After getting a good night's rest, we decided to head on over to Captiva Island, as my parents had remembered a hotel at the end of the Island having a wonderful Sunday brunch - though expensive, they had said it was well worth the time and money to get there. My parents' memories had it pegged as a place that was very similar in set up and quality to the buffets you get while on a cruise ship. So, having been on a cruise, we decided that we must try this place.Driving to Captiva from the resort was not hard - the resort is directly next to the causeway (which, by the way, is $3.00 in tolls roundtrip every time you enter the island's causeways) The causeway in itself is very long, and quite beautiful. You can get quite a view while driving back and forth. Here's a not so great photo of the beginning of the causeway, from the hotel's cruise ship:
And a photo of the huge cruise ship:
Anyways, we drove all the way over the causeway, and to the end of Sanibel - where you cross another small bridge onto Captiva Island. Captiva is VERY small, and the few lodgings that you can find here are VERY pricey. Needless to say, we stopped in the restaurant for the buffet - and had a look around before we paid - and were VERY dissapointed that this was it for a mere 22 bucks per person for a breakfast buffet! No thanks! So we drove back over to Sanibel, and found a small little local place that served up a wonderful breakfast for about 25 bucks total. We actually ended up eating here the next day too.
After breakfast, we hit the beach to do some swimming, and shelling. Let me tell you - in September, there are hardly ANY people on the beach near the Captiva end. We simply left our car parked at the restaurant, changed in their bathroom, and walked across to the beach. There were more birds than people on the beach, and there were SO many shells it was almost unbelievable! There was a shell line about 7 feet in length at the least almost everywhere! And the best thing was, there was no competition from other beach combers to find good shells. I had SO many beautiful shells, I filled up 2 complete bags - and upon my return home, I filled two of those glass lamps completely with shells, and still had leftovers... The shells here are absolutely the most incredible shapes, colors, and sizes that I have seen anywhere. Sanibel is supposed to be the #2 shelling place in the world... and they are right on the money with this! I have some great shells I brought home.
We spent most of the day on the island swimming, grabbed lunch and ice cream, and headed back to the hotel to check out the grounds, the spa, and the other things it had. We swam in their VERY nice pool, which was not very crowded at all... and had a few drinks at the bar. We wandered around this place - it is very quiet, and large - it's in a nice secluded property away from all the crowded condos and stuff on sanibel. We got a great internet rate of 88 bucks per night (plus tax) 2 out of 3 nights, and we paid 150 for the other night.
These were off season rates - and I tell you, their on season rates will kill you! Not to mention that as small as Sanibel is (one lane road) I can say I wouldn't want to be there during high season... no way! Not at those prices either.After exploring, we had booked a dinner cruise on the hotel's Sanibel Princess Yacht - they serve you dinner and cruise around the sanibel harbour for about 2 hours - for I think, 100 bucks per couple or something like that. Well worth the money! Wonderful food, the ship was a blast - the people on the ship we met from Germany were hilarious! There were only about 20 people on a boat that could fit 60 easy. Nice and intimate, and the staff was wonderful. We hit the sports bar after the cruise and played a neat trivia game over satellite with 2 other couples in the bar. There were about 10 people in the whole bar/restaurant that night. Very relaxing.
Day 1
BackgroundDay 2
Busch Gardens & SarasotaDay 4
Naples & Lover's Key State ParkDay 5
Edison House & Home
