Captiva Island, Florida

What bliss - a day doing virtually nothing!!

Well, that's not entirely true, as we have driven about 25 miles from one end of Captiva Island to the far end of Sanibel Island and back again.

But before I go any further, let's start at the beginning. I had an early morning dip in the sea. I can't believe how warm the water is. It seems virtually the same as the air temperature, which is in the high eighties.

Here are some photos of the wonderful beach by our hotel.

Looking back towards the hotel and our room on the first floor.

We had a good breakfast in the hotel and then decided to drive a couple of miles to the end of Captiva Island. We stopped at the Mucky Duck bar by the beach and had a drink and an early lunch. Whilst we were there, our car caused quite a lot of interest and several people came up to us to talk about our travels. One couple, Brett and Amanda, were cyclists. He had ridden from Savannah and she from Orlando. They looked very fit indeed! We had a fun chat with them and here they are in front of their bicycles.

We left the Mucky Duck and drove the length of both islands to visit a shop called 'She Sells Sea Shells'! Sanibel is renowned for the shells you can find on its beaches and in the water. We bought some very pretty shells to take back home.

We drove back to the hotel and walked through the resort to have a look at the side of the hotel that faces east. The island is so narrow that one side of the resort, where our room was, faces west to the Gulf of Mexico and the other faces Pine Island Sound and Pine Island, off the Florida mainland.

There was a small harbour where rental boats were moored. On one of the small boats were two birds, an egret and a heron, and in the water were some pelicans.

The egret and the heron.........

... and the pelicans.

The large hotel swimming pool, where Wendy and I had a lovely swim.

Near the hotel reception was one of these grey-leaved palm trees, which we have never seen before.

In the evening, we went for a drink in the hotel bar and then walked to the beach to watch the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.

More glorious photos of the sun setting!

Just before the sun went down, a pelican flew by us.

We then left the beach and went back to the hotel for dinner. There was a singer performing, called Taylor Stokes, and we listened to some great songs from the seventies and eighties. At one point, he dedicated 'Unchained Melody' to us.

It was a special moment for us all, so - thanks to Taylor Stokes for making the day end on a high note.

Tomorrow we drive across the Florida peninsula to Fort Pierce, where there is a manatee centre and, with luck, we will see these unique sea mammals. From there, we drive 100 miles north to Titusville and our last night with Bob and Thelma. They will drive to Savannah the next day, while we stay on for another night to visit the Kennedy Space Centre.