Day 41 Captiva 2019

Friday, Mar 15
Today is our last day of our stay in Captiva.  Tomorrow we will head for home.  The day was cloudy, not good weather for being at the pool or beach.  Maybe that was for the best, since we finished packing the car all except the few things that we will load in the morning.
  I did take a stroll on the beach about 10:00 just in time to see the Thriller on an early tour.

We ate breakfast of eggs, zucchini with red peppers, toast, and juice.  We then walked over to Rene's but he was not in the office so we went to the bay and sat for awhile.

 Birds across the bay

We returned to the pool and sat under the gazebo while it sprinkled rain and enjoyed the last of the ice cream.  Rene stopped by to visit and say good-bye.

For our "last dinner" on the islands, we went to Lazy Flamingo and sat at the bar for our last oysters on the half shell.  Al ordered the Fried Oyster Basket (what else is there?) and I had Clam Chowder.
Not much of a sunset tonight as it is still cloudy.  Early to bed early because we get up early in the morn.

Day 33 Captiva

The temperature this morning in Captiva was 62 vs 23 in North Canton.  Glad to be here in warmer weather.  Al went for his weekly therapeutic massage at Tween Waters Spa  and I walked the beach.  It was very windy but a beautiful day as seen in the video:

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on link at the bottom of email.

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And windy enough for flying a kite:

I made cold cut sandwiches for lunch served on the porch.  We spent the day reading and whatever.  Margarethe had a crew come in the afternoon with a load of white crushed sea shells to refill the driveway.   We stayed inside until that was finished.
We had a casual dinner at the Lazy Flamingo about 5 and the place was almost full but we grabbed a couple seats at the far end of the bar.  Had the usual ice cold oysters on the half shell.  Ordered Clam chowder, 1/2 Caesar salad with  Mesquite Grilled Grouper, French Fries  that we both shared.

We arrived back at the cottage just as the sun was setting and I was able to make these photos from the lot across the street:

Day 2 Captiva

Monday was another quiet day of rest and relaxation that began with coffee and bagels with cream cheese.  Made some pictures of the eagles nesting in the tree on adjacent property.  We have a great view of the nest from the pool as shown in these photos. There are 2 young eagles and we have seen 3 adults at the nest.

After lunch of turkey sandwiches with iced tea,  we spent the afternoon at the pool.   The pool heater does not seem to be working properly but the water is still warm enough.
Early dinner tonight at Lazy Flamingo at 5:00. We had our choice of seats at the bar as only 2 were occupied as well as most of the tables were empty.  But by the time we finished people were waiting to be seated.  We shared a dozen fresh oysters served on a bed of ice.  Al had fried oysters with French fries and coleslaw.  I had fried grouper with  the half Caesar salad and grilled garlic bread.  We shared both dinners enjoying everything as always.   I had grouper leftover for sandwiches another day. Enjoyed with beer.  Menu is pretty much the same but more wines have been added to the selection.

Not much of a sunset tonight as there was a cloud bank that moved in.  We were back home from dinner just after the sun set.

Day 27 on Captiva

This morning we went to Bailey Homestead Preserve to check out  Shipley Trail and more. To learn more about this homestead read this link.  We arrived about 9:30 and was greeted in the parking lot by a gathering of cattle egrets and ibis feeding under the trees.

 

 

Spotted a Phoebe near the manmade lake by the entrance.

 

There was also an alligator sunning on an island in the lake. I first thought it was a log.

 

We saw many beautiful wildflowers on the trail.

 

At the reservoir ponds there were many anhinga sunning, several cormorants feeding, many snowy egrets,  brown pelicans, great blue herons, and more.  But no storks to be found like last year.

 

 

  

 

And Al was pointing the way to Pond Apple Trail.

