Arrival in Captiva

This morning we left Ocala at 8:00 for the last leg of our trip about 250 miles to Captiva after breakfast at the Best Western and a stop for gas. 

We had another perfect day of sunny, warm weather and light traffic on the interstate.   I do not remember having so little traffic and no slowdowns on our trips to Captiva.  We stopped in Ft. Myers for gas and a quick lunch at Wendy's.  We then stopped for a car wash at  the busy 1st Class Car Center on Gladiolus Drive before shopping at Publix for provisions.  I came prepared with a grocery list.  As usual the aisles were crowded with hectic Saturday shoppers mostly tourists who did not know the store.  Al bought some liquor from the store next to Publix.  

We arrived at Captiva Cottage about 3:00 finding Margarethe there hooking up the phone after she had installed a new cabinet for the TV and electronics.  The cottage also has a new stairway and landing on the outside.  Everything looked good and inviting.  

After getting the car unloaded and things in place, we enjoyed drinks on the porch and decided to have an easy dinner in since it was a tiring day.   I made grilled hot dogs on buns with all the fixins and baked beans.  This is a menu that Al loves but I do not serve often but glad I had agreed to buying hot dogs since it was a simple dinner.  Later that night we discovered the TV was not working after many tries  to get the cable on.   Finally decided to call in the am about the problem  since we did want to see tomorrow's Super Bowl. 

Second Day of Drive

We rose early around 5:30, dressed, and packed the car. We had a quick breakfast in the motel lobby.  I had a waffle and Al had bagel, sausages, juice, and coffee.  This time we had room  on ground level Room #124 . Ask for 124 or 125.   It seems that management has changed from last year.  The morning was frosty with doors iced but none on windows.
After filling up with gas across the street right next to the ramp, we were on the road by 7:00 headed to our next stop in Ocala, FL which is 565 miles away and was sunny all the way.  We still had lunch packed  so we ate when we stopped for gas. We made our usual stop at the Florida rest area for some juice.

We arrived  at the Park Centre Best Western at 5:10...we missed the exit 350 and had to turn around so lost 10 minutes.  The weather was perfect for driving and the traffic was light with no slowdowns or stops.  Even driving through Atlanta was uneventful.   We had room on first floor not far from the back exit which is always better than using the elevator.

Since we were tired, we decided to just walk across the parking lot and have dinner at the Cracker Barrel next door about 6:30 and avoid the Friday night traffic.  The place was packed and we had a 20 minute wait for a table and it seemed like an even longer wait for the food after we ordered. Al ordered Chicken Livers with fried okra and small salad.  I had Fried Catfish with whipped potatoes and broccoli.  Al's okra and livers were too heavily breaded but were hot. My broccoli was raw...just dipped in hot water?  The best parts of the meal was the gravy served on the side for my potatoes and the corn muffins. 

 

First Day of Drive to Captiva

Today we began our drive to Captiva Island for a six weeks stay of sun and sand.

This begins my daily diary/blog of our annual trip to Captiva Island on the west coast of Florida west of Ft. Myers and Sanibel Island.  I will be writing about our daily activities  and adventures in Florida.  Please join us as we enjoy our stay. 
 We left around 7:30 am in the morning getting up early at 5:30.  We had packed the car yesterday all except food for the trip, computers, and toiletries. The morning was a cold 24 degrees and a bit icy.  The sky was cloudy and remained that way  all day but warmed up as we drove south.   Our first stop was Norris, TN to visit my Mother and brother Jack arriving about 3:30pm.  Loy was in bed sick and was only able to say hi before we left.  We then drove to Farragut about 5:30 to visit and have dinner with my sister Cecilia after we  checked in at the Super 8 at 11748 Snyder Road, right off  I 75.  We got carry out dinner  from Bonefish Grill for our meal.  Ce had Lobster Tail with drawn butter served with whipped potatoes and green beans, Al had Georges Bank Sea Scallops with Bourbon Bacon sauce over bed of roasted vegetables, and I had Grilled Salmon with potato au gratin and broccoli.  Dinner was as great as was spending the evening with Cecilia. 

Movie of Captiva Visit 2017

Our trip to Captiva Island in 2017 ended on March 17. This video captures the highlights of that trip.

Video Movie of Captiva Visit 2017

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 38 on Captiva

Not much to note today.

Our Captiva stay seems to be ending on a cool note.  It was too cool for the pool and beach today so I began to organize and pack for the return home.  For brunch I made a frittata with last night's leftover pasta and served with rye toast and orange juice.  We both spent time reading and planning our drive home.

After an uneventful day,  I cooked dinner-crunchy chicken breasts, fried okra, green salad and hot rolls.  Even the eagles were quiet today.

The weather at home in Ohio has been frightful....very cold and snowy.  The eastern part of the country has been hit with some of the  worse weather of the winter.  Even Tennessee has had snow and very cold temperatures.  Hope it will be over by the time we get home on Monday.

Day 37 on Captiva Ding Darling Continued

Test: I am hoping the videos will play.

I made some videos on our Ding Darling Drive and am going to try to post on my blog. To view, go directly to my blog (link at bottom of email)....cannot open in email. Click on arrow to view.

Yellow-Night Heron

 

 

 

Ibis