Day 35 Captiva 2019

Saturday, Mar 9
Early breakfast of poached eggs, sausage, bagels, jam, and orange juice.   I went to the beach about 9:00 for hour.. lot of boats and birds as well as the Thriller, a high speed touring boat.

Al and I went back to the beach in the afternoon….lot of activity going on including dolphins swimming by.  Returned to the pool until it was time to dress for a special dinner.

We went to The Mad Hatter for dinner, by far our favorite restaurant on the islands.  We had 5 o'clock reservations and arrived at 4:45 and were seated at our favorite table by the window...perfect for watching the sunset.  We ordered glasses of Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio and were served complementary crab claws with bread and tapenade.  We shared a Caesar salad but I was not thrilled with it...bland...almost mayo like dressing. Al ordered Short Ribs-red wine braised boneless short ribs, horseradish cream, served on bed of horseradish grits and topped with fried shallots. I had jumbo lump crab cakes, mango rum remoulade, small roasted herbed potatoes, yucca chips & tropical fruit salsa. Both dinners came with brocollni which we did not care for.   We shared dessert Espresso Creme Brulee. Great service by Craig. Outstanding dinner even with the salad and vegetable dislikes.

Al's Dinner

My Crab Cakes

Day 39 on Captiva

Another cool and very windy day but it is very sunny!  It was too cool to sit on the porch for me but Al sat there with his morning coffee.  He made our reservations for trip home....we are leaving on Friday instead of Saturday  to spend a day in Knoxville.  Began some packing for the trip.

We had roasted chicken and vegetable soup for lunch (out of a can).  I took a walk over to the beach just to what was going on and there was nothing going on.  No birds, no people......just an empty beach with umbrellas in the sand and a lot of wind and waves.

Tonight we had 5:00 reservations at Mad Hatter, our very favorite restaurant just the other side of Blind Pass looking out over the gulf.  Perfect spot for watching sundown. 

Our server Brandon was very attentive and pleasant.  We began with a shared appetizer of Portuguese Oysters-roasted oysters, chorizo,  and coated with Panko crumbs. Very good!  We then shared a Caesar salad. Al ordered Short Ribs -red wine braised boneless short ribs, horseradish cream, truffle yucca fries, and haricots verts.  Melt in your mouth tender!  I had Crab Cake Dinner-two jumbo lump crab cakes, mango rum remoulade, tropical fruit salsa, yucca fries,  plantain chips and grilled mango.  Very delicious and the best Crab Cake!  We enjoyed glasses of Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir ( Sean Minor Four Bears).  A great dinner to remember!

Al sneaked a picture of me at Mad Hatter.

 

 

 

 

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!