Mon, Mar 4
Today I finished posts for all but the last 7 days of our stay....today was a marathon of posting. I hope to be current by tomorrow. At least the weather has not been good for doing much else than blogging. It rained all night Sunday and into the early morning today. It cooled off even more being in the 40's earlier and reaching only into the high 50's today.
I stopped to make lunch of BLT's with chips but blogged and posted almost non stop.
We had a scrumptious dinner tonight. Saturday, we bought lobster tails at Publix....could not resist the BOGO price. My main Grill Master grilled the lobster tails and asparagus while I baked potatoes served with sour cream and tossed a salad with iceberg, onions, radishes, and celery dressed with Country French dressing. Sorry I did not make a picture as this was as good as any meal we have had in FL. This was a nice finish to a very quiet day.
Note: This post was written on Tues, Mar 5 along with the past 6 entries and makes me up to date on my diary.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Day 30
Sun, Mar 3
Today it was just Al and me and we stayed inside because of the cool and damp weather. I started the day by catching up with entries on this blog because I have not posted in almost 2 weeks but I have written notes to remember most of what we have done. Al spent most of the day reading his book. For lunch, I made ham and cheese roll-ups. After getting "blogged out" I then watched some old movies on cable ....saw Pink Panther and Fiddler on the Roof.
Tonight, the grill master made his great hamburgers served with French fries and all the fixings. It seems this cool weather has slowed down what we do, so we just gelled out today between watching TV and reading.
Today it was just Al and me and we stayed inside because of the cool and damp weather. I started the day by catching up with entries on this blog because I have not posted in almost 2 weeks but I have written notes to remember most of what we have done. Al spent most of the day reading his book. For lunch, I made ham and cheese roll-ups. After getting "blogged out" I then watched some old movies on cable ....saw Pink Panther and Fiddler on the Roof.
Tonight, the grill master made his great hamburgers served with French fries and all the fixings. It seems this cool weather has slowed down what we do, so we just gelled out today between watching TV and reading.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Day 29 on Captiva
Sat, Mar 2
Today Cecilia flew home. We were up early and had coffee, OJ, and some toast before leaving for the airport about 9:00. The line up to the security gate reached around the terminal area and probably took 2 hours or more to take care of all the passengers waiting. Luckily we were early and Cecilia only had to stay in line about an hour before getting to security. Her flight from Ft. Myers was scheduled to leave at 12:45 but was delayed about an hour because of ice on planes in Charlotte. She was able to make her connection in Charlotte but it was close. Once she bordered the plane in Charlotte, it was held up. She finally arrived home an hour later than scheduled. Next year we will schedule direct flights for both legs of the flight if possible.
On the way back to Captiva, we had the car washed in Ft. Myers, shopped at Publix, and stopped at the Outlet Mall to shop at the Polo Store. Al bought some Polo Black items and I bought a couple of tees and a pair of pants. It did not warm up so we did not go outside after coming home.
We had a late lunch of Sushi from Publix. I prepared Shrimp Puttanesca for dinner...this is Al's favorite pasta dish and he has been asking for it for 4 weeks. So it was time to make for him. I served with an arugula salad and hot roll.
Today Cecilia flew home. We were up early and had coffee, OJ, and some toast before leaving for the airport about 9:00. The line up to the security gate reached around the terminal area and probably took 2 hours or more to take care of all the passengers waiting. Luckily we were early and Cecilia only had to stay in line about an hour before getting to security. Her flight from Ft. Myers was scheduled to leave at 12:45 but was delayed about an hour because of ice on planes in Charlotte. She was able to make her connection in Charlotte but it was close. Once she bordered the plane in Charlotte, it was held up. She finally arrived home an hour later than scheduled. Next year we will schedule direct flights for both legs of the flight if possible.
On the way back to Captiva, we had the car washed in Ft. Myers, shopped at Publix, and stopped at the Outlet Mall to shop at the Polo Store. Al bought some Polo Black items and I bought a couple of tees and a pair of pants. It did not warm up so we did not go outside after coming home.
