Sun, Jan 24, 2010 - Captiva Island ('Tween Waters)

Last night we had talked about meeting for breakfast around 8:00 or 8:30. The three of us (Lucy included) loaded up in the dinghy shortly after 8:00 am and headed into shore and up to Mark and JoEllen’s room where we roused them from slumber and told them we would meet them on the beach for a walk along the seaside. We had some time to enjoy the fresh air, pick up a couple of interesting shells that had washed up along the beach and let Lucy run. After our stroll, everyone walked back to the resort for a delicious buffet breakfast.

It was a partly cloudy morning with temperatures in the mid-70’s and an easterly breeze forecast to change out of the southeast – a perfect day for a sail to Cabbage Key with JoEllen and Mark. We made the short trip in the dinghy out to Blue Heron, pulled up the anchor and were on our way by 11 am.
During our two-hour trip, we were accompanied at times by dolphins and Mark was able to get some remarkable photos of the animals on his iPhone. (We’re still trying to get a good picture of one!) An unexpected diversion occurred when Lucy jumped off the back of the boat! Gale saw her crouch and leap – evidently on dolphin patrol.
Immediately, she realized the folly of her decision and started swimming toward the boat. Fortunately, we were in a place where we had room to turn around and the current was in Lucy’s favor. Mark stood on the starboard side stern steps and we all encouraged Lucy to swim toward us. Mark grabbed her by the back of the neck and assisted her aboard. She shook herself off and seemed happy to be out of the water. Hopefully, she will think twice before she jumps in after a dolphin the next time.

We arrived at Cabbage Key at 12:40 pm and were assisted into a slip by the Harbormaster. Upon disembarking, we checked out the Gift Shop and the shower/bathroom facilities on the docks before going to shore. As mentioned in a previous entry, Cabbage Key is an old time resort and has done a good job of retaining the flavor of its heritage. Unlike last week when we stopped by, the place was busy with lunch patrons. We saw several of the resident birds and tortoises on our walk up to the Inn. We asked to have a tour of some of the rooms and the hostess showed us two of them. Afterwards, Macy from the office took us to see a few of their rental cottages. This is a great place if you are interested in getting away from the hustle and bustle of life.





After a terrific lunch, we took a walk over to the water tower and a short distance down the nature path – then it was back to the Gift Shop to pick up a few items. It was already mid afternoon and we needed to get back to ‘Tween Waters before dark so we waved goodbye to the Harbormaster and were on our way. The sail back was a bit choppy but with a SE wind gusting up to 26 knots it didn’t take long to make the journey.


We were secure in our anchoring spot at 5:45 pm with just enough time to grab a jacket, tuck Lucy in for the night, dinghy to shore and make it to the ‘Tween Waters Restaurant for the big playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints. JoEllen and Mark went up to their room to change while Maureen and Gale settled in with some appetizers and drinks for the kickoff. The game ended up in overtime and that’s where the Vikings lost their chance to go to the Superbowl in 2010. Maybe next year – Go, Brett Favre!!