Saturday: While we were touring The Great Loop last year, we put off all kinds of doctor and dentist appointments. We are slowly getting caught up on those. We have a six week break between appointments, so we decided to load up Island Girl and get away from our “dirt” for awhile. We don’t have enough time to go to the Bahamas this winter like we planned, so we th0ught we should take a trip to the Florida Keys. It only takes three days to get there from home base. So we watched the weather, found some good travel days, and away we went – with our GOLD looper flag flying proudly!
We were surprised at how chilly we were on our journey today. We were headed south on the ICW, and there was just enough breeze in our faces to make us break out our fuzzies! (fleece jackets.). The forecast was for about 80*, but we weren’t feeling it! We went about 60 miles, and our stop for tonight was a new place for us. We’ve been into the South Seas Resort on Captiva Island for fuel before, but we’ve never stayed there. We decided to spend the big bucks and stay one night. It is over $4 per foot with power and taxes. (Where are all those $1/foot places we stayed on the Loop?!). But wait – this, baby, is a RESORT. It is beautiful. It is a huge residential and time share resort with a marina at the north end of the island.
They have golf, tennis, pools, beach, restaurants, spa, gym, etc. The marina has several long piers, that fit about 4 large boats along side, so it is a parallel parking kind of place. Captain drives this boat like it is just an extension of himself – I’m so proud of him – he did an awesome job!
We arrived here around 3:00, and we we quick got on our swim suits and went to find the pool. We decided that our time here was short, and we needed to take advantage of whatever we could! The pool was beautiful and is set right on the bay side of the island looking east. We found chairs looking out over the bay (like “we haven’t see it enough today?” Captain asked.) 😉
We each had a very expensive drink (by our standards) from the tiki hut, and I took a dip in the pool, which was lovely. We noticed that several other folks had their own drink cups…. good to know for future reference.
Our resort guide said there would be live music on the Sunset Beach from 5-8. So we headed to the boat to fix ourselves each a beverage from the inexpensive galley bar, and walked over to the Sunset Beach on the west side of the island. How nice! This would be a fantastic beach for swimming during the day, and looked to be a fantastic place to watch a sunset!
A musician was playing acoustic guitar and singing near a little snack shack. They had snacks, restrooms, and all kinds of beach toys available.
And at least one goof-ball was captured on camera.
It was so nice to sit and watch the waning sun, listen to the gentle lap of the Gulf and the music in the background. Children were still playing in their big dug out sand holes and having the best time.
As the time for sunset got closer, a nice young man came around with a basket of sea shells and asked if we’d like to participate in the ‘sea shell wish at sunset’. Of course! So right at sunset, the guitarist came to the shore, and on the count of three, everyone made their wish and tossed their shell into the sea. He then sang a Wish Upon a Seashell song. It was fun and so many people participated.
The sunset was beautiful, just as it usually is. We take for granted the beauty that God blesses us with each and every day!
Another thing that the resort offers each night is this giant telescope for looking at the moon and planets. When I looked through it, it was focused on the thin little fingernail of the moon that was out tonight. HOLY MOON CRATERS BATMAN! This was AMAZALATING! I could see all kinds of craters and stuff!
We headed back to the boat to get ready for dinner. We walked to The Pointe, which was back over by the big pool. It offers dinners in the $20/plate range. Darn – it was under refurbishment.
I looked at the menu for the Haborside Restaurant. They have a lovely deck right at the marina, with live dinner music and it looked so nice. But yikes! We are not foodies – my system just can’t do fancy or unusual stuff. Darn. And it was really beyond our comfort zone in price. So our next option was to eat on the boat or take the free trolly to Doc Ford’s Captiva restaurant. It is just off property at the entrance to the South Seas Resort -about 2 miles away. Kenny said he didn’t change clothes for nuthin’, so we went to Doc Ford’s. Even though it was 8:00, we still had to wait about 45 min for a table, and there was NO room in the bar. This place was packed! Maybe because The Pointe isn’t open. WE shared a plate of BBQ ribs, and unfortunately, neither of us were very impressed with our food – although the service was great! We took the trolley back to the boat – we were tuckered out. I guess we’re out of practice of traveling with all the boat motion, fresh air and sunshine! Tomorrow we need to get up early and make our way to Marco Island.