Day 16 on Captiva



Early morning walk on the beach.

I was out early today to collect shells on the beach.  We had a lot of wind last night and I just knew the morning would be good for shelling.  My best find was an intact sand dollar!  I also found a lot of fighting conches, many of them still alive that I threw back into the ocean.   There was a wide assortment of shells including olives, calico scallops, augers, cones, angel wing, shark's eye, murex, whelk to name a few. 

Pelicans arriving on the beach early morning.


This was President's Day and usually one of the busiest day on the islands.  Today was no different! We went into Sanibel to pick up shoes that Al ordered and traffic was backed up on San-Cap road almost to DDNWR.  We cut off on Rabbit Road and took the back way on West Gulf Drive to Casa Ybel Road into Periwinkle. This saved a lot of time and sitting in the traffic jam.
After leaving the shoe shop, we did a back drive into Jerry's and shopped for dinner.  We then returned to Captiva using the back way to Tarpon Bay Rd.
I made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for a quick lunch on the porch. We then headed to the beach with our books to enjoy the sand and surf. here were over 12 surfers riding the waves. This was an absolutely beautiful day of sun and warm breezes.
We stayed in tonight due to the heavy traffic and congested restaurants. I made  Dijon Chicken with Panko Crust that I cooked in the oven. Found the recipe on the internet. Served with whipped potatoes and a tossed salad of baby greens. 
That's all for the day.

Day 15 on Captiva

We decided to not go to the Farmer's Market bcause of all the traffic in Sanibel for the Arts Fair.  Instead we took a drive through DDNWR but we did not see that many birds but did get a few good photos of what we did see.

In this photo below of the Great Blue Heron, I captured a fish as he was jumping out of the water:

Back to the house for turkey with tomato and avocado sandwiches. Then we drove to some shops in Captiva and bought a few items at Captiva General Store which has about anything you would need.

For dinner I cooked ham steak with whipped potatoes, sliced tomatoes, and  salad...pretty much a comfort foods meal.  This was a quiet day for us.

Day 14 on Captiva

Today we attended the Arts and Crafts Fair  in Sanibel....over 100 vendors of art, pottery, jewerly, and more exhibited their wares. We bought some pottery to match some pieces that we bought last year from Carol Kohnke of St.Petersburg. We also purchased an etching of a Kingfisher by Bob Lafferandre from Port St. Lucie.  The show this year seemed to have more and much better artists than last year. 

 

We then had a late lunch at Doc Ford's having fried calamari served with a tangy cocktail sauce  and     fresh fried grouper sandwich served with tartar sauce on a whole wheat bun  and fries.

Since we had such a late lunch, we had a light dinner - I cooked a frozen dinner of Bertolli's Pasta with Shrimp.

Day 13 on Captiva

Photo from Feb 2011

This morning we went to Ding Darling's educational center for a 10:00AM talk by Nationally recognized birders and authors Don & Lillian Stokes on Bird Identification.  Their presentation centered mostly on identifying shore birds and gulls at Ding Darling. It was very entertaining and informative.

We headed back to the house and had a lunch of soup and sandwiches.  It was too cloudy to go to the beach.  We spent the afternoon reading. I finished reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett....am behind on my reading since everyone else read this months ago. I have the DVD to watch one of these days.

Tonight, we cooked pan seared pork chops served with buttered noodles, fresh green beans, and grapefruit segments on a green salad with grapefruit vinaigrette.

Day 12 on Captiva

Today was Thursday and Al had a 9:00 appointment for a massage...this really helps his injured shoulder. We went to Sanibel Cafe for breakfast which I have written about in earlier entries. Al ordered his regular  the bagel and lox platter.I ordered the quiche of the day which was a great seafood quiche. We did quick shopping at Jerry's and then made a drive through DDWR.

We did not see many birds since it is about 2:00 and most birds are in the cool of the trees. But we did see a lot of ibis feeding along the road and this alligator shown below. He is about 6 feet long.

Tonight, we returned to the Lazy Flamingo for more oysters on the half shell and dinner of Fried Oysters  and Mesquite Grilled Grouper with Caesar salad.

Day 11 on Captiva

Note: I am behind with my daily posts...have not written for the last week.  I do post date my entries so that are in chronological order.....today is actually Feb 21 but this will be dated Feb 15 when I post.

Today is sunny and warm already in the hi 70's. Al walked and afterwards we had breakfast on the porch.  I made eggs with leftover filet from last night and served with grapefruit grown on the property.  Enjoyed a restful day on the beach.

For dinner, we went to Doc Ford's and began with oysters on the half shell.  I had Captiva Crabcakes- pan-fried beach-style, served with Jicama cole slaw and finished with a Key lime butter sauce.  Al had Pankpo fried shrimp- crispy fried with french fries and cole slaw.
    

Day 10 - Valentine's Day

It is always fun and romantic to be on this island for Valentine's Day especially if you are with someone you love! And if the sun is shining bright! We started out the day exchanging cards with coffee made and served by Al. And we continued to exchange cards through out the day....mine homemade and Al carefully selected at Hallmark's. I had already received fresh flowers from the Farmer's Market  Al took his walk and I was on the computer.  We enjoyed breakfast of sausage and eggs with our Florida citrus.  The day turned cloudy around noon but then back to  sunny in time for us to spend the afternoon on the beach with some good books.

Our special dinner included filets perfectly prepared by Chef Al.....have you noticed his food is always perfect?  I prepared a portabella mushroom and onion sauce to accompany the steaks and corn on the cob,  green beans, and chopped salad with my Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing. Wines served were a white and a red Villa Antinori  Toscana. And there were more cards with dinner.