Day 27 on Captiva

Yesterday, Al's phone would not open...the screen seems not to be working so it is time to buy a new one?  After talking with a technician it seems that we will not be able to fix it.  We had early coffee and pastries and headed to a Verizon store in Ft Myers to see if we could get it working or buy a new phone.  Jack and Loy stayed at the house and cooked breakfast for themselves while we headed in search of a Verizon store which opened at 9:00.  The store did not have the model that he wanted and he looked at some other phones.  We had lunch at Chick fil A while Al studied his options of what to do and decided to order the Blackberry phone. Al decided after much consideration to buy a new Blackberry Z30 which had to be shipped to him as the stores in Florida did not stock the model that he selected.  The phone was to be delivered on Saturday.  The plan was to come back to the store and have them download with contacts, etc
. 13620 Tamiami Trail Ft Myers Fl

On the drive back, we stopped at Bailey's for fresh shrimp for dinner tonight.  It was about 3:00 when we got back to Captiva but we spent a bit of time at the beach.  For dinner we grilled the shrimp after marinating in oil with lemon and garlic. Served Sweet Thai chili sauce with the shrimp.   Served with grits and arugula salad and rolls. Dessert was Tiramisu from Bailey's Bakery.

Day 26 on Captiva

Today was spent doing whatever we wanted to do.....reading, surfing the internet, walking, walking on the beach and lounging on the beach.  Not much to post today.
Jack cooked a delicious dinner of grilled Salmon with sides of Dutch Yellow Potatoes and Arugula salad with tomatoes, onion and garlic lemon vinaigrette.  We dined inside by candlelight listening to music. 

Day 25 on Captiva

We went to DDWR with Jack for an early morning drive and photo shoot after coffee and pastries.  We all got some great photos as there were a lot of birds especially white pelicans.

Jack got these great shots of the White  Pelicans in flight:

These are pictures by Al:

 

 

I tried to capture the sounds and birds of the morning in video:

 

 

 

Jack shot these 2 birders as well as the birds. 

At least we did not look too bad from the back:

 

After our birding expedition, we drove to Bailey's for lunch and dinner supplies.  Jack found some hot brisket at the Deli which we had in sandwiches for lunch.  After lunch we were off to the beach.

 

We went to Traditions for dinner and music tonight for 6:15 reservations. Music was Father Al & the Jazz Congregation with vocalist Paul Ventura shown below with Andrea :

 

Al and I shared a mozzarella and tomato salad.  Jack and Loy shared Julius Caesar Salad ...both Delish!  Loy ordered the Scallop Special and Jack had Manicotti. Al had Veal with scallop special and I had Colossal Lump Crab Cake.  For Dessert we shared an Amaretto Caramel Flan Brule.

 

A great evening of food, fun, and music.

 

Day 24 on Captiva

Mid-morning Visitor by the Front Door

 

Top 3 Photos by my brother Jack

This beautiful Great White  Egret landed on a tall plant next to the screen porch door and sat there several minutes posing for photos.  During the courting, breeding and nesting season from February to July, the egrets take on beautiful plumes and also take on bright colors around their eyes, known as lores  which show so beautifully on this egret. We just had to prop open the door to  photograph.  What an exciting bird sighting and we did not have to leave the front porch.

 

For lunch, I put out ingredients of sliced ham, sliced turkey, strips of red pepper that I roasted, cheese, avocado, tomato, romaine,  arugula and ciabatta bread with oil and balsamic and let everyone prepared their own "hero" sandwiches.

 

Everyone but Jack who is still working spent the afternoon on the beach.  Beautiful afternoon of sun, sand, and dolphins.

 

We left at 5:00 to get to Doc Ford's in Captiva at South Seas before the crowd.  Early birds get a table without waiting and we got great seating on the outside deck.  We began with oysters on the half shell and Mojitos for Loy, Jack and I,  Al had a Manhattan.  Loy ordered Panko shrimp -

Jumbo shrimp crispy fried with mashed potatoes and house cole slaw, Jack had clam chowder

chock full of sea clams, sweet onions, carrots and diced potatoes, and  Captiva Crab Cakes pan-fried beach style, served with "jicama cole slaw and finished with a superb key lime butter sauce, ("hi-ca-ma - the "water chestnut"of South America).  Al had Texas Baby Back Ribs basted with our one-of-a kind BBQ sauce, served with smashed potatoes or French fries and our house slaw.  I ordered the  Calamari Salad lightly battered calamari tossed with mixed everglades greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, a sweet and sour vinaigrette dressing and topped with crispy wontons which was large enough to share with everyone.  We had fun sharing our food getting a taste of everything.  Jack tried the  Doc's Cure and Loy the Tropical Breeze.  two more of the rum drinks.

