Fri, Jan 1, 2010 - Ft Myers Beach, FL

Happy New Year!

We picked up Dawn and Steve in the dinghy shortly after 9 am and drove across the harbor to Bonita Bill’s. Everyone was eager for some coffee and breakfast to help cure the slight hangovers we seemed to be experiencing. We had a nice breakfast at an outside table and commented on how quiet things were this morning. After our meal we went on a little dinghy ride up some of the nearby channels. We took some photos of a bird that, so far, we have been unable to identify. We need to get a bird book that is more geared to Florida and the Bahamas.

The forecast for the remainder of the day called for rain and we could see the cold front line getting closer. We decided that it was good day to explore the area by car. We piled into Steve and Dawn’s rental vehicle just before noon and set out to see Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Before leaving Ft Myers Beach, we made a stop at the Red Coconut RV Park to have one of our fiberglass propane tanks refilled. On the way to Sanibel, we called Nick and Jane Ong, more summer neighbors from our condominium complex in Clear Lake, to find out the address of their condo on Sanibel so we could see where they spend their winters. Nick and Jane were in Iowa for the holidays and hoping to be back in Florida sometime during the first week of January. We planned to visit them by boat soon and this little trip would help to orient us to their location.



Leaving Ft Myers Beach, it started to rain very hard but by the time we crossed the bridge to Sanibel and found a place for lunch, it began to let up. The Blue Giraffe was our choice for lunch and it was located in a nice outside shopping mall with many interesting stores. Afterwards, we continued down the road and found Nick and Jane’s condominium complex on West Gulf Drive. We checked out the complex and walked through to find the beach on the Gulf side. The shells on the beach were amazing! Nick and Jane had told us about the shelling here and we had also read about the fabulous Sanibel shells in our cruising guides, but we hadn’t imagined just how special this beach was. Had it been warmer, drier and less windy, we certainly would have spent more time walking the beach. We’ll save that adventure for another day.

On our way to Captiva, we checked out a state park and a swimming beach. A big sign on the path to the beach made it very clear that this was not a “clothing optional” beach!


After returning to Ft Myers Beach and the Matanzas Inn, Steve and Dawn went back to their room and Gale and Maureen went back to the boat for short naps. We met up again for dinner and walked downtown to eat at the Beach Pierside Grille. After dinner, we called it a night and made a plan for a boat ride tomorrow.