We left Madeira beach with a feeling that maybe we had now seen the best part of the trip. I was almost sad thinking there is no possible way that whatever comes next can top what we had just experienced. I mean how long can you keep saying to each other, this is the best day in my life! Little did I know that fate still had a few tricks up it's sleeve for us. Leaving Madeira beach was like leaving the gardens of eden, but what waited was paradise, cause truly Sanibel Island must be the very definition of paradise!
The drive from Madeira beach to Sanibel Island was a breeze, much thanks to that M now had perfected the combination of using a preloaded mapquest description in my laptop and looking up the roads in advance in the road atlas. On entering Sanibel Island you cross a bridge from the mainland and as we were driving across I caught my first glimpse of what was to be our island paradise for the next few days. A lush green island covered in palm trees surrounded by travel ad turquoise water and luminous marble white beaches. We had arranged by e-mail to rent a cottage by Peggy from Seahorse cottages and was expecting the normal check in procedures when we arrived. Instead we were met by an outside phone and a sign asking us to call a certain number on arrival. On the phone Peggy very kindly instructed us that everything was prepared and the cottage was unlocked an ready for us. This kinda you-don't-have-to-lock-the-door mentality really set the right tone for us and I could already feel all the worries of the modern world slipping away.
I wouldn't dare comparing Sanibel Island to a tropical island somewhere far from civilisation with your own private beach because A i never been to one and B most important dear readers, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this was all the paradise I could dream of served in a neat little package!
After checking in to our very spacious cottage with a front and a back porch, we took off to stock up on such necessities as food, booze and a tasty cigar. Before dinner we headed down to the closest beach which was a less than two minute walk. When we set foot on the beach we immediately understood why people had kept telling us that Sanibel is the shelling mecca of the U.S. For those of you not familiar with the expression it is the practice of collecting sea shells, and here you can find one of the greatest varieties of sea shells in the world. And you don't really have to look for them. The tide brings them right up on the shore.
After working up quite the appetite we returned to the cottage and our fully equipped kitchen where M cooked up a feast, while I kicked back on the porch with a dark & stormy made from Seven tiki rum & Goslings ginger beer while updating the blog(which would be one of the previous posts from our road trip). After dinner we decided to walk in towards the small center of the Island. It was a hot summer night and we were ill prepared for the mosquitos that take over Sanibel when the sun sets so we were happy to stumble on to the local water hole the Lazy Flamingo where we enjoyed their air conditioning and some local brews before calling it a night.
After sleeping like babies through out the night we woke up eager to hit the beach. Seahorse Cottages provides you with both bicycles and beach pull carts so we loaded up a beach cart and headed for the slightly more distant western beach of the island, a five minute walk. The day before had been a bit cloudy but now the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in sight. M got some much needed snorkeling practice for our upcoming snorkeling cruise in Key West and she was snorkeling like a pro when it was time to head back for lunch. We had scouted out a restaurant on the connecting Captiva Island that we were dying to try out.
The Bubble Room is the kitsch dream of the restaurant world. With an all year christmas theme they have gathered all the knick knacks they could get their hans on to provide a dining experience out of the ordinary. Food is good not great but service and atmosphere are both excellent!
After all the christmas carols we could take on a july afternoon we headed back to our cottage. We did a quick stop at a food mart to prepare for the planned evening barbecue. If you have followed this blog you will know that I have a soft spot for typical American things like base ball and thanksgiving dinner and such. Having a barbecue is about as American it can get. We stocked up on fresh veggies at the food mart. Portobello mushrooms, corn on the cob and tofurkey. Great stuff. Portobello mushrooms are a great substitute for meat for us vegetarians. The texture is quite "meaty" and the taste is divine. We spent a gorgeous summer evening on the porch with our barbecue, an occasional dip in the pool and rounded it all off with a moonlight walk on the beach. It was a perfect day, but a day hard to describe in words so instead enjoy some of M's fantastic pictures!
