March 13th – With the POD fully loaded a full day early, we made a plan to take “a day off” and head to Sanibel and Captiva Islands. I haven’t been there for a few years but in the 30 or so years that Mom has lived in Florida, we’ve made many a memory there. This would be our last hurrah before we get back to the final days before “moving Mom”.
After winding through Ft Myers in the high season traffic, we arrived at the bridge, paid our toll and started across. Wind surfers were having a blast on this breezy day, their colorful sails whipping back and forth, tossed up and down in the sparkling aqua waters. It was an exciting sight to watch them as we traveled over the spans connecting Ft Myers to Sanibel. Arriving at noon, we headed straight to our favorite lunch spot, Sanibel Cafe.
Amazingly, we got seated immediately at the last table for two. We ordered a couple glasses of Pinot Grigio, getting our drink on as evidenced below:
Mom ordered their shrimp salad served with lettuce, tomato with a side of fresh assorted fruit and a grilled croissant with their homemade raspberry jam. I ordered the Rusty Pelican which I thought would be easier to explain by snapping a picture of the menu:
This cafe has been around since 1984 and each table has a glass top over a navy backed shadow box of shells. Here’s a bit about that:
Too full to even think of ordering their delicious key lime pie (even to split), we headed out to Captiva for a final look. Captiva has a wildness about it as well as high-end real estate, hidden from sight by strategically curved driveways, some lodging, great restaurants like the Bubble Room and The Mucky Duck. It was fun to drive out until the road ended and then we headed back through Sanibel to its end at the lighthouse with a pier and shell studded beach. Having given away her beach chairs, we’d grabbed an old picnic blanket, Mom’s visor and Kindle, a cooler and my iPhone to capture the beauty. First a selfie:
Then the walk:
A group of friends:
After watching for dolphins (which sadly didn’t appear), we headed back to Pinocchio’s Ice Cream for a refreshing treat (and also our tradition).
I had Gator Stew – vanilla with swirls of peanut butter and studded with peanut butter cups – and pale green (Gator perhaps?) and Mom had the Heath Bar Crunch. The smallest bowl was still substantial and we scored the best Adirondack chairs on their deck, in the shade and finished every bite.
A great day off indeed!
What a fun day! The pictures are beautiful and I absolutely LOVE the selfie!