Day 24 on Captiva

Early up this am to go to Fort Myers on missions of the day.....drive was about 45 minutes as we took a shortcut  this time.  Arrived at Best Buy just as the store opened at 10:00 and had to wait behind 2 others to pick up new and old computers.  We then headed to Val Ward Cadillac Repair Department and arrived about 10:40 for a 11:00 appointment.  We had excellent and quick service and were on our way by 11:45 with a repaired lift gate and a clean car.

Our next stop was a nearby Verizon store for Al to have someone check his Blueberry ear piece that quit working.   We received no solution to that problem and they do not carry a replacement that Al could use.  Adjacent to this store was a Chick fil a where we had lunch of a spicy chicken sandwich and chicken nuggets.  This is the fastest and most efficient fast food restaurant chain by far!

Our next stop was a spin at Sanibel Shops Outlets before we drove back to the causeway.  The only thing we bought was Polo Black After Shave Gel for Al. Even thought the name of the outlet  has changed,  the stores are still the same.

 

We drove across the street and shopped at a Publix and picked up a pork tenderloin and some large shrimp for dinners.  As we drove over the causeway back to the islands, it looked like the island of Sanibel was evacuating there were so many cars coming across.  But the traffic did not slow down our side.

 

For dinner Al grilled skewers of shrimp, mushrooms, and onions that I marinated with my own recipe of liemon juice and zest, garlic, oil, squeeze tomato paste, red pepper flakes, lemon pepper, kosher salt, black pepper, and pinch cayenne.  I served with my Parmesan cheese grits and green salad.   We are beginning to enjoy our dinners at home more than going out especially when we serve glasses of wine. I need to get Al to make phone photos of our dinners to share as some look as good as they taste.

Day 20 on Captiva

Early this morning, Al insisted that we go to Fort Myers to Best Buy to have my broken laptop diagnosed.  (I have already mentioned what we found out in an earlier post.)   After coffee and pastries, we took off about 10:00 for the hour drive to Best Buy even though  our appointment with Geek Squad was not until later. 

 After Randy told us the screen was cracked and would be expensive to replace and may not even work.  But they could transfer the files on the old hard drive to a new one.   So we went shopping for a new laptop and I bought the HP Envy x360.   We left the old and new computer for a free transfer with the Geek Squad....a 24-48 hours wait to be ready for pickup.  I will be out of commission doing blogging for a few days.


 We stopped for lunch  about 2:00 at the Lighthouse Waterfront Restaurant  at Port Sanibel Marina not for from the causeway in Fort Myers.  This a beautiful setting right on the water.

Al ordered a Corned Beef Rueben with Corned Beef, Swiss, Sour Kraut, Tomato Remoulade on rye with fried potatoes.   This was ha huge sandwich...Al only ate half.   I had Chicken Salad with Grapes served on a Buttered Croissant, Sprouts, LTO, Pickle, and fruit.  Both were delicious and perfect for lunch with a beautiful view of the marina that Al snapped with his phone camera.

Heading back to the islands, traffic was bumper to bumper leaving Sanibel all the way over the causeway  just as it was this morning but in the opposite direction.   Lucky for us we on the moving side.  A quick stop at Jerry's to pick up snapper for a meal at home.   Arrived back at the cottage after 4:00.  I was not hungry this evening because of our big, late lunch and decided not to cook the snapper tonight.   Al was nice enough to eat the rest of his Reuben for his dinner which I grilled to warm.   Think we were both a bit tired after the trip to Best Buy. 

Day 21 on Captiva

Today was a busy day with a planned trip to Fort Myers to see and do a lot.  After coffee, we began our drive at 8:15 with our first stop at Bunche Beach with the hope of seeing Skimmers and a Flamingo who has been spending a lot of time on this beach.  We did not see them but there were a lot of  birds and a lot of photographers here. 

 

 Al made some great shots of  the Fort Meyers skyline and the Causeway view seen from the beach.

 

A view of Sanibel shoreline:

Some of the birds we spotted:

 

 

 

 

 

And Al on the beach among the trees:

 

After about an hour of walking the beach we headed to Six Mile Slough.

Note: "The Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve is over 3,500 acres of wetland ecosystem. The cypress slough catches and slowly filters rainwater on its way towards Estero Bay. A myriad of animals like otters, alligators, turtles, wading birds, and more live at the Slough year-round. "

 

The weather is almost perfect today and we saw a lot of wildlife on the boardwalk at the slough including snakes, alligators, turtles as well as birds.

The snakes included:

Cottonmouth

Black Snake

Alligators we saw:

 

Sunning Turtles:

And the birds:

 

 

 

 We enjoyed a packed lunch in the picnic spot near the butterfly garden in the parking area.

 

We then made our next stop at Tanger Outlet Center and purchased some belts, shoes and Polo cologne.

And then a stop at Publix which was across the road from the outlet:

Being that was the last stop of the day, we drove back to the house and had dinner at home.  Too tired to cook, we had a frozen Bertolli Dinner of shrimp and pasta,