Day 26 on Captiva

Wed, Feb 27

Cecilia and I spent another early morning at the beach collecting shells... even better today.... and not as cool. Found a lot of olives and more variety.  Photo on right shows most of what we found.


This morning Al had a massage with his therapist at 10:00 and Cecilia and I used the time to shop at the Tahitian Gardens.  I bought Jacob and Hannah "Life is Good" tee shirts for their birthdays and some cute books. Cecilia bought Hannah the cutest pink cap and Jacob a book about seashells. She also found a box for a treasure chest for him to hold seashells. Their birthday party themes are Pirates for Jacob and Princess for Hannah. Her gifts will tie into their themes. 

We manage to shop most of the stores before Al met us for Brunch at the Sanibel Cafe.  Al had his usual lox and bagel platter. Cecilia and I both had the quiche special of the day served with hash browns.

Then we shopped The Brown Bag (a men's shop) where Al bought a pair of shorts and a shirt. And we also shopped the remaining stores.  Our next stop was Tarpon Bay to see what was going on there. This is the place to go for canoes and pontoon boat tours of DDNWR. Here we saw some Ruddy Turnstones, Osprey, and Piliated Woodpecker.  Not any birds on the water or islands.

The skies were too overcast and cloudy to spend time at the beach today.  It did rain late afternoon so no sunset to see. We decided to go to dinner about 5:30 to Doc Ford's which usually have call ahead seating but we found out they no longer do that starting today.  We had a 40 minute wait but it was worth it.  Once seated, we started with oysters which we shared. Cecilia and I had to have the Mojito.

 Cecilia ordered Cedar Plank Salmon-freshly cut salmon filet topped with a mango chipotle glaze, served with au gratin potatoes, wilted spinach and caramelized mushrooms-which she shared with me.   Al had  Panko Fried Shrimp - with french fries and cole slaw. I ordered the Calamari Salad - lightly battered calamari tossed with mixed Everglades greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, a sweet and sour vinaigrette dressing, topped with crispy wontons. I shared the salad with all.....  

Day 30 on Captiva

After the high wind and waves yesterday and low tide early today, I knew this had to be a great day to look for shells and it was!  I was on the beach by daybreak bundled up as it was on the cool side and still a bit windy. To name a few of the shells, I found olives, angel wings, whelks, figs, fighting conchs, a star fish, tulips, murex, augers, and of course the beautiful calico scallops in many colors. My favorite find was a large whole sunray clam shell. I spent about 2 hours picking up shells always looking for the convetted junonia which I have only found once.

Al was busy on the porch catching up after a day of being without internet connection.  After lunch of soup and sandwiches,  we spent time on the beach.  It had warmed up to low 80's and the wind had calmed down to a nice tropical breeze.  It was exciting to see a flock of Black Skimmers with a couple of Royal Terns on the beach.  Usually to see the Black Skimmers in numbers, we have to go to Bunche Beach in Ft. Myers.  They worked their way down the shore until they were out of sight.

Closeup of   Black Skimmers



Was a beautiful afternoon on the beach and we were almost the only ones here.....a very quiet day.

Tonight I made a baked Chicken Tetrazzini with leftover chicken and mushrooms....I added Parmesan cheese and  stuffed green olives for extra flavor, color, and texture.  Served with green salads and wine.