A day on Sanibel Island.                                                             Back

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Mary Beth, the girls and I had spent the last week exploring Disney World, it was time for a change. I'm not saying Disney World was boring, in fact it was great but I wanted to get back to the Florida Keys. It had been about six years since I had last watched a sunset from Key West or seen a queen angel fish swimming over a coral head. I longed for the tranquility of that little piece of paradise.

We got an early start, in fact so early that the kids no sooner got in the car then they went back to sleep. We planned to spend the day on Sanibel Island and the night in Naples before driving across the state on Alligator Alley, then down U. S. 1 to Key West.

After what seemed forever we finally drove onto the Islands, Sanibel shares it's fame with Captiva, After parking we found a trail through a stand of shrub pines to one of the most beautiful beaches I'd ever seen. The look of amazement on the faces of Mary Beth & the girls, was worth the drive. Nobody, I mean nobody, as far as the eye could see. The beach was empty. Eleven a.m. on a sunny day during Easter Vacation and the beach was empty. We didn't see another person for about an hour, then two women walked down the beach. They came into view from the North and after passing continued down the beach till they disappeared from sight. We had the beach to ourselves.

Shells, Shells everywhere. That's the one thing, other then the feeling that we were alone on a deserted Island, that stands out in my memories of that wonderful little piece of heaven. The variety plus the quantity is what makes Sanibel one of the most famous shelling beaches in the world and the girls went wild. We soon had a beach towel filled with those little jewels of the sea. They took quite a few of their finds to show & tell when they got back to school.

We didn't spend all our time shelling and as I was swimming back to shore after snorkeling, I heard the girls. "Butch, watch out! Sting rays." At first I thought they were kidding. (We had just been to Sea World and saw the sting ray pool, in fact I almost got hit in the arm as I tried, gently, to guide one of the larger of the rays in close enough that Melanie could pet it.) They weren't, as I slowly lowered my feet to the bottom, (no sense in taking unnecessary risks.) and standing I noticed a group of small rays, about ten or so swimming past me. It didn't bother me, The only way you can get stung is by stepping on a ray that's laying on the bottom. Basically leave them alone and they'll return the favor. I do advise shuffling your feet when walking in an area where rays are common. Better to let them know your there then to surprise them. Hey, if you were laying on the beach and some big clown stepped on you, how would you react?

Since we were alone Mary Beth took the opportunity to get a full tan from the waist up and Tiffany joined her. Melanie was shy, both of the girls still had little boy figures so it didn't really matter but she was still shy. They made me give them the photo's plus the negatives I took of them topless.

Well our day on the beach over & Mary Beth & Tiffany with slight sunburns where they didn't expect to get sunburns, we headed to Naples to find a room for the night.

We didn't stop in Naples but decided to make the drive to the Keys, we should have at least stopped for dinner. Never drive Alligator Alley on an empty stomach. We finally stopped to eat at an Indian reservation about a third of the way to Homestead, the food was palatable but barely.

Finally the Keys. We drove into a parking lot I had driven into many times over the years, and I didn't recognize a thing. It had been a little fishing/diving camp within a short walking distance of the Dolphin Research Center on Islamorada. The music blared in the once quite little camp that had turned into a resort by the name of Chesapeake Resort. The price for a room was high but the room was worth the price. Though I was tired from a long day I couldn't resist the Sirens call and was shortly sitting in the noisy bar with drink in hand. No, I'm not an alcoholic, I do however enjoy an occasional drink and the company of party people, especially after spending a week with kids.

After a nights sleep we headed to Key West, but that's another story.

See Key West.