Day Trip to Sanibel

The last few days have been pretty laid back, mostly hanging around the campground, doing laundry, reading, and napping.  Rough life, huh?  The Blue Crowned Conures visit nearly everyday, as do lots of other birds.

One afternoon we went over to the Ft Lauderdale river-walk along the New River.  When I read about it, it reminded me of what MetroParks was trying to do with Dayton's Riverscape.  It was a nice mile long walk along the river, with a (closed) history museum and the area's oldest residence (also closed).  There were quite a few restaurants that looked like they were hurting for business (but open), as well as a place for concerts, a few water taxis and fishing boat companies.  It also looked like they were preparing for some kind of haunted house thing for Halloween.

It was a beautiful day and we saw some huge yachts coming and going, as well as about 6 or 7 big iguanas along the riverbank wall.  That's not something you would see in Brookville so I got a kick out of chasing them around trying to get pictures of them with my phone (dumb me, I forgot my camera)  The way they run gave me a good laugh!

 

 

This guy wasn't the least bit afraid!  I got this close with my phone camera!

I think he put the stink eye one me!  pfft pfft!

 

 

  I wonder if this awesome chandelier will fit in the trailer?

 

We took a walk down Los Olas Blvd, with lots of upscale shops and restaurants and art galleries.  I couldn't resist and bought this cute blouse at the Betty Page store (I LOVE the bird print on this), and bought some good smelling soap at another shop.  I was amazed at how many people take their dogs out to eat with them.  Guess its a rich lady thing.

On another day one of my facebook friends, who I haven't actually seen in person in 24 years, messaged me to say she would be in Sanibel this week and would we be able to drive over to see her?  Well who can say no to an old friend?  Who can say no to a road trip to Sanibel Island?  Not me!  So yesterday we drove the 2 1/2  hours across alligator alley (I75) to meet her at the Sanibel Café.  (They have the most amazing almond French toast!).  I was afraid I might not recognize  her after all these years, but once I laid eyes on her of course I did!  She hasn't changed a bit!

We enjoyed our breakfast and then went over the condo where she and 6 of her girlfriends are staying.  We got changed and headed out to the beach, and Noel thought he would head over to the Ding Darling National Wildlife area.  Surprise! Due to the government shut down, the nature reserve was closed, but that didn't stop tourists from taking pictures with the "closed due to government shutdown" sign.  LOL

Renee and I took a walk down the beach and back, then I headed into the water to cool down.  I felt what I thought was a piece of seaweed across my thigh, so I brushed it off and then felt like a thousand needles stinging me.  In all the years I've been going to various beaches, I've never been stung, but I guess my luck ran out.  Fortunately, it only hurt for about a 1/2 hour and Mr. Safety had some pain reliever spray in the first aid box, so he fixed me up!  That Noel, always prepared!  He's so efficient.

After dropping Renee off, we headed to lighthouse beach for a short look to see if I could find a wentletrap shell. You KNOW how I love me some wentletraps! It didn't take long to find one and we headed back onto the alligator alley after a bite to eat.

 

The sunset was beautiful as we drove back, and we even saw a huge alligator on the highway. A police officer was directing traffic around it, I guess until a wildlife officer could catch it and take it back into the swamp. Cool!!

 

 

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