Destination Anywhere

We've been fleeing Boston winters every two or three years for 15 years now. We head to Sanibel Island, a long thin strip of sand just off the coast from Fort Myers' strip malls and fake canals. Sanibel has a huge nature reserve, biking trails, gorgeous seashell beaches, some low-rise condos, timeshares and hotels, overpriced restaurants (it is a resort, after all), all surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico. The Island has very strict zoning controls, so it retained its large swaths of natural areas, flat footprint, and lack of high-rises on the beaches.

We love it here, and bought into a timeshare called Casa Ybel around 12 years ago. We usually rent it out, but elected to use it ourselves this year, probably for the last time before it gets sacrificed to Dan's college bills. It's a lovely, extremely well cared for place with one and two bedroom apartments with screened porches overlooking the Gulf.

On Sanibel Island, you're never far from feathers or fins.

Much of the island is home to the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge, http://www.fws.gov/dingdarling/

This a fantastic spot for viewing migratory birds and Florida's natural vegetation. There's a five mile wildlife drive you can walk, bike or drive. Along the way are places to walk deeper into the reserve, nature trails, and viewing platforms along the river and mud flats. Sunday morning, Larry and I went over as the gates opened at 7:30. We saw snowy egrets, herons, ibis, brown pelicans, white perlicans, roseate spoonbills (they look similar to pink flamingoes), aninghas, and lots of smaller species. Sunset is another great time to come. It's also fun to see the amazing photography equipment the serious birders and photographers use.

Just offshore, it is easy to spot dolphins playing in the surf. (yes, I know they're mammels--but they swim, so I'm counting them as fish) They are amazing to watch as they jump and dart, often extremely close to swimmers.

Below is a lightning whelk shell.

Brown pelicans.

One of our traditions when we're on Sanibel is to take the drive back over the Causeway and through the Fort Myers sprawl to see the Red Sox in Spring Training camp. The games usually don't start till early March, but it's fun to see the players training, posing for photos, and the accompanying media circus. It always amazes me how young some of these players are, particularly the second-string and farm team kids. The younger players always spend time signing autographs, the older and more well-established players tend to duck into the locker room door after practice, ignoring the shouts of kids and grownups.

And sometimes, you get a photo op with a legend. Larry ignored Dice-K and the rest in favor of an oldie but a goodie--Luis Tiant.

We spent two mornings hanging out on the dock near the Sanibel lighthouse, joining the group of retirees, fishing fanatics, and curious onlookers. Some days it's incredibly easy to catch sheepshead or "prisonfish", so called because of their grey stripes. The sheepshead eat the barnacles on the posts supporting the pier, so all you need to do is drop a line straight down.

Pretty boring, really.The birds were excited, though. Especially when someone's cleaning his catch.