Day 15 Captiva 2019

Sunday, Feb 17
We began our day early with a trip to Sanibel to shop at the Farmer's Market for fresh produce, cheese, and fresh flowers.  We bought tomatoes, red pepper, okra, green beans, lemon, limes, lettuce, strawberries, mozzarella cheese, guacamole, parmesan bread, and flowers.

We had breakfast at Sanibel Café after a 20 minute wait for a table. Al ordered his usual Lox and Bagel platter (always good) and I had eggs benedict with a side of broiled parmesan tomatoes.

Because of heavy traffic on Periwinkle Way,  we took the back route (Casa Ybel Road to Gulf Drives to Tarpon Bay ) to Bailey's General Store to pick up some tiramisu for dinner.  

I walked to the  beach late afternoon. I found a group of willets on the beach with one marbled godwit in their midst but not much else.

Back on the porch, we had gin n tonics with the guacamole dip and scoops.
For dinner, Al grilled beef shish kabobs with mushrooms, potatoes, red peppers, and onions.  Served with arugula salad.  Very good!

Day 14 Captiva 2019

Saturday, Feb 16
Today we are having our Valentine celebration exchanging cards throughout the day...with our morning coffee, lunch, afternoon cocktails, and dinner.

We left about 8:30am for an hour drive through Ding Darling Wildlife Reserve.  Photos below of birds we saw …..my favorite of all is the little Green Heron.

 One of the best sights were  several Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets sunning at the tippy top of trees.

We enjoyed our drive and seeing so many beautiful birds. Back at the cottage, we had lunch of egg, cheese and sausage wraps with tomato salsa.

For our special Valentine dinner,  Al grilled delicious steaks and I prepared roasted  Rosemary garlic potatoes and arugula salad with my own vinaigrette dressing .  We enjoyed dinner with glasses of wine.

Day 39 on Captiva

 Today we had some Free Play time so I made a card for some challenges posted here.   Al enjoyed time on the porch reading and surfing the web.  For brunch we had eggs with lox and onions and fresh tomato slices and orange juice.  We spent the afternoon at the beach from about 1:00.   This was by far the best day....perfect weather and sun.  Even the birds were aware of the wonderful day and more than ever were sunning on shore.   Al counted at least 150  Willets gathered together and we saw the first Ibis on the beach since we have been here.  What a Wonderful afternoon at the beach!

 We enjoyed dinner at the Pollack Diner having Chicken Piccata with Mushrooms and Capers served on Pasta and with Arugula Salad and Hot Rolls.  Only 3 days left before we start home on Saturday,

Day 38 on Captiva

We left around 9:00am for Bailey Tract to take a walk on the trail.  We parked at the back area off Island Inn Road and entered by Smith Pond.  It was a quiet morning as birds go and we only saw a couple of Mottled Ducks, one Pied-bill Grebe, 2-3 Catbirds, 1 Mocking Bird,  2 Blue Herons, some Coots, and a few Warblers.

 

 

 

 

After our walk, we went to Over Easy for breakfast about 11:00.  We had a bit of a wait for a table but service was very prompt and we received our orders very fast!  Al had the Lox Platter and I had Eggs Benedict. 

 

After a quick stop at Bailey's for bread and pastries, etc we drove to the house and then headed to the beach for a beautiful afternoon of sun and surf.  Al caught the Thriller, a high speed tourist boat, which comes by every afternoon, on video with his phone.

                                     

 

The flock of willets returned today and I made a video so you can see the entire group.

 

We both finished the books that we were reading-Al finished Naked Greed by Stuart Woods and I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

For dinner I prepared Pork Chops au Poivre with a Whiskey Sauce ( no brandy so I substituted Jack Daniels ).  Served with Rosemary Garlic Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans, and Arugula Salad and hot rolls.  Not a bad dinner for an amateur.

Day 36 on Captiva

Another beautiful day began with coffee and pastries.  The day started a bit overcast but soon turned to sunny skies.  For lunch,  I made Mussels Sandwiches on Ciabatta Rolls..  I added some onion, capers, diced red pepper, mayo, and cocktail sauce with arugula to leftover mussels  and served with chips and iced tea.

We spent the afternoon on the beach with more than 100 Willets lined up directly in front of us on the shore line.  It was fun watching them feeding in the surf and avoiding the passing walkers.  I do not think we have ever seen so many willets congregated on the beach.  Another group of smaller shorebirds (unable to ID)  also with long bills joined them for a short time flying in and leaving as a united group.   Again we spotted some dolphins swimming by as we relaxed in the sun.

After leaving the willets we enjoyed drinks on the porch and hoped to go back to the beach for the sunset but it clouded up preventing  a sunset view.   We have had a lot of cloudy sunsets this season.

For dinner I prepared shrimp puttanesca  with linguini and served with salad and rolls and of course glasses of wine.  This is one of Al's Favorites.