We had a late lunch of Sushi from Publix. I prepared Shrimp Puttanesca for dinner...this is Al's favorite pasta dish and he has been asking for it for 4 weeks. So it was time to make for him. I served with an arugula salad and hot roll.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Day 28 on Captiva
Fri, Mar 3
It is hard to believe that March is here which means we only have 2 weeks left on the island and that Cecilia will be going home tomorrow. We hate to see her go. Coffee this morning with whatever you wanted. The weather is cool...in the 50's. We went to see Don and Lillian Stokes talk at DDNWR center at 10:00 but left at 9:00 to make sure we got a good seat...sometimes the room fills up quickly and some get shut out. Lillian and Donald Stokes are well-known in the birding and naturalist worlds, the authors of many books. They also author a popular birding blog featuring Lillian’s photographs of birds, butterflies and landscapes. On Friday, they covered topics of making better photographs by knowing your camera and of bird identification. She is really selling Canon new camera SX50.
We went to Sunset Grill for brunch at about 11:30. Cecilia and I both chose Banana Nut Bread French Toast. It's interesting how much we like the same foods. Al had two buttermilk pancakes and two eggs served with sausage.
After eating we drove up to the end of Captiva Island showing Cecilia some of the sights including The Bubble Room, Andy Rosse Drive, Mucky Duck, Chapel by the Sea, Captiva Cemetery, etc.
We saw our friend Mike at the sight of the house that he is building on Captiva Drive on the beach and stopped to say hello.
After returning to the house, Cecilia worked on packing some shells for her grandson and packing for her return home. Too windy and cool to go to the beach again.
We had a casual dinner at Lazy Flamingo at 5:30 at the bar. Our timing was good because the place became crowded shortly after we arrived. We had some oysters and the usual fried food and shared among us. Cecilia's chicken tenders were a bit dry...make note to pass in future. It is hard to believe that Cecilia leaves tomorrow....seems like she just arrived. Sorry her last dinner was not the best.
It is hard to believe that March is here which means we only have 2 weeks left on the island and that Cecilia will be going home tomorrow. We hate to see her go. Coffee this morning with whatever you wanted. The weather is cool...in the 50's. We went to see Don and Lillian Stokes talk at DDNWR center at 10:00 but left at 9:00 to make sure we got a good seat...sometimes the room fills up quickly and some get shut out. Lillian and Donald Stokes are well-known in the birding and naturalist worlds, the authors of many books. They also author a popular birding blog featuring Lillian’s photographs of birds, butterflies and landscapes. On Friday, they covered topics of making better photographs by knowing your camera and of bird identification. She is really selling Canon new camera SX50.
After returning to the house, Cecilia worked on packing some shells for her grandson and packing for her return home. Too windy and cool to go to the beach again.
We had a casual dinner at Lazy Flamingo at 5:30 at the bar. Our timing was good because the place became crowded shortly after we arrived. We had some oysters and the usual fried food and shared among us. Cecilia's chicken tenders were a bit dry...make note to pass in future. It is hard to believe that Cecilia leaves tomorrow....seems like she just arrived. Sorry her last dinner was not the best.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Day 27 on Captiva
Thurs, Feb 28
Another cloudy day...where is that sun????
We had breakfast of mushroom omelet with bacon, toast, grapefruit, and orange juice on the porch. It seemed a bit warmer today.
We decided to visit the eagle's nest today.....Margarethe told us that one of the eaglets has left the nest and was seen on the ground. When we arrived at the nest we saw only one eaglet sitting on a branch of the Australian Pine Tree but the other one soon joined him/her. The one eaglet seemed to be encouraging the other one to fly.
The sun finally came out and it was warm enough to head to the beach. We gathered our chairs and towels and to the beach we went. Not many beach goers out today or birds. But it was sunny enough to enjoy the gulf.
Tonight we had 6:30 reservations at Traditions on the Beach. The host of the restaurant is Andrea Mucciga whom we have know all the years that we have been coming to Captiva. We have followed him from Bellini's on Captiva to Riveria, Dolce Vita, and now Traditions all on Sanibel.
It was great to see Andrea as always.....his places always have the best entertainment .....some musicians have been working with him for years.
We started dinner by sharing PRIME BEEF CARPACCIO-Hearts of palm shavings, rugula,
reggiano, lemon EVOO drizzles ...not as good as I remembered. I shared a salad of greens and artichokewith a shallots-balsamic vinegar with Cecilia. Al had the Julius Caesar salad. He ordered Veal Chop with sautéed chanterelle mushrooms and brandied-creamy veal pan demi, Cecilia ordered Grilled Scottish Salmon with asparagus, roasted garlic, ciboulis, vino cotto white wine fusion. I had Crab Cake with creole spiced jumbo crab meat withsautéed, red bell pepper remoulade. For dessert, we shared Amaretto crème brule with a caramel crust. Andrea treated us with after dinner cordials.
