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Well, this is being written on the plane. We had to leave our cottage by 10:00, so we stayed until the absolute last minute. Then we took our bucket of reject shells down to the beach and released them back into the water (*sniff*). There were already quite a few people on huge beach, compared to how it had been all week. By quite a few people, I think there were about 10....usually we had the beach to ourselves except for maybe two others sitting in beach chairs!

A quick peruse through a couple of shops, and then onto the causeway that carries you back to Fort Myer. Ben wanted to play Miniature Golf so we stopped at one along the way that looked a little challenging. But who was trying to compete? I was more than a little rusty but it did start coming back to me. Ben and Jacky must have cheated because they ended up in the stockade.

I think Ben and Maggie play a little more than we do. It was a little humid out there though.

I've never seen a miniature golf course with a boardwalk on it.

You have to jump your ball over this or you end up in the moat. I actually caught Ben's red ball as it is clearing the water. Look close!

Couldn't resist this sign ;)

This was set up as a Medieval castle and there was a good view of the castle grounds for this hole.

Would you believe it, Jacky actually won and I came in last...I told everyone winner had to buy lunch so that's what he did. We were getting short on time so we settled for Denny's.

Time for flying out. The flight was good, a little bumpy. We picked up Anna and a couple of her friends and had supper at Schlochsky's. Uli joined us for the ride home. The dogs were very happy to see us!

So now all that is left is memories, and the hives I now have all over my body from the bug bites (?). I hope to return when the Nat'l Parks are open!

 

 

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Last Day!

So sad, but vacations do tend to come to an end. Saying that, we needed to figure out what to cram in our last day. Ben and Maggie slept in as we need to rise a little earlier tomorrow to check out. After a late breakfast, we headed to Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) which has conservation lands all over the islands as well as nature trails. Of course, because of a large amount of rain in September, most of the trails were closed. We were able to go on a couple, one of which took us to an observations tower over the Sanibel River. How surprising there is a freshwater river on this small island! We saw a Lottle Blue Heron, a Juvenile Little Blue Heron ( who is white!), a White Ibis, and an alligator. There was this really cute frog sticking his head out of this beatbox. We really weren't sure he was real, but two of us saw him move (we think).

 

 

It was pretty hot and humid so we were very glad to get back into our air conditioned car and head back to Jensen's Marina. Hoping against hope for a glimpse of the manatees. No such luck again. But the classic picture of the Pelican on the post was too good to pass up.

 

Back to the cottage to eat lunch and then one more trip out to Lighthouse Point (of course to look for shells!)

 

It finally happened to be my lucky day and I found a number of shells I had not gotten before. But we wanted to spend our last sunset at our private beach so back we went. The waves were quite large I. This area and the whole beach had been rescultured . It was amazing. The boys had fun body surfing (for like 2 feet).

Watching the sunset and listening to the waves one last time...

Back at the cottage, we made hamburgers outside and tried to eat up all our leftover food (finishing the ice cream was extra hard ;). ). Then Maggie and I took over the kitchen table to sort out the shells. We had quite a few! It took about 2 hours and we finally finished about 11:30. By the end we each had a nice container full and there was a bucket full of pretty decent shells to return to the ocean. Remember, it's all about the hunt!

 

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Second half of Surf

So here we are again. After a couple of hours back at the cottage( maybe taking a nap, hmmmm?), we started out for a nature walk. Ok, we thought about taking a nature walk. But found out Bailey's Tract was indeed part of the National Refuge so it also was closed. And then it started raining, again.

But unlike yesterday, the rain did stop so we walked to the beach for a short stay. It was already pretty dark because of the rain clouds, but it did provide some good lighting for my pics!

Aren't they adorable? This is the short walk from the road to the beach. It's all very tropical.

And this is our beach. Doesn't it look peaceful?

We all did a little shelling. I was very happy to find this shell, because I hadn't come across it yet. This is called an Angelwing. Can't you see it? You don't find both halves very often. At least this half is in really good shape.

Soon it was too dark to see shells, but the water and the clouds were lovely. The colors from the earlier sunsets were not present tonight but we still enjoyed the quiet evening.

 

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Surf's up!

Ok, I just wanted to say that. Seriously though, I made Ben and Maggie get up at dawn to go out to Blind Pass. Jacky had been up for quite a while so no need to rouse him. Our objective was shelling - there where we were last night and tons of water fell from the sky on top of us. Today we were hoping for calmer weather and large shells, since this is the beach they are found at. I also found lots of birds. This is the one place where I've seen minnows, several sizes, in schools in the water. Apparently it's a well known breakfast place for waders because there were plenty.

