Ahhh... six months of island life on Sanibel! We arrived November 1st 2021 and departed April 30th (celebrating Rob's three years of retirement). What's there to do on Sanibel? Well, nothing really. There are no street lights or traffic lights. 'Traffic lights' are human beings that direct traffic at strategic locations. Last call is typically 9 or 10 everywhere. The Tipsy Turtle is the closest thing to 'night life' with last call between 11-midnight. About 75% of the island is a wildlife preserve.
There are 26 miles of multi-use trails (walking/hiking/biking) throughout the island. Our favorite was Pond Apple right near our house. The beaches are a shellers paradise with all kinds of cool seashells. The wildlife is amazing. We have seen some of the oddest looking birds ever, a bobcat, screech owl, iguanas, lizards, etc.
We were a little nervous about our living accommodations since the pictures online didn't have it looking all that nice. It turned out to be perfect for us! Our favorite part of the house was our little lanai.
Being a local we could obtain a special parking pass. The pass allowed us to park free in the paid parking lots ($5 an hr) and we had special parking near most beach access areas.
Salli, our landlord, was wonderful and her husband, Billy, couldn't have been any nicer. Billy is one of those guys you meet and feel like you've know him your whole life. He owns Billy's Rentals and has two locations. Rob was so bored 😴 he was hired to work at Billy's. It was really to give me a break from 24/7 of Robisms.
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| First day of work! |
We needed a vacation from the beautiful island of Sanibel, so we spent a week in Key West. Our vacation coincided with Thanksgiving, definitely different than our previous Thanksgiving's, but not bad considering where we were. Definitely missed our family.
We were able to bicycle 🚲, go to the beach ⛱ , and we even got a boat ride (thanks Billy).
Our next visitors were Derek and Dianne Benda who arrived in Cape Coral by their sailboat from Pensacola on their way to Key West.
Friends Jay and Kelly Yeager from Herrington Harbour, live in Cape Coral, we were able to meet several times. They introduced us to a Cape Coral dive bar (The Dek Bar) and took us out on their boat to Cayo Casto and to North Captiva Island. We had drinks at a placed called Mango's.
With being in Sanibel we were able to drive across the state to spend Christmas 🎄 in Vero Beach with family. It made me realize how much I missed being with our families. We didn't get to see our kids 😢, but we were able to spend it with our 2 great nephews, it was awesome being around little ones.
We rung in the New Year with a quiet evening at home with a surf and turf dinner made by Rob. As we traditionally do, we started New Year's Day with brunch and Bloody Mary's.
The middle of January we had a visit from Heather and Chris, we had to put them up at the Kona Kai. The Kona Kai is Sanibel's friendliest motel, according to their website.
February we celebrated Nick's birthday by having dinner at Cielo. Hope you enjoyed your birthday Nick, because we did, lol 😆.
We took another vacation to Key West for a week. We were able to spend some time with Derek and Dianne, they even took us out sailing.
This visit to Key West allowed us to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the same couple at the same location as last year. We have a standing date for every year. There was even a Terry and Sheila Potts sighting.
Rob was able to meet up with a friend from school, they hadn't seen each other since 1978. Linda and her husband Duncan live on a boat 🚢.
The night before the kids arrived we squeezed in dinner and sunset at the Mad Hatter, a very small restaurant, our reservation was made a month in advance.
The weather was perfect when the kids arrived, water was too chilly for Rob and I, but didn't stop the kids. It was great having Heather, Chris, Nick and Shae visit at the same time ⏲, only wished David could have made it also.
The best was Heather and Chris getting married 🤵👰🏼♀️ on the beach ⛱. When Rob picked them up from the airport ✈ he took them right to the Fort Myers Court House for their 10 am appointment to obtain their marriage license, they arrived exactly at 10, we were all on pins and needles.
The agenda for the girls were mani's and pedi's on Thursday afternoon and the boys went to happy hour at George and Wendy's. We met them after our afternoon of being pampered. We had to improvise for seating in the car, I drew the short seat.
On Friday, we spent time on the beach before the big event. Heather had an appointment for hair and makeup, while everyone else was in their rooms taking naps.
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Mani's, pedi's, hair, and make up, all done at the Sanibel Day Spa.
Our dinner reservations were not until 8 pm, so we had hors d'oeuvres (steamed shrimp, whipped feta, cheese and crackers) on the patio before heading to the beach.
