – 27 holes so you can make a number of 18 hole combinations to keep things fresh. Wonderful subdivision with very nice homes. A great place to live. We had a great time. If you’re interested in a home, it should be one of your considerations if you like to golf. A plug for me, if you’re interested contact me through mbohman.com. Click the picture for the full photo.

Here’s a link to pictures of the Swamp Buggy Parade in Naples. The Swamp Buggy races happen a couple time a year and their pretty fun. Here’s the link. And here’s a link to their web site. Gotta go to one.

Swamp Buggy Racing

We went to Molino’s at the Promenade for lunch yesterday. We were pleasantly surprised at how good our meal was. Then, on top of the good food, everything including our drinks were 50% off! We sat outside looking at the waterfalls and plants enjoying the good weather. Mom, doesn’t usually like Italian food, but this time she said we had to come back soon. The 50% off is good until the end of the year, so take advantage of a nice setting outside and enjoy yourselves. The Promenade is on the west side of the 41 just south of Coconut Point shopping center.

Looking handsome at about 12 weeks.

He’s here! – our new boy. We don’t have kids so our dogs substitute for them. This dog is the son of VA 9 Paul vom Bierstadter Hof and Destiny Wilhendorf. Paul is rated one of the top german shepherds in the world (#9) and Destiny is rated number 2 female in the United States. We’re very lucky to get a dog of such lineage and proud to be the new “parents”. His official name is Jens von den Oher Tannen. Here is a link to more pictures of Paul and here’s a link to Destiny in action – wow! Incredible dogs. On Paul’s page there are some links just below his picture of him in action. I just got home with our puppy and as any other doting parent, I’ll be adding more pics as we go along. Here are pics of his real dad and mom. If you click the pics, you’ll get a larger version of them.

VA-9-Paul-vom-Bierstadter-Hof

V5 (LG Germany) Destiny von Wilhendorf

Monkeys - actually Gibbons on their island.

My wife and I took a day and went to the Naples Zoo at the Caribbean Gardens (click for website)to see the new exhibit of giraffes. It just opened and their permanent home won’t be ready for a few months. The animals are well cared for here. The giraffes where very curious and interesting. We watched the alligator feeding which you can see in the video below. Sorry about the wind noise that comes up sometimes, but you can hear the information being given out during the feeding most of the time and it’s interesting. I shot it with my Droid X. First time doing that and I’m sure I’ll improve. We, also, took the cruise that goes out by the monkey islands and saw a lot of different animals as well as plants. It’s fun – go. Click on the pics for full size versions.

Polly who?

The new arrivals.

Feeder or Food?

Sleeping little kitties.

Where the antelopes roam.

Over the lily pond and to the zoo

The Big Green Egg

A friend didn’t read his Condo docs and found out too late that the association did not allow BBQ’s that were wood fired. He had this thing called the Big Green Egg which is a great smoker/grill that is fired by chunks of hardwood charcoal – no briquettes, please. Having to get rid of it, he gave it to me. Moral to the story – read your Condo/HOA docs. Also, good to have a friend that doesn’t. I’ve been doing a little cooking on it and it works great. I’ve been trying to video or at least take pictures of the results, but when the food comes off the grill, there is a rush to eat it. Pictures are put on the back burner and there is a feeding frenzy. I managed to get a couple of pictures, but missed most. Will try harder to get a video for you. Here’s a couple of pics that I managed to get. Missed the salmon pic and the rib pic. Here’s a link to the Egg’s website. I, also, have a Webber grill which is great, but the Egg does some things differently and better. Nice to have a choice to experiment with.
Click on pics for full pic. I’ll get better ones next time.

Roasted with Applewood chips. Gone fast.

Pizza Cooked at 550. Egg can cook at over 700.

The Sandy Parrot Website

I have to give this place a plug. The Sandy Parrot on US 41 near Alico Rd is unique in that not only does it have good music, a good bar, and great waitresses,  the food is actually quite good. Fresh fish, good steaks and burgers, and more (try the Tiki Rolls). Usually, a place called a Tiki Hut doesn’t have good food, but the Sandy Parrot breaks out from that. It’s great to sit out in the hut area and enjoy tropical weather and listen to the music. Early in the evening the place is filled with above average age adults dancing and having fun. As the night goes on the younger crowd comes in. It’s a fun place with good food that is busy even in the off season due to its popularity among the locals. If you want a casual evening with good food and drinks, definitely give it a try. Here’s a link to website at theSandyParrot.com. Reservations are a good idea.