Day 23 on Captiva

Al and I were up early as well as Jack.  Everyone fixed their own coffee and chose their own breakfast from juice, fruit, cereal, pastries or whatever.  We all did our own thing...I took a beach walk, Jack worked on his newspaper, Al did surveys,  and Loy took care of some business and then went to the beach.  I made turkey sandwiches with lettuce and tomato for lunch and everyone ate when they wanted to.
The beach was the place to be for the afternoon except Jack was still working to meet a deadline,
Great weather at the beach as seen here:

Dolphin at Play

More Dolphins

 

 The next main event of the day was sunset

For dinner, I prepared Steamed Mussels with a light Italian sauce served with pasta, arugula salad, and French bread.  We dined on the front porch since the night was warm.........a great ending to a perfect day on the island,

Day 22 on Captiva

Our Sunday morning routine has become an early trip to the  Farmer's Market to buy produce...tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, etc  and homemade mozzarella cheese and fresh flowers.  Today we bought a tropical flower arrangement with birds of paradise and a bouquet of Freesias.  Flowers for my brother Jack and wife Loy who arrive from Norris, TN this evening.

We stopped at Sanibel Café for breakfast/brunch.  Al had link sausage and eggs with hash browns and toast and I had shrimp salad with melon, fruit and muffin.  We were surprised that we no wait for a table....usually a wait.

We spent some time on the bay watching the brown pelicans before getting ready to drive to Punta Gorda  Airport about an hour and 20 minute drive.

We left about 3:30 to meet Jack and Loy's Allegiant Flight from Knoxville scheduled to arrive at 5:54 allowing plenty of time to be on time.  Their flight was late arriving about 6:15 but it took almost 45 minutes for bags to be unloaded.   We had trouble finding our way from the airport back to I 75 since it was dark and the directional signs were hard to read or nonexistent.  After getting lost, we finally found our way back to I75 S.

We decided to stop at Timbers for dinner, always a great place to start vacations with a seafood dinner.  After ordering drinks, we ordered oysters on the half shell to share but Jack does not like  so we shared 3 ways.  Jack ordered New England Clam Chowder which is really good here.  He had the Captiva Crabcake and Loy ordered fried oysters dinner.  Al had the Prime rib special of the night.  I had Caesar salad and peel n eat shrimp.  Great food! Great Company!!!

Before leaving we bought mussels at the fish market for tomorrow's dinner.  Always thinking of the next meal????

Day 21 on Captiva

It is already Saturday...the week goes so quick.  Today is another cloudy and cool day...not a beach day.  We had breakfast and then drove into Sanibel midday to pick up a few things we needed before Jack and Loy arrive tomorrow including dinner for tonight.
After coming back, we spent some time on the Bay watching the few birds that were there.  The photos below show how cloudy the day is.

This is the way to the bay from the guest house:

Cloudy day....looking over the bay and to the bridge:

Birds in the bay:

For dinner tonight Al made grilled Red Snapper with Soy Orange Glaze using marinade of soy sauce, olive oil, fresh ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, honey, orange juice and zest. The flavor was good but almost too soft texture with the marinade.  Served with potatoes and salad.

Day 20 on Captiva

Today was a lost day.  I do not remember doing anything today....must have been a stay inside day....maybe we had some rain and cool weather.  Nothing exciting to report.
I do know that we had grilled steaks for dinner with portobello mushrooms sauce.

Thought I'd share a few pictures of the Guest House and drive :

 

 

 

Day 19 on Captiva

Today was a beautiful day for the beach.  I am going to let the photos speak for how we spent the day.  We saw a lot of  dolphin pods swimming by and several boats were sailing.  It is hard to catch a picture of the dolphins but I manage to capture a couple of tails.

Walking to the beach for sunset::

The sunset was worthy of photographing today:

Sun is down.

 

While we out for the sunset we had pork chops marinating in a lemon garlic herb oil mixture.  For dinner Al grilled the thick chops that came out very tender, tasty, and delicious.  We served with fresh asparagus (sauteed tonight, not grilled) and salad of tomatoes with hot rolls.  Yummy dinner!