A morning run in the foggy coastal air was a great way to start this day. The humidity is a real change from the west coast, but the route and the calm waters of the Gulf were lovely. And since the fog cleared we had a lovely, perfect weather day for our meander up the coast.
First stop was Sanibel Island, which we came to via Ft. Myers Beach. It’s an old school beach town with low pastel colored buildings and surf shacks and t-shirt shops on every corner. Traffic was slow as people searched for parking along the main drag. We had less trouble getting over the causeway to Sanibel and we headed south to the lighthouse, where I had heard is the best shelling on the island. Truthfully, the shelling is great everywhere, but we lucked into good parking, so strolled the beach collecting all sorts of beautiful specimens. Found a few welks and other “conch-like” shaped shells that were still occupied, so sent them back to their watery home to live a bit longer. I found so many perfect and imperfect shells, and left some behind for another obsessive person to take home and place in containers of all sizes.
After way too many shells and some sun time, we grabbed a sandwich at Geppetos and then headed back off Sanibel and further north. Our destination was Gasparilla Island, home to Boca Grande, which one guide book described as the “bolt-hole for blue bloods”. It was certainly upscale, but with miles of wide white beaches, and parking for the State Park in 5 places, there were certainly some average people there for the day. This island is known for it’s tarpon fishing at certain times of the year, and we did run into some fisherman at the south tip of the island, at the “pass” between this island and uninhabited Cayo Costa across the channel. We loved the way the birds hung out near the fisherman and wondered if they were planning on making a grab for whatever was reeled in!
Another hour north brought us to Sarasota. Our airbnb is just 2 miles east of Siesta Key, and since the room comes with a couple of beach bikes we are looking forward to staying out of the car tomorrow as we explore. Our lovely room has a separate entrance and the host, Terry, has outfitted the closet with a mini fridge and microwave and pretty much everything you’d find in a nice hotel room. It’s perfect for our 3 night stay here.
