Pickleball In Ft. Myers

The Lee County Senior Games were held again this year at the Wa-Ke Hatchee Recreation Center in Ft.Myers on Saturday and Sunday the 26th and 27th of February. Rich and I decided to head down on Friday and stay Friday and Saturday night and not have to drive back and forth each day. We packed up in the morning and headed out early afternoon.

We had not even eaten any breakfast before we left so we stopped for a quick lunch at Subway. Just off I-75, the Subway was located at one of those combination store/gas stations which also featured a DQ and novelty shop. Of course the beverage of choice for Rich's sub was the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard.
After lunch we wandered around the store a little and found this rack of t-shirts that were three for $10.........so we looked through to see if there were any we liked.
This is one of the two that we chose for Rich!

And he found this brown one for me. I thought it fit me to a T!

And then it was back on the road. Next stop was our hotel.
We had been thinking of staying at the Best Western, but Louann and Nadine found this one, and were coming in on Saturday, so we elected to stay here at the Clarion and meet up with them.

Upon arrival we learned that the computer system had gone down, so we had to wait along with about four other couples ahead of us for about 15-20 minutes before we were checked in. The hotel featured a complimentary breakfast in the morning, a Sam Seltzer Steakhouse, and a great Tiki Bar in the pool area, which was crowded both Friday and Saturday nights. Our room was pool side. Dinner on Friday night was at the Golden Corral........

The doubles competition was on Saturday, and check in time was at 8:00 am. The games began right on time at 8:30 .

The men's doubles were first. Woman didn't need to check in until 11 :00 am. Buddy was the only other person from the RV park to play in this one, and he partnered with Ron Monson from Kings Point. Unfortunately - they lost their first two matches....not able to medal this time. Linda and Diane played and took first place in 60-69 age division, Nancy and her partner Jan took first place in the ladies 50-59. Louann and Nadine played some tough matches and played well - but no medal for these ladies this time. And Gail and Gloria also played some really tough matches, including the one they lost to their friends from Tanglewood,Linda and Diane.

Meanwhile, Rich and Gary took the gold in 60-69 age division without losing a match or a game. They came close in a couple of games, pulling from behind to win.

We were back at the hotel before 4:00, met up with Louann and Nadine about 5:15 and headed for the Ft.Myers Ale House. Dinner was absolutely great. Everyone had something different: Salad, Jambalya, Cajan Chicken Pasta. Nice portions and well prepared. Always a good time with these two.

Singles were being played first on Sunday morning, so we didn't need to check in until 11:00, so we could take our time packing up and checking out. Buddy was back on Sunday to partner up with Nadine, and Bruce was there playing with Louann. Once again - all four of them played really well, had some real close matches, but just couldn't get to the medal round. Nancy Meyer and her partner took first place in the 55-59 age group, and Jimmy Maynard and Gail Brown from Tanglewood took first place in the 70+. Both of them made it throught the winners bracket!

Once again, Rich and Linda made it through the winners bracket without losing a match or a game. Some pretty close nail biting games, but they hung in there for the Gold!

It was a long day. Started at 11:30 and finished around 6:00. There were still teams playing when we left for home. A quick stop at Cracker Barrell to get some dinner and we were home just before 8:00 pm.