The best part of the evening was music by Joe McCormick and the vocalist, Marvilla Marzan. She has a beautiful voice. I think Cecilia really enjoyed the music and entertainment.
Another cloudy day...where is that sun????
We had breakfast of mushroom omelet with bacon, toast, grapefruit, and orange juice on the porch. It seemed a bit warmer today.
We decided to visit the eagle's nest today.....Margarethe told us that one of the eaglets has left the nest and was seen on the ground. When we arrived at the nest we saw only one eaglet sitting on a branch of the Australian Pine Tree but the other one soon joined him/her. The one eaglet seemed to be encouraging the other one to fly.
The sun finally came out and it was warm enough to head to the beach. We gathered our chairs and towels and to the beach we went. Not many beach goers out today or birds. But it was sunny enough to enjoy the gulf.
Tonight we had 6:30 reservations at Traditions on the Beach. The host of the restaurant is Andrea Mucciga whom we have know all the years that we have been coming to Captiva. We have followed him from Bellini's on Captiva to Riveria, Dolce Vita, and now Traditions all on Sanibel.
 |
| Andrea and his wife with Award |
We started dinner by sharing PRIME BEEF CARPACCIO-Hearts of palm shavings, rugula,
reggiano, lemon EVOO drizzles ...not as good as I remembered. I shared a salad of greens and artichokewith a shallots-balsamic vinegar with Cecilia. Al had the Julius Caesar salad. He ordered Veal Chop with sautéed chanterelle mushrooms and brandied-creamy veal pan demi, Cecilia ordered Grilled Scottish Salmon with asparagus, roasted garlic, ciboulis, vino cotto white wine fusion. I had Crab Cake with creole spiced jumbo crab meat withsautéed, red bell pepper remoulade. For dessert, we shared Amaretto crème brule with a caramel crust. Andrea treated us with after dinner cordials.
The best part of the evening was music by Joe McCormick and the vocalist, Marvilla Marzan. She has a beautiful voice. I think Cecilia really enjoyed the music and entertainment.
 |
| Marvilla on the left and Joe performed. Barb on the right performs other nights. |
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Day 26 on Captiva
Wed, Feb 27Cecilia 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.
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.....
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Day 25 on Captiva
Tues, Feb 26
Cecilia and I went out at 7:00 to check for shells....after heavy winds and rain, we found some great shells but we had to be careful not to pick up live ones. There were a lot of live conch shells. We also saw a lot of dead fish because of the Red Tide and we had some coughing spells caused by it. We were all by ourselves and had all the shells to ourselves.
After coffee and pastries, we drove to DDNWR for a drive through the reserve. There seemed to be more white pelicans and ibis today but feeding seemed to mostly finished at the time we drove through.
Cecilia and I went out at 7:00 to check for shells....after heavy winds and rain, we found some great shells but we had to be careful not to pick up live ones. There were a lot of live conch shells. We also saw a lot of dead fish because of the Red Tide and we had some coughing spells caused by it. We were all by ourselves and had all the shells to ourselves.
After coffee and pastries, we drove to DDNWR for a drive through the reserve. There seemed to be more white pelicans and ibis today but feeding seemed to mostly finished at the time we drove through.
For lunch, I made mussel salad sandwich with last night's left over mussels adding mussels, remoulade sauce, and lettuce to buns. This made great sandwiches.
Since the weather was not great, Cecilia made a card using my supplies. She did a great job since she had not made a card before. To check out her card see the post on my blog.
Tonight we went to Timbers for a seafood dinner. Cecilia ordered the Oysters Rockefeller- oysters baked with seasoned spinach and cheese and we ordered Flight Oysters on the half shell for appetizers and shared. For entrees, Cecilia had Captiva Crabcake served with dill sauce. Al had the Triple Shrimp Platter-scampi, baked stuffed, and crunchy. I had Baked Stuffed Shrimp with seafood stuffing. We enjoyed salad or clam chowder with sides of steamed vegetables and baked sweet potatoes. It was a great dinner.
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