Leaving Sanibel island, FL

Sanibel Island, FL has taken first place in our most favorite place to visit so far.  There are so many things that we liked about this location.  What did we like about it so much?  For starters, everyone we met or saw on the island were people we would want to have as neighbors.  Can't say that about other places we have been.  Sanibel is a place that is quiet and off the beaten path.  It has a great beach with easy access, beautiful water and seashells by the truckload scattered along the shoreline.  We stayed in the only marina on the island, and it was very different from others we have stayed in.  It is primarily a broker yard for Back Cove yachts and only allows a few transient boats in at a time.  Given this, there are only a few people actually staying there at any given time.  Because of this it is extremely quiet and peaceful, and the staff catered to us like we were houseguests.  Each morning fresh, hot blueberry muffins were brought to our boat , and placed on our deck at 0730 by one of the kitchen staff members that work at Grandma Dot's restaurant located on the grounds. That happens to be when the coffee onboard Viridian is ready.  Along with the muffins is a newspaper placed inside a white paper sack.  The entire island is laid out with paved bike paths that go around the island and cut across at various places.  There are several grocery stores, hardware stores, restaurants, churches, and all kinds of shops.  Then there are the residential areas with houses and manicured lawns that you can ride around in with practically no traffic.  We rented some bicycles and rode everywhere we could find a path.  We felt independent with our mobility and ease of access to all the places we needed to go.  The marina is connected to a series of canals that went inland and gave us a huge area to explore in the dinghy on cool afternoons.  Just a great place that we kind of got attached to and were sad to leave.

Today we departed Sanibel Island, FL and cruised back up the Caloosahatchee River to the City of Fort Myers Yacht Basin, just past Legacy Harbor Marina where we stayed on our last trip through this area.  We will stay here until it's time to head on up river to River Forest Boat Yard to haul out Viridian, have some repairs made and head home to Huntsville, AL to visit family and friends for the month of March.

That's the news and here are some views:

We are here

Today's Passage from Santibel Island, FL to City of Ft. Myers Yacht Basin, FL

Marina View from off the stern

Neat bike path

Hi y'all!

One of the many paths to the beach

Reading on the flybridge

Things that float and things that fly at the marina

Viewing the sunset while George grills

A frame we decorated with "Kitten Paw" Shells we found on the beach

Aren't they cute?

Chillin' and grillin'

I liked the way the curly tree limbs looked against the night sky but the photo just didn't capture it

A frequent visitor

A bird in the hand is better than 5 in the bush or something like that!

George, you go first!

Typical bike path on the Sanibel Island