Camel from Kyzylkum

North Port

WE WENT TO NORTH PORT in Southwest Florida for the very first time in the summer of 2007. I had heard from my girlfriend Tanya from Buffalo about the Warm Mineral Springs in the area; she went there for vacation and liked it. We decided to check it out. We rented a house near the Springs and spent a week there. It was a good time—our days were consumed by the Warm Mineral Springs, and in the late afternoon we drove to Manasota Beach. The only thing that was strange was that most visitors at the Warm Mineral Springs were Russian or Polish immigrants. Many lived around the Warm Mineral Springs. Also, many Russians vacationed there from other states. Sparky said, “For the first time I feel like a foreigner in my own country.” Nowadays, a lot of Americans can be seen spending a relaxing day at Warm Mineral Springs—they finally came to appreciate this Florida gem, too. Vacation rentals were and still are a very popular business there.

Warm Mineral Springs are naturally formed mineral springs. Its temperature is a consistent 85-87 degrees year-round. The water is low in oxygen (anaerobic). There is a belief that water has been trapped underground for over 30,000 years at depths over 7,000 feet. Under this depth and pressure, the water is geothermally heated to 97 degrees Fahrenheit. When it reaches the surface, the temperature drops to between 85 and 87 degrees Fahrenheit. The underwater survey states that eight million gallons of water a day are running the natural way on the surface and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico.

Warm Mineral Springs’ water has the highest mineral content in America and ranks as the third-highest mineral content in the world. There are over fifty-one different minerals found in the rich water at Warm Mineral Springs, each one offering its own unique health benefits that are absorbed naturally through the skin, helping to remineralize one’s body and promote health and healing.

Chemical analysis of the water reveals that Warm Mineral Springs’ water is comparable to the mineral contents of the waters of such famed international spas as Vichy and Aix Les Bains in France, Hot Springs in Arkansas, and Baden Baden in Germany. The Warm Mineral Springs' mineral density results in high buoyancy for bathers, which helps to sustain effortless swimming and the joy of weight-free movement. The only drawback is that the water smells like sulfur because of the mineral content.

In the summer of 2008, we rented a big house in North Port and brought our grandchildren and children with us for vacation. Natasha came with Kyle and Connor, Enzo with his parents Andrew and Amy, and us. Unfortunately, Amy had to go back home to Kansas after two days due to unexpected job demands. We introduced them to Warm Mineral Springs and our favorite, Manasota Beach. Every time Enzo took a dip into the Warm Mineral Springs, he exclaimed, “Stinky water! Stinky water!” Enzo was five years old then, but his “Stinky water!” cry became our secret code for that vacation, and it stays in our memory forever. Even now, when we want to go to the Warm Mineral Springs for a day, one of us certainly will say, “Let’s go to ‘Stinky water!’” The house we rented during that visit included a swimming pool, so our grandkids had an entire week of bliss there.

The Great Recession hit in 2008. It was caused by the 2007 financial crisis when the breakdown of trust between banks occurred. Deregulation permitted banks to employ hedge fund trading with derivatives. That caused the subprime mortgage crisis—interest-only loans became available to high-risk borrowers who were most likely to default. Low-interest rates were offered in the beginning. But these “too-good-to-be-true” loans were reset to a much higher rate after a certain period. At the same time, home prices fell. Many homeowners were trapped—they couldn’t afford the payments, and they couldn’t sell their homes. That created the financial crisis that led to the Great Recession.

In Florida, the Great Recession was much more pronounced than in Northern Virginia. People lost their jobs, and every second house was for sale. When the house sale was unsuccessful, the home was simply left to the bank, and all belongings were sold via garage sale for pennies. Developers left the area with unfinished business. Brand-new houses were sold in North Port at unbelievably low prices. With sadness, we observed the situation in Florida, but we had our jobs waiting for us at home in Virginia and felt secure, despite what we saw around us.

On the morning of our last vacation day in North Port, I said to Sparky, “Let’s go see houses here that are for sale. Why are they so cheap?” And off we went. By the end of the day, we gave an offer on a three-bedroom, two-bath house at 4594 Appleton Terrace in North Port. The house was brand new and owned by the bank. The next morning we went back home to Virginia. All of the paperwork and transactions were done via the Internet. In less than one month we became the owners of our second house, our Florida house in North Port.

Since we were still working, we decided to rent out our house in Florida as a vacation property for most of the year. Also, it would be available for our vacation and for family members and friends for free.

For the next few months in Virginia, I visited “second hand” stores, looking for items to furnish and decorate our Florida house. Then we took a ten-day vacation, packed Sparky’s red truck, and drove to Florida. We had only one week to make our new, empty house livable and ready to be rented as a vacation property. Sparky and I worked from the morning to late evening, we visited many garage sales, we brought in furniture, we decorated the walls with pictures, and we equipped the kitchen. By the end of our vacation, the house felt warm and cozy. I even planted trees, bushes, and flowers around the house. It was ready to accept our first tenants. I launched what would become a successful eight-year vacation rental business. I managed all operations via the Internet. The cleaning of the house, after each tenant left, and a repair when needed, was done by the local Russian managers, husband and wife, whom we hired for that. I really enjoyed this little business.

Natasha went for a Florida vacation with the boys just once, and they stayed in our house there. My cousin Bella from Chicago and her husband Emil stayed in our North Port house twice. Pasha, Alesya, and their children, Romik and Julia, from Cleveland, also stayed in our house. They are relatives of my cousin Vitalik’s wife, Ella. My girlfriend Tanya from Buffalo stayed in our house while vacationing in Florida. Our friends from Austria, Zoya and her husband Walter, stayed with us there for a few days. We first met Zoya when she worked in NIH (National Institute of Health) in Maryland for one year. She was visiting us often in our Virginia house at that time. We went to our North Port house every year in December before Christmas to take care of things, including doing deep cleaning, and getting it ready for the next vacation rental season. When we go to the Warm Mineral Springs now from Valencia Lakes, we try to drive by our old house on Appleton Terrace in North Port just to see how the new owners take care of the house. The house has a sentimental value to us and to see it well-kept gives us satisfaction.