Summer Sanibel Sojourn: Sand, Shells, Sun & Sparklers - Update 7/5 About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures Amy!!

[lauriep]

Beautiful sunset photos! I can't believe that update was Day 6 already. Too bad about the power in the hotel. Was it humid as well as hot? Doesn't look at all hazy in the photos.

[Kenny]

I can't decide which sunset picture I like best, they are all so great! But, I do like the one on SmugMug of your Mom looking over her shoulder with that impish grin on her face!

[DyanKJ130]

Phew! All caught up....although I feel like I've been living it as it's been happening.....it's nice to see it in print. that last photo of you and mom! Hope your return home is going well!

P.S. Go Red Sox!!

[KandJluvdisney]

great pics amy
sorry about the power loss
hurry back with more please

[Wendyismyname]

Fantastic Amy!!

[Grammy Grumpy]

Your sunset pictures are absolutely spectacular! You can almost hear the sun sizzle when it hits the water!!!

Sorry for the heat and power problems. Hope the 4th and the fireworks were great!

[iamgrumpy]

First I want to apologize for not posting this sooner, July 4th was a very long day or it seemed to me and I just didn't have the energy that night to post this then! But I'm hoping to finish this report up tonight!!

On with the Show as they say!

We woke up and I felt like a ton of bricks hit me twice over, I think this whole relaxing thing was tiring me out either that or I just am enjoying the fact we can sleep late if we want to. So I didn't get out of bed until 9am and ran down stairs to grab breakfast before they stopped serving. We had bagels, and cereal and split a waffle. Then we went back upstairs and I crashed back in bed until about Noon. Mom did some laundry and by the time she was done, I was up and ready to go.

We decided to stay on Fort Myers side since it was a holiday Sanibel would be extremely crowded and it was really hot today so we figured being close by the hotel would be better. So we decided to go play a round of Putt Putt ( Mini Golf) at a place called Smuggler's Cove. It was on San Carlos Blvd. which is about 3 minutes from the hotel which was great. It was $9.99 each but we had a $1 off coupon for each of us from our hotel so $8.99 plus tax each was a good deal!!

We headed over, parked the car and questioned our sanity as we realized just how hot it was but figured eh...you only live once go out putt putting

We paid our fare, and headed onto the course, they have baby alligators you can feed we skipped that but did take a few photos...




Quite a homely bunch, but neat to see them close up but far enough away that we weren't at risk we headed to the first tee. We soon realized that we'd have to skip the 2nd hole as the family in front had 8 people in their group and refused to be courteous to those behind them and split into 2 groups of 4 so that at least things would go smoothly. We skipped hole #2 and just took par for it. In the end, we realized we were in NO SHAPE to do this course, and it was far to hot but we finished the course. We had a BLAST!! but definitely wouldn't do that course in that kind of heat again! I won! Only by 2 strokes but would have been more if I hadn't had to take a 6 on one hole because my mother was trying to mess me up by randomly shouting taunts at me thats ok I got her back on the next hole...lets just say she was not happy but fair is fair

Here are some shots of the course...









Thought this was a nice touch since it was the 4th of July


After our round of golf we each had an Itzakadoozie Popsicle. them!! We have those at WDW all the time and these hit the spot since we were roasting!!! We headed back to the hotel to cool off, and decided on TGI Friday's for dinner.

We were driving to the restaurant about 5:45pm and we had to call 911 on the way as there was a SUV who's driver may have had a little too much beer at the beach and was weaving in and out of lanes but not the "oh i wanna be in this lane" weave but the "i can't phsyically keep the car in the lane" weave. Mom told them cross streets, and the make, model, and license plate as we couldn't safely pass the car no one could!! Well by the time we got to the big intersection where we needed to turn a FHP car was right behind us and he got them to pull off the road and I am guessing their Party was ended!! I'm all for enjoying your holiday but please PLEASE use a designated Driver, or if you all drink DON'T DRIVE period and call a cab. He had a back seat filled with young kids who could have been hurt had he caused a wreck.

