The Rest of Sanibel

I live-blogged our Florida trip the best I could but now that we're back and I've uploaded and tweaked the rest of our vacation pictures, there's much I left out. Time to fill in the spaces.

It'd been ten years since we'd last been to Sanibel. Back then, renting bicycles was a thrill. Now, that wouldn't do. We rented scooters, with Emily riding with me and Clara and Rachel riding a scooter of their own. Rachel knows how to rock the pink-flame helmet. (I tweeted Emily in her helmet here.) (More about the ride and the rest of that day here.)





Since I'm marking this occasion, why not a picture of where we ate that evening? Here you go!



Some after dinner boogie-boardin' as the storm clouds gather:



You come to Sanibel not for the pristine beaches and the ocean views and the laid back lifestyle but for the shells:



Something else we've never done before: parasailing! Only the girls got to do it. (Here's an explanation of why we didn't go along.) The driver's of the boat got some pretty good pictures with our camera:

Back ashore, it began to rain. We hustled in to a nearby funky cafe for shelter and a quick snack. A sole, live musician played guitar under the awning of the outside eating area and his soft jazz music was piped in:

Like all afternoon showers in South Florida, the rain didn't last long and the sun came back out. Back to our room. Here's where we stayed:

Some pool and ocean time until it was time to eat again. This time, an earthy seafood place. Good, fried food served in paper trays with only plastic forks and knives to eat with and paper towels to keep you tidy. We liked the vibe:

But we couldn't tarry long. Sunset called us so we raced to Captiva to get the best view we could. But storms clouds from the hurricane across the Gulf made for a less than spectacular sunset. A nice silhouette of the girls, though:

And a nice windswept mother/daughter portrait of Emily and Clara:

The next day we had reservations on a boat headed for Cayo Costa for some serious shelling. (Here's the original post.) But once again the clouds threatened:

On the Gulf side of the island, things looked less ominous. A Winslow Homer-ish portrait:

A screen grab from Lost? Close:

Lunch/dinner at another fine cafe:

And then some more boogie boardin' in the storm-tossed sea:

Time to close things out and move on down the highway. (Here's the post of our final day.) Some final shots:

The view south 75 yards from our room:

Like something from Joseph Conrad or James Michener:

Our room was the middle right:

I have a memory from ten years ago of eating breakfast at a cottage-y little place set back among some trees. Breakfast in paradise, as I recall. We never did find a place that matched by memory and I don't know if this is the place but it'd do:

Serving up an all-American breakfast with an all-American girl. Rachel awaits her eggs and bacon:

We had miles to go and an another overnight stop before beginning the second phase of our trip. But this part was over and we were glad to have spent some time in a place that held so many fond memories. Let's shove off, then. We'll catch ya' later in Branford, Florida along the shores of the Suwanee River.