Day 26 on Captiva

Today we went to the 75th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair and Craft Show which is a juried show, both scientific and artistic divisions, with participants from all over the country. The displays offer an education in shell identification and an appreciation for the artistry of shell arrangements. This is held  on the grounds and inside The Community House on Sanibel Island. One room holds scientific exhibits and another holds craft exhibits. Below are some of my favorite crafts made with shells on exhibit.

We enjoyed the fair seeing all the wonderful exhibits and crafts.  We also met Christine Lemmon, an author who lives here on the island.  We purchased another one of her books, "Sand in My Eyes", which she kindly autographed for us.


Cecilia and Al at the Shell Fair.

 We then stopped at Sanibel Cafe for lunch.  Cecilia had the shrimp quiche, Al ate the Reuben sandwich, and I had the shrimp salad. This restaurant has shell exhibits in all the tables as shown below.
 
We then shopped at the Tahitian Gardens where I bought gifts for Jacob and Hannah's birthdays...knit shirts from Life is Good shop.

We headed back home and spent some time at the beach. Dinner tonight was at The Mad Hatter, one of our favorite restaurants on Sanibel/Captiva where we enjoyed the sunset as we dined. We started by sharing an appetizer of Truffled Oysters that were roasted with truffles, garlic ,lemon, and thyme beurre blanc.  Cecilia and I had Spiced Watermelon Salad, fresh watermelon tossed with roasted pine nuts, cayenne pepper, fresh mint and feta cheese served atop organic baby arugula . Al had the Mad House Salad, mixed organic baby greens, sliced pear & candied walnuts tossed with the house shallot & red wine vinaigrette, garnished with raspberry coulis & crowned with tempura Gorgonzola. For entrees, Cecilia and I had the crab cake dinner with spicy remoulade and yucca fries.  Al dined on Dayboat Scallops pan seared  and panko and black truffled crusted,carmelized beurre blanc with yukon mashed potatoes. We finished our great dinner by sharing a dessert of Menagie Trios, a combination of creme brulee, death by chocolate, and ice cream with raspberry sauce. What a great dinner and day we had!