Day 6 Captiva

On Thursday, we thought we would be inside because  rain was forecast but it never came. We had our usual coffee and then drove to Sanibel Island (15 minute drive) and had lunch at The Sanibel Cafe, one of the best for breakfast/lunch on the island.  Tables are museumlike glass cases containing delicate fossilized specimens from the Miocene and Pliocene epochs.  Food  is all fresh and cooked to order. Al had bagel and lox with all the trimmings and I had shrimp salad ( made of whole shrimp, not chopped) served with melon, tomatoes and fresh baked muffin served with homemade jam. To see more about this restaurant, go to their cute site.
We checked out the shops at Tahitian Gardens ...Al bought a new jacket with so many pockets that he'll never find anything but he loved the jacket. Shown below: 

I found a chambray shirt that I had been looking for.  Made us both happy shoppers. At the "Good Life" shop Al bought a license plate cover and a shirt on clearance. At another shop, I bought another Sanibel building block for my collection of Cat's Meow Village...this one is of Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
Stopped at Jerry's, the other  supermarket on Sanibel, for dinner provisions. And at this shopping plaza, I found another pair of shoes, this time a pair of Sperry white topsiders at Footloose and Al found a "Good Life" tee shirt at the H2O shop.

Tonight, we dined at "Pollack's Diner" on Panko-encrusted Grouper (Fresh) with lemon butter sauce, fresh asparagus, and angel hair pasta with garlic. Served with wine.  Prepared by Chef Theresa and Sous Chef Al.

Day 5 Captiva

Wonder if the groundhog saw his shadow today. Hope this winter will soon be over. Started Wednesday in the usual way with coffee made by Al. Cannot remember when I last made a pot of  coffee. Walked back to the dock overlooking the bay and watched the pelicans and shore birds. Pictures to follow once I download. Then breakfast on the porch...omelet with cheese and ham.  Drove to "Downtown Captiva" and dropped off a package to Fed-Ex. Then we shopped at South Seas shops...bought some black patent slipons....always need new shoes?? ...but they were half off! And stopped at deli for wine.  Stopped at the post office to mail some cards but it was closed. Hours are 10am-noon and 2-4pm for future reference.  So we went to Lazy Flamingo  for some oysters and beer to kill  time til P.O. opened.  Then to the beach for the rest of the afternoon.

Hardest decision on the island is what to do for dinner. Dinner tonight was  at The Green Flash, a waterfront restaurant on Roosevelt Channel overlooking Pine Island sound.  Al dined on pan seared scallops in a saffron, lemon sauce with sides of spinach and fries. I ordered crabcakes with corn and black bean salsa and caeser salad. Yummy good!!! We do eat good in Captiva!

Back tomorrow with more of our fun and food.

Day 4 Captiva

Pictures show the property and rental guest house where we are staying for six weeks. Tuesday was a quiet day in Paradise...some what cloudy and cooler than yesterday. Spent the day doing nothing but relaxing and watching reports on one of the worst winter storms this season across the country. Mike,our neighbor, reported that the roads at home were covered in 1/4" of ice. Sounds like it will be worse on Wed.

Problem with TV signal has been fixed by Rene but had leak under kitchen sink this am and also lost wireless connection for a short time.  No problem compared to the weather problems across the world. 

 Did not make it to the beach today...just stayed inside. Had coffee and scones early in the am  and lunch on the porch. Had planned a steak dinner but the meat did not look good...purchased at Publix on Sat but looked too aged to eat.??? So we had a Bertolli  dinner of Chianti braised beef and penne with a salad.  Was an easy but quite good dinner.

Ended evening with TV....NCIS and Good Wife are some of our faves on Tues.

Day 3 Captiva

We have had a somewhat lazy day here on the Island....guess we are officially on "Island Time".  We had coffee and pastry on the porch....beautiful sunny day.  Enjoyed brunch of egg/pasta omelet with bagels, bacon and OJ.  After that we strolled on the beach and then set up chairs and enjoyed the sun and surf with Al occasionally dozing.

Had drinks on the veranda and then dinner at the Timbers, one of our faves for seafood. Aland I shared oysters on the half shell. Al dined on triple shrimp platter with sweet potato and veggies and I had shrimp scampies with rice pilaf.

Early night....fell asleep on couch watching TV.

Day 2 Continued

After lunch of ham sandwiches and chips, we drove through Ding Darling Wildlife Reserve to check out the birds. We saw most of the usual ones-white and brown pelicans, egrets, herons, roseate spoonbills, woodstork, ospreys, willets, grebes, blue winged teals, cormorantss, anhinga, etc. 

Drove into Sanibel and picked up some more provisions at Bailey's.

Dinner in tonight. Made veal francese, angel hair pasta with garlic sauce and salad. Enjoyed with some great wine.

Day 2 on Captiva Island 2011

 Hello.  Al and I are back on Captiva Island for a six weeks stay. Last year I was not very good doing my daily post but will try to do so this year as I can type with both hands. I use this blog as a diary to remember details of our trip so bear with me if some of this is not very interesting.

We left on our journey on Thursday at 8:00 AM with plans to divide the trip over 3 days driving about 8 hours the first 2 days. We left just in time as it snowed at homethe day of our departure adding another 2" of "white stuff" but roads were all clear and traffic was light.

 It was like driving through a Winter Wonderland as the trees and landscape were covered in ice and snow along the way on 77S for the first day. Our first stop was Rock Hill, SC at a Quality Inn at exit 82 off 77S, a very convenient stop just off the interststate. Al is a creature of habit and loves to stay with the same plan every year but I mixed it up this year by changing the routine and route for part of the trip.  Enjoyed dinner at Ruby Tuesday .... had spring rolls appetizer, Al had the barbecued baby ribs and blue cheese coleslaw and I had crabcake dinner.  I always include our meals in these posts to make you hungry!

The second day we traveled to Ocala, FL where we have stayed several years at the Best Western. The day warmed up to the hi-60's by the afternoon. For this part of the trip, I stayed with our routine as a compromise with DH......same motel,  same room, same place to eat. Ate at Olive Garden and Al ordered same meal - Chianti Braised Short Ribs with Rissotto and I had shrimp, clams and mussels served over capellini- new menu item.

On Saturday morning, we finished the last leg of our trip....a 4 hour drive to Captiva, making a stop in Ft.Meyers for a carwash and shopped for groceries at Publix. Sunny and in the 70's!!! Arrived at our "final destination" about 3:00PM.  After unpacking the car...always bring too much...we went to eat at one of our fave local spots....Lazy Flamingo...Al had  fried oysters with fries (Yes, not the healthiest meal but he's allowed  just once) and I had grouper cake and slaw.

We are settled in to our rental house here on the Island.  Enjoying coffee and pastry on the screen porch in this island paradise as I write this entry.
 
Time to check out the beach!

Beginning of Captiva Trip 2011

Posts for our February-March 2011 Diary at Captiva Island, Florida.