July 13, 2010, Day 4

OMG! On my early morning sunrise beach walk I saw an alligator in the ocean! It was very close to shore and 5 to 7' long. I stopped to see what a man was photographing and he and I stood and watched for 20 minutes or more. I think I will swim in the pool today. .

The rest of the day went more calmly. After the alligator event we went to Noah’s Ark Thrift Shop. If you have never been, you don’t know what you are missing. It is Tuesday and Friday, behind Saint Michael and all Angels Church. It opens at 9:30 a.m. and the parking lot is full. We only bought one item – a cute Abercrombie & Fitch top for Shelby - $3.00.

Several years ago when we still drove Missouri to Sanibel I bought quite a lot of stuff there. One thing I remember was a large glass base lamp filled with golf balls. The plan was to remove the golf balls and replace with sea shells. When we got home I sat the lamp on the checkout counter of my antiques shop and promptly tripped on the cord, knocking it to the floor. Golf balls and glass went flying and it made a loud bang. People ran for cover! Hauled it all the way home safely and then I broke it.

Lunch was at Cantina Captiva and we approved. I have read mixed reviews, but we had good food and good service. To- go- boxes, plus take out desserts for dinner tonight.

July 12, 2010 (Shelby’s turn)

Woke up with camera in face.

Nana strikes again.

Light House Café for breakfast.

Apparently the earlier you go the less people.

Found and fought with a folding cabana from our storage closet.

It won.

Went and bought an umbrella for the beach.

The three of us attempted flying a kite on the beach.

Finally it took flight.

For five minutes.

Ate leftover pizza for lunch.

Set up umbrella and chairs on beach.

Day 3, still NO cake!

That will end soon!

Went on a cake hunt at Blue Giraffe.

Had light dinner.

Went shelling.

Cake fast ended.

Coconut Layer Cake.

Chocolate Fantasy Fudge Cake.

Turtle

I had an exciting early morning walk on the beach! There are fresh turtle tracks in front of Ocean's Reach! Unfortunately, it is a false crawl. . . While I stood there trying to figure out the tracks, the volunteer turtle checker from SCCF came by and explained it to me. He flagged and photographed the crawl tracks. It is very exciting, but also very sad that the turtle didn't stay on the beach and lay her eggs. Maybe she was confused by the sand sculpture in her way.

Sue

July 11, 2010 (Stacy's turn)

We slept in. Usually we eat our first breakfast on island at Lighthouse Café, but decided it being Sunday; it might be more crowded than usually. We’ll save it for tomorrow morning. Also, Shelby (she’s 17) woke with a bad migraine. We sent her back to bed with medicine, dark room, and cold wash clothe. Poor baby.

The beach is not overly crowded, but still, fairly full. My plane seatmate changed her family’s vacation plans at the last minute. They were supposed to go to Gulf Shores, but because of the oil spill decided to try Sanibel on the recommendation of a friend. So I’m wondering how many more have changed plans, and are first timers to Sanibel.

It’s been a very lazy day. Either Mom or I have stayed in the condo in case Shelby needs anything. It’s been a gorgeous day! Thankfully, around 4:00PM, Shelby finally felt well enough to roll out of bed. We then decided to go to Bailey’s and look for ideas for a wedding gift. My cousin was married here last month, and we thought a gift from Sanibel would be appropriate.

We ordered pizza from Schnapper’s Hots. We had never gotten a pizza from there before, before we’ve always ordered from Island Pizza. They both are very good, but Schnapper’s veggie pizza was $8 cheaper. (Personally, I think I preferred Schnapper’s Hots. If I’m remembering correctly, not as greasy)

After dinner, Shelby felt well enough for a walk. We took a short stroll on the beach. Shelby likes to look for tiny shells, under ¼”, usually smaller. In the 30 minutes we were looking, she found Banded Tulip, Horse Conch, Lightning Whelk, Olive, Florida Fighting Conch, Gulf Oyster Drill and a Florida Cone. My first find this year was a Nutmeg and Banded Tulip (my 2 favorites!) lying together in the surf.

Again, we went to bed early.

July 10, 2010

I always say I'm going to do a trip report, and then I get lazy. This time I am going to try to post each day. . .

Who: Me - Sue, my daughter - Stacy, my granddaughter, Shelby. (The three S's.) I mention this for RC.

We drove to St. Louis Friday evening and stayed in a hotel by the airport.

Sat. morning we took the hotel shuttle to the airport and boarded SWA at 10:00 a.m. and arrived a RSW at 1:30 p.m. YEA!

I called Tom, from Sensible Car Rental, as soon as we landed and he picked us up within 5 minutes of getting our luggage. He drove us to his office where we filled out papers and from there we had a short 15-minute drive to Sanibel.

As always, my heart got very happy as we went over the causeway. Stacy was driving and I could fill my eyes and soul with all the wonderful sights, smells and sounds of the ocean. Shelby was in the back seat and she was also grinning from ear to ear.

Our first stop is always Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce on the right at the end of the causeway. To save time, (we weren’t yet on relaxed island time) I was in charge of picking up the newest magazine, Stacy was in charge of brochures on any new adventures & tide charts, and Shelby was in charge of menus. We were in and out quickly!

Our next stop is always Schnapper’s Hots – Shelby’s favorite. We got hot dogs, fries, and drinks. Oh, and also an order of buffalo wings. Then we headed for the condo. It is like coming home when we pull into Ocean’s Reach. We enjoyed the ocean view while eating our dogs.

After we ate we checked in with Dru and Andy at the Ocean’s Reach office and toured the new butterfly garden and shell washing station. We then got around to unloading our car (we travel very light). After a quick walk on the beach and some pool time we went to Jerry’s and stocked the kitchen.

It was an early to bed night for all of us.