Sunrise at Blind Pass

It was a little cooler this morning and although I found the water warm, Maggie didn't. We spent about an hour looking for shells (ok, I spent half of that photographing the birds), and decided to go back to the cottage and warm up. Ben found the only good shell, a really nice Crown Conch that we hadn't gotten before. I still haven't figured out the prize for bringing in the best shell of the day...

While he was out in the water, I was watching these guys...

This Snowy Egret was a bossy thing, but it enabled me to see that white plume on the back of his neck as he chased the other birds.

This Great Egret just watched that silly Snowy. He thought about taking the minnow ole Bossy got once but the Snowy was too quick for him.

I believe this is a Juvenile Great Blue Heron. He wasn't as excited to have me close.

 

After we got back to the cottage, we had breakfast and tried to figure out what to do for the day. These cottages have free bikes to ride with wonderful bike paths all over the island. So we decided to head out down the road -

We rode right past Ding Darling Refuge but the gates were still up. I wish we could have ridden our bikes on their bike trail though! Here is a little gazebo set up for bike riders to rest and get a drink of water. It sits off of the road but overlooks the Refuge.

 

Here is the only wildlife I could see inside the Refuge....tadpoles!

We were all getting a little hot so we stopped at Doc Ford's Rum Bar and Grill for lunch and a drink. Maggie and I had the Hurricane Allie (!), Jacky had a beer, and Ben a Mojito.

 

Bike riding in 88 degree heat and the same humidity is thirsty work! Doc Ford's also had the best fish sandwich I have ever had. Definitely should stop there if you're ever in the area.

I'm going to post this and maybe do a short one tonight. There's too many pictures I want to put up!

Banded Tulip Shells

 

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Rain, rain go away

Well, things started out ok. Jacky, Ben and I were in the living room when Maggie starts calling my name, telling me to hurry! So I run to the bedrooms where Maggie is pointing out our sliding door. First let me tell you we have a slough in our backyard. Big banyan trees, pond, turtles....and today there he was, our alligator! Yep, we looked all over the county for a good view of an alligator and instead he comes right to us. He was about 20 feet from our sliding door, floating in the pond. I hurried out to get a picture and the owner, Mark, who was there working on another cabin, led me to the back so I could really get up and personal. Thanks Mark! He was big enough, about 6 ft. Mark didn't like it that the gator did not try to move away from us at all. He'll have to keep an eye on him. I think we will all keep our eyes out FOR him!

 

This is our view out our sliding door...

That's quite an energizing start to the day. I thought we'd try for a cruise through the mangroves looking at the bird rookery, dolphins, manatees. There is a place right next to the Ding Darling Refuge that I tried calling. Wouldn't you know it, they are connected to the National Refuge so they also are closed until the government gets their act together. Strike one for the day.

Ok, let's try to go to Jensen's Marina on Captiva. They advertise that the Manatees are often seen off their dock. Ok, we'll give it a whirl...

 

Well, obviously we should be looking out for them!

Maggie, Ben and Jacky are trying but not having any luck...

This is the closest I may come this trip to 'Barbara Manatee' (veggitales). Strike 2 for the day.

Next, let's try the Sanibel historical village. Finally find it (really, the island's not that big). Of course, it is closed until November. We are in their slow season I guess. Strike 3.

I know, let's go to the beach and shell. I've even got Jacky looking for shells, although he doesn't know what he's looking for really, but he trys, for me ;-)

Oh, more excitement! There are dolphins feeding just off shore!!! Again, we've gone all over and finally find them on our private beach.

Maggie wants to swim with the dolphins so they tentatively walk out in the water. Ben steps on a ray and kind of loses his cool for a minute. That must have been freaky - your floor starts moving under your foot. Kind of like an escalator! I think I would have vacated the water! possibly for the rest of the trip...

Where did the dolphins go?

There's always birds though on the shore. Here's Ruddy Turnstones -

Maggie decided to take a break from shelling. Her creative side was calling!

Another large rain cloud is moving our way. We decide to pack up and head to Blind Pass where Sanibel and Captiva come together. This is where the big shells are supposed to be found. There's still 2 hours until low tide and the rain will just pass through quickly, right?.......

I have no more pictures of the day since the downpour started and I literally couldn't see to get back to the car. It didn't stop either. Absolutely and completely soaked, the four of us headed back to the cottage so I could make porcupines. Sadly, there is no sunset picture to end my post tonight. :-(

Instead I'll finish with a picture of one of the biggest grasshoppers you will ever see - about 4 inches long. He decided to join us at the beach, before all the rain hit. Or maybe he was looking for an ark to keep him safely dry...

Footnote. Maggie decided we should name our alligator "Manatee". Then we can say we've seen alligators and "Manatee". Clever girl.

 

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