GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: SANIBEL ISLAND, FL

DAY 209, SUN. FEB 12 TO DAY 213 THURS FEB 16, 2012

SANIBEL I.

We left Fort Myers Beach at 2:10 P.M. to take advantage of the high tide. High tide is a big asset when coming into Sanibel as the Sanibel inlet is shoaled in on the port side, also the wind had calmed down since the morning. We had spent a restless night on the mooring ball with the strong winds making our mooring line groan. Upon waking up to fierce winds, we wondered if we would be able to make the short trip around the corner to Sanibel. Our friends, Peter & Betti West called to say that they had decided not to go with us. Thankfully by 1:00PM the winds calmed down and we were able to get under way. We arrived at 3;10 PM to a sleepy little marina next to Grandma Dot’s restaurant. The marina staff was there to help us with our lines and electric. They also told us that they would be delivering the newspaper and warm blueberry muffins each morning. What a nice welcome. Pat's sister Barbara and brother in law Joe arrived at 6:00PM. We had dinner on the boat and walked around the marina catching up on the news. On Monday we went to the Ding Darling Refuge and toured with a naturalist on their tram. We spent the day exploring the ground and museum. This is one of our favorite things to do on Sanibel. That evening we were all invited to dinner at the home of our good friends Dick and Paula Sette. Our friends Evelyn and Bob Barker were invited also. It was so nice to see friends from home again. We had a lovely evening, with good conversation and sumptuous food. On Tuesday we set off for Captiva. We roamed the beach, and had lunch at the Mucky Duck. Joe being Joe, told the waitress that he was from New England and expected his fish not to be over cooked and dried out. The waitress didn’t say a thing, but 5 minutes later she came rolling out a window that was mounted on wheels, announcing a window seat for the table from New England. What a hoot. We wandered around Captiva and hit all the beaches on the way home. Wednesday Barbara and Pat took the bikes and went to the Light House beach for some sister time. That evening we went to a new restaurant The Lazy Flamingo. It was packed and the food was good. Our last day, Barbara and Pat went on the kayak tour. This was a wonderful guided tour through the preserve in Sanibel. If you love kayaking and being out in nature, with all of the birds, fish and wild life, this is the trip for you. You are guided out and then have the rest of the day with the kayak. It was a wonderful experience. We all had cocktails on the bridge that night with our friends Bob and Christine Davis, the former owners of Glory days. We then went to Doc Ford’s, for a delicious dinner. Doc Ford’s was our favorite restaurant for this trip to Sanibel. What makes Sanibel so special is that 70% of the island is set aside as a natural preserve. This severely limits growth, makes property scarce, and keeps the RE prices very high.