Tag Archives: captiva

1 March 2007

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Just a quickie. A relatively quiet day yesterday for Roger and me, while Dot and Barbara went on to Sanibel to do some shopping and have their nails polished. I did some reading and writing, including postcards, and Roger worked on his portrait of Dot. In the evening (well, 5pm) we walked up to the Mucky Duck for dinner. I had shrimps in beer batter and chips. Watched the Leonard Cohen film, I’m Your Man, which is much better than I thought it would be. Some excellent versions of lesser known songs, as well as better known ones. Martha Wainwright great on Traitor.

Today we had lunch at Traders, which was excellent, and in a moment we will be leaving for Naples and a performance of Riverdance. We’re expecting bad traffic and so starting out at 4pm for an 8pm performance. Normal travel time, one and a half hours. Before lunch I bought some shoes – a combination of sandals and trainers – and I have just walked up to the post office to buy stamps, stopping off at the dock on the way back. One dolphin, one manatee, countless pelicans. Strongish breeze from the south-west, but temperature 86F.

Picture is of the house we’re staying in, with our hosts. By Dot.

27 February 2007

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Picture by our waitress at Tommy Bahama’s yesterday in Naples, where I outraged Barb by ordering a cheeseburger instead of something cultured. However, I did have a Cosmo martini, and Dot had a Coconut Cloud (speciality of the house, with their own rum); so that was all right. Using the phrase “all right” rather loosely.

Afterwards Barb and Dot went shopping, and Roger and I visited about six galleries. Some really excellent pictures, especially in the Galerie du Soleil, where they were showing pictures from Naples, Italy, in some kind of exchange deal. Stunning portraits.

Journey to and from Naples was afflicted by heavy traffic. On the way there, through Fort Myers Beach – a kind of sub-tropical Great Yarmouth – it was foggy, depriving us of what we were assured were splendid views. Naples itself was very refined, or upscale, as they say over here.

Today we had breakfast at the Lighthouse cafe again, then went to see the actual lighthouse, which is not much aesthetically, but nicely placed opposite an osprey’s nest. And round the corner is the pier where quite a large number of people were fishing. Surprisingly peaceful, despite the usual suspects – pelicans – putting in an appearance. Saw dolphins again.

On the way back we called at the video shop, and while we were inside, there was a thunderstorm. Back on Captiva it was dry. Dot and I went to the post office, then Starbuck’s, then bought one or two cards and other items at the Bubble Room emporium. Barb and Roger saw manatees at the dock, but by the time Dot and I arrived, they had mysteriously disappeared. The manatees, that is.

Meanwhile a new fridge was installed. We had a delicatessen supper on the deck, then played bridge, followed by a film – Calendar Girls.

25 February 2007

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Enjoying a fairly quiet Sunday, if a day that starts with a seven and a half mile walk can be described as quiet. We processed along the strip of beach from Sunset Captiva, where we’re staying, to the bridge on to Sanibel, the neighbouring island. In fact, since the hurricane a couple of years ago, the islands are joined, and the short bridge between them has nothing but sand underneath. Apparently there are plans to dredge it again.

The beach is nothing special – just a strip of off-sand-coloured sand about fifty yards wide: sea on one side, expensive homes on the other. Lots of shells. Lots of birds – western sandpipers darting in and out of the sea, pelicans diving for fish offshore, the occasional osprey and many, many others. You can occasionally see dolphins leaping out of the sea. It’s not crowded, but there are quite a few shell-seekers. In the easy-access spots (not many), there is a sudden blooming of chairs and umbrellas.

On the way back – the tempertaure is around 80F, but there is a cooling breeze – we called in at the Chapel by the Sea, which has a little graveyard in the shade of palms and other trees.

Yesterday was also reasonably quiet. We went to the video store and then to Andrea’s again, because it had a wine-tasting. And butter and ice-cream tasting. We bought over 100 dollars’ worth of exotic food, which we’ve been eating ever since.

Afterwards the girls read on the beach. Roger did some painting, and I walked over to the dock and took some pictures, mainly of pelicans and a heron. Idyllic spot. I’ve read one book already – John Grishom’s The Broker. Pretty good, but not great. Much of it was taken up with the main character learning Italian, and it tailed off a bit.

The picture is by Dot, taken at the north of the island.