We all packed into the car with me in my special seat 💺, they actually forgot I wS in the back, I had to knock on the window for someone to let me out.
We met Patricia Slater, the wedding officiant and Frank Simonetti, the photographer at beach access #7 (parking for locals only). The ceremony took place right on the beach at sunset.
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We had dinner reservations at Traditions on the Beach. They took a little bit of time getting us seated, but once seated they took excellent care of us.
The couple had their first dance 🕺 💃!
Cutting of the cake!
The cake was delicious, purchased at Jerry's, the local grocery store.
We ended the evening dancing 💃 🕺 the night away at Tipsy Turtle. I have videos, but what happens on Sanibel stays on Sanibel.
The rest of the weekend was very laid back for the most part, spent time by the pool and on the beach ⛱, rode bikes 🚲 🚲, farmer's market, and just hung out.
I will not mention any names but one happily married couple did lose their bikes, but no problem we found them a day later, so close to where they should have been.
It was sad when they said goodbye and headed back to Maryland.
There was Manatee Madness on Sanibel, Art For A Cause. There were decorated manatee statues on display all over the island. The manatees were auctioned off to aid Community Housing & Resources. I was determined to find everyone, missed two. I even had Heather assist me in the search.
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| Manee Houser by Myra Roberts |
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| Happy by JP Almonacid |
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| Martha Fudge-Bel by Andi McCarter |
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| Hey Mrs. Postman by Laura Ball |
Another thing that is big, is to paint shells and leave them for people to find. You are supposed to post a picture to the Sanibel Shells Facebook group and keep or rehide the shell. I rehid the few shells that I found. Some of the shells on the site are pretty amazing.
We met Ed Saternus, local photographer, on the Pond Apple Trail. He would always point something out to us or tell us the Eagles were in the nest. It was a pleasure meeting him on the trail. Here are a few of his Facebook pictures:
Easter Sunday we actually got up and went to the Sunrise 🌅 Service. I was very surprised at the amount of people.
In April we had a visit from Derek and Dianne, as they were making their way from Key West back to Pensacola. The four of us to a road trip to Marco Island, with a stop for lunch in Naples at Tin City. Being with boaters we had to check out the Winn Dixie dinghy dock, it was very nice.
Right after Derek and Dianne left, Dave and Sharon Flynn arrived. We had a great time spending the afternoons at Blind Pass beach where we found some of the best shells.
There are plenty of bars and restaurants on the island 🏝, our favorite was Mudbugs (best happy hour), good food, music and awesome bartenders Bob and Carrie. It was also the closest place for us to walk to.
During our six month stay we tried to visit all the restaurants on Sanibel, we missed a few but we were able to try most of them. We adventured to Captiva for a few of their restaurants.
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| Dante's Shrimp Scampi |
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| Sweet Melissa's Fish Stew |
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| Doc Ford's Ceviche |
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| Bubble Room's Bubble bread |
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| Blue Rendezvous' Boeuf Bourguignon |
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| American Legion's cheeseburger and fries |
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| Love Boat's Gator Tracks & Sinfully Cinnamon Apple Pie |
A few of our favorites:
Best Burger 🍔 American Legion
Best Dessert 🎂 Bubble Room
Best Wings 🐔 George and Wendy's
Best Football Bar Sanibel Grill
Best Oysters Mudbugs
Best Crawfish 🦐 Mudbugs
Best Ice Cream 🍦 Love Boat & Pinocchio's
Best Guacamole 🥑 Farmer's Market
Best Happy Hour Mudbugs
Best Bike Rental 🚲 Billy's Bikes
Best Pizza 🍕 Dante's
Our Sunday routine on the island 🏝 was to head to the farmer's market. I always had to walk around like it was my first time. This farmers market had a variety of food, Italian, Greek, Indian, German, Filipino, Mexican, Maryland style crab cakes, and of course fruits and vegetables.
It was nice being in one place for a six month period and to be able to cook home cooked meals and have all my belongings in one place.
We seen a few Sunrises and Sunsets, I'll admit more Sunsets than Sunrises. The best Sunset was when we would have dinner on the beach.
We obtained a storage unit and moved all our "stuff", including 2 bicycles 🚲 🚲.
Tears of sadness 😔 are streaming down my face as we leave this beautiful island 🏝. Sanibel will always hold a special place in my heart and who knows we may come back. The good news is we are off to our next adventure, stay tuned as I think we may have some interesting travel plans in our future.
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