Shelling in Sanibel Island

We left Ft. Myers mid-morning, and sailed across the bay to Sanibel Island.  I couldn't wait to go shelling!  I hadn't been to Sanibel since I was a little girl :)

Donnie was learning way more about seashells that he cared to ever know!  I have to admit, he's got a good eye for shellin'.  It's like 'shroonin', only different!

It's been awhile since Willis has been tied to a dock at a marina....he had twitchy tail to get off the boat.  No dice.

 

After we got checked in to the Sanibel Island Marina, we decided to have lunch at Gramma Dot's right at the marina.  It's been voted best food on the island year after year, and we can see why.  Our lunch was fabulous...the best meal we have had by far since we left Marathon.  Donnie had a grilled Mahi BLT, with smoked mayo and homemade potato chips.  His sandwich was ah-mazing!  Of course, everything goes better with bacon, in Cap'n's mind :)  I had a chicken salad fruit plate with was also delicious.  It was in the low 90's so I really didn't want something hot to eat.  We were so stuffed, we decided to take advantage of being on the dock, so we turned on the A/C, and took a siesta.  I highly recommend it!  After that, we got motivated and gave Marquesa a much needed bath.  She was so salty from being out for dayz :)

Late in the day, we finally got smart and rented bikes to explore the island.  Best five bucks ever spent.

We rode out to the Sanibel lighthouse.  We had sailed past it earlier in the day, on the way to Sanibel Island Marina.

say cheese!

These crazy looking things are all over the beach...they are an egg casing to shells.  Strange.

Sanibel Island is the perfect setting for a beach wedding.

We stopped at the fishing pier where this snowy egret was getting a free meal.

We had a nice chat with the fisherman- from Carmel, Indiana!  Small world.  He had a good day.  He caught his limit in sheep's head right off of the pier.



Before dinner, we went dinking around the canals at Sanibel.  It was a nice ride.  We somehow managed to make a big circle and end up back in front of the marina.  How did that happen?!

For dinner, Cap'n grilled some rib eye steaks and baked potatoes and I steamed some broccoli.  Add a "Nancy" cocktail, and we feasted like kings today.  To top off the perfect day, we went back to Gramma Dot's for a giant piece of chocolate cake. OMG.  It was all we could do to roll ourselves back to bed!  I highly recommend Sanibel Island Marina.

And the love affair with Sanibel Marina continued...when we woke up this morning, an elf had delivered two fresh baked blueberry muffins and the morning newspaper.  Very nice!  We returned the bikes, caught up on the blog, and now it's time to cast off the dock again.  We are headed to North Captiva Island today.  We plan to anchor out the next few nights as we explore the islands- North Captiva, Cabbage Key, and Costa Cayo.  We won't have any WiFi so we'll catch up with y'all in a few days.  We got a nice breeze today, it's time to go sailing!  See y'all on the flip side!