Sea Otters in our backyard.

While we were eating a late New Year's breakfast we were greeted by a pair of sea otters playing in the lake behind the house. They quickly swam across and into the canal that goes under Whiskey Creek Drive. They then bounced around in some aquatic weeds that they used as a playpen. We lost sight of them for a minute until one startled us by surfacing about 8 feet away from us and the seawall. Sandy put Bailey, who was going nuts in the house. Then we watched as they rounded the point and headed for the other side of the lake.
We celebrated New Years with friends who had their yacht parked in the marina in downtown Fort Myers. At 11:00 pm we got off the yacht to join the throngs who had gathered to watch the ball drop. It was zoo-like. When we stumbled on a less crowded section with a decent band playing I insisted on staying put as opposed to pressing into the crowd again. I said, "You already made me give up the yacht for this and I went along, and now you want me to leave this "relatively nice" spot to get pushed around. No thanks!" We ended up dancing in the spot until 2014 arrived. Doug and Sherry were with us.
I made small sandwiches called costinas made with proshutto, blue cheese, garlic, shallots and toasted italian bread. They tasted better than they looked. I hope that you have a safe trip home.
Love,

Stu