After we had dinner, we went to Bunche Beach to watch the Fireworks, we parked, and set up on this beach that is on Fort Myers, not Sanibel, not Fort Myers beach but between the two. We waited and put on Bug Spray, and waited, and well, after the first 10 Sand Crabs (not sure if that is the true name but they were all over the beach) and the swarms of Mosquitos attacked us we saw maybe 2 mins of fireworks before we bailed. We had at least 25 mosquitos in the car and we had to stop at publix for benedryl and after bite sticks as we are now covered in bites. I seriously was thinking about hitting a 24 hour care center but the benedryl helped and the after bite stick stopped the topical itch. Mom and I won't do this again! We will ask for the same room we had and watch the fireworks from the room as we realized we would have seen them as we pulled into the hotel and the last few were going off and we could see them! Live and learn right!

Here are the few shots I got of the fireworks people were setting off themselves...

Sunset






We had a great time over all, the few annoyances wouldn't ruin a vacation for us, and we laughed more then we cried or itched but we learned that we would definitely do Sanibel/Ft Myers etc again but we would go in February/March time frame, we would not go to the beach at night, and we would definitely stay at the same hotel as we just don't see the need to pay to stay on Sanibel when this hotel was so convienant to everything.

I crashed after taking the benedryl, and we have to check out in the morning and pack etc so we wanted to get up early so it was early to bed.

Today we...Played Putt Putt and tried to watch fireworks
The Result was... Lots of fun, very hotel, too buggy but worth it!
The Best Thing was... Beating Mom at Putt Putt and having an Itzakadoozie.
The Worst Thing was...the Bug bites and realizing we were leaving in the morning
The Weather... High 90's mostly Sunny Humid
A Magical Moment... Watching mom's face after I caused her to go over the putting limit on the golf course due to my evilness and getting her to laugh about it.

[chezp]

How neat to get so close to the baby alligators! Sounds like a fun holiday - love the fireworks shots.

[Kenny]

EWwwwww!! Buggy!!
I can't believe you were so bad as to whup up on your own Mother and beat her in Putt-Putt!!
I got my first mosquito bite last night, so I can sympathize!
Great shots of the gators and fireworks... and the sunset, too!

[lauren-roxy]

Sounds like a great day Amy!! Love your photos!!

[Wendyismyname]

Love that you played putt-putt on July 4th!! Awesome!! Love the fireworks too!!
I'm going to probably just be the voice of dissension because I absolutely cannot stand gators or crocs of any kind., unless they are the Crocs shoes!

Because you posted so many fabulous photos of the Gulf, Ben is interested in taking a quick vacation there!

[sophierushmom]

Gald you had a great trip!!

[Colexis Mom]

Great day Amy!!

[iamgrumpy]

Originally Posted by Kenny

EWwwwww!! Buggy!!
I can't believe you were so bad as to whup up on your own Mother and beat her in Putt-Putt!!
I got my first mosquito bite last night, so I can sympathize!
Great shots of the gators and fireworks... and the sunset, too!

Kenny BEE-Lieve it! And I just had to point out to her that she may have had some sort of stain or something on her back pocket and since it was too far to point out with just my hand I just HAD to point it out with the golf club... Yep! that was good for an extra shot but I'm a complete Angel I wouldn't be too Devilish Mwahahahahahahahaha

Take the itch of that 1 bite, and imagine what 17 feel like and that is what I am dealing with I HATE MOSQUITOS!

Originally Posted by Wendyismyname

Love that you played putt-putt on July 4th!! Awesome!! Love the fireworks too!!
I'm going to probably just be the voice of dissension because I absolutely cannot stand gators or crocs of any kind., unless they are the Crocs shoes!

Because you posted so many fabulous photos of the Gulf, Ben is interested in taking a quick vacation there!

Awww come on they only snap a little bit and they were so cute yeah I was glad they were in the pond and surrounded by a fence as I wasn't about to go near them without that fence! I croc shoes!!

Oh and Ben is a great guy! You'd love it there. Fly from Indy to RSW which is Ft Myers' airport (Southwest flies there) and then hang out in the area You would have a great long weekend!