 

After our hike,  we had brunch at Jerry's Café which was not busy...we walked right in to a booth.  Al ordered eggs, sausage patties, hash browns, and rye toast. I opted for  lunch of seafood salad on lettuce and tomatoes with red pepper strips, cucumber slices, egg, and fruit.  We shopped for coffee, wine, sandwich meat and a few other items. 

We spent the rest of afternoon at the beach....was quiet day at the beach ....nice and breezy and  warm.  We saw a pod of dolphins swim by....saw at least 6 or 8. 

 

Dinner tonight at 5:30 at Lazy Flamingo....just in time to get seats at the bar.   Started with fresh oysters on the half shell.  Al ordered fried shrimp with fries and I ordered half Caesar salad with grilled mesquite grouper and garlic bread. And of course we shared our dinners.

Day 12 on Captiva

Took an early morning walk on the beach hoping to find some shells after the rain yesterday, but to no avail.  Click on arrow below to view the beach at that time of morning.  If you open this post in email, you will need to go directly to my blog to view a video. Link at bottom of email.

 

Back to the cottage for coffee with Al on the porch.  

 

It was a quiet morning even with the construction on the house(mansion) next door.  Al had an appointment for a therapeutic massage at "Tween Waters Spa at 10:00.  After he returned we had tuna salad sandwiches with chips and iced tea on the porch.  We spent time at the beach reading and relaxing.

Dinner tonight was at Lazy Flaming for a casual dinner at the bar about 5:30.  We got there just before the crowd came and watched the sunset from our seats at the bar.   Al ordered the fried grouper basket with fries and coleslaw and I had the half Caesar salad with a skewer of shrimp.  We shared the dinners.  The couple next to us were there for the first time and we struck up a conversation about the food and other restaurants on the islands.

 

Day 6 on Captiva

Friday morning was a bit cooler....in the 50's.  Having  a cold front moving through. Al sat on the porch but I stayed inside and worked on the computer.  I served breakfast/brunch of mushroom omelet, rye toast, and fresh strawberries inside.   I spent some time taking some photos of the eagle nest.

 

Around 1:30, we drove to the Island Store for supplies and liquor and to the post office to mail a card.  Back to the cottage and then off to sun and read on the beach. 

For dinner we decided it was time to eat at the Lazy Flamingo, our favorite "dive" on the island.  We went at 5:30 to miss the rush after the sun sets.  We had our choice of seats at the bar, the best place to sit in this place and we could even see the sunset from our seats.  Everyone has to order at the bar and then pick up your food when your name is called.  Sitting at the bar is more convenient since your order is served to you.

We began with a dozen ice cold fresh oysters on the half shell. Some of the best on the islands.  We shared  peel & eat shrimp with cocktail sauce and  mesquite-grilled grouper served with Caesar salad and Flamingo garlic bread.  The half order of the salad was enough to share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 42 on Captiva

Today is our last day on the island.  I took a last morning walk on the beach and found a couple of crows making themselves at home at this beach setup of the "yellow brigade".  Also waiting for me was the pair of Bald Eagles in the Australian Pines.

 

A last look at the beach early in the morning before the birds and people arrive...

 

We then loaded some of our belongings in the car before the temperature got hot.

After a lunch of sandwiches we spent our final afternoon on the island at the beach.

It was a warm sunny beautiful day just made for relaxing with the shore birds.

One of the Eagles came back to the tree to say good-bye!

 

For our last meal on the island we went to Lazy Flamingo about 5:30 which was very busy except at the bar where we sat.  Of course, we ordered Oysters on the Half Shell.  Al had Fried Oyster Basket with fries served with cocktail sauce and lemon and I had Caesar Salad with Mesquite-Grilled Grouper, served with Flamingo Garlic Bread.  Excellent dinner!  We shared each other's food so we had the best of everything. The place was very busy by the time we left with people arriving after viewing the sunset.

 

The car was now all loaded except for toiletry bags and our cooler with tomorrow's lunch and food for the trip.  So now for a good night's sleep before our 2 day journey home.