Posts

Showing posts from June, 2015

A special Find

Image
One of our Beach Angels "Taylor" had a rare find while on Captiva this year.  She found an Imperial Venus shell!  Thanks to "Shellady" for confirming the find.                                       "Taylor" A.K.A Beach Angel                                                                        Imperial Venus 2015 You might remember the story I told you all awhile back about Taylor's fascination at a younge age with collecting rocks.  To most of us just plain old rocks.  She would collect them from around my Koi pond, NaNa's garden or sometimes maybe in the middle of a gravel parking lot.                                                                  PaPa's Koi pond She of course turned her attention to shells as soon as we began taking her to Captiva.  Even now though she won't pass up a good  rock if she sees one.  Taylor's first shells on Captiva were usually broken or had holes in them, far from perfect specimens. While most of u

Field Trip Thursday

Image
Thursday marked another day of first for us.  On Monday Don and I played a round of golf at Sanibel Golf Club.  We had planned on playing a couple of times during the week and also was going to play at The Dunes.  Unfortunately The Dunes was closed for aerification.  We found an advertisement in one of the island publications with an add for "Muscle Car City" in Punta Gorda.  Old cars is one of my passions so we decided to make a guys afternoon checking out the cars and having lunch while the girls did a little shopping. So I know the next few photos may not be something you all consider to be photo op when visiting paradise but just picture yourself cruising accross the causeway in one of these beauties from the past.   Only thing missing is the surf boards My Beach Cruiser   How cool is that? So if you love looking at old Muscle Cars I would recomend a trip to Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda.  Besides a fantastic line up of over 150 classics They also have a little 60'

Hey Mike,Mike,Mike Hump Days are not allowed on vacation!

Image
So I have been a little behind in posting to the blog this year.  The time is flying by way too fast.  Wednesday's plan was a day at the beach.  I started off by getting a few shots of the sunrise from the dock.  Nothing like watching the world wake up in paradise.  I was then off to Baileys for some Doughsants.  This was another first for us.  We never heard of a doughsant before but thought what the heck lets give them a try.  I kind of envisioned the light airy texture of a croissant mixed with the glazed goodness of a doughnut. The folks at Baileys are so polite.  The lady at the Bakery counter told me this batch came out smaller than normal so they gave me double the amount for the same price! The outside was like I expected but there was some sort of filling inside a little like a cream cheese but with some sort of flavoring that was not sweet.  Sorry not a big fan of the doughsant   er Doughsants from Baileys We headed to the beach after breakfast the ocean was rolling in w

Time Out Tuesday

Image
S0 I have been up around 6 all week.  This morning was no different except I needed to be extra quiet because sometime during the night I got room visitors.  There were two Beach Angels sleeping on my floor!  Why they would give up their bed for the floor beats me.       Looks Comfy doesn't It So with camera in hand I headed down to the dock to capture some shots of the Sunrise.  I would normally have my photographer in tow but due to her bum ankle I'm on this mission alone.  I wanted to also head over to the Beach and walk down to Blind Pass. Another First this year capturing more Sunrises than Sunsets For some reason when it comes to the ocean I'm like that kid you tell to stay out of the water puddle.  If I'm near it I'm gonna get in in it.  What usually starts out as ankle deep ends up being knee deep in no time.  Just me and the relaxing sound of the waves to serenade me as I put on my best "Shell Whisperer" impression and begin scouring the surf

Exploration beyond the beach

Image
So the theme this year is about new experiences and first for us while here on Captiva/Sanibel. Our house this year sits on the water up the channel from Blind Pass.  This is a first for us usually we are trying to get closer to the gulf but the island is narrow down by Blind Pass and it is a pretty short walk to the beach. The house is not much more than 30 foot off the water and has a dock which has led to many new discoveries for the Beach Angels.  I put together a Scavenger Hunt for the Angels this year.  They are getting older and I wanted to open their eyes to the wonderful world of nature that surrounds this island. The Scavenger hunt has about forty items.  They either need to collect or spot the items while here this week.  Lexi  and I spent quality time this evening sitting on the dock and watching nature in all its splendor.  From Rainbows, Osprey eating a fish and a alligator we got a little of everything tonight.  Best part was just sitting there sharing the time together.

Not So Welcome Mat

Image
 So we're back! Time to blow some dust off this Blog and share another week of "paradise" A.K.A. Sanibel/Captiva Island. New experiences in store this year for starters we got a new "Beach Angel"  Skylar, she's our newest grandchild. She, her two sisters and Mom and Dad are with us this year.  At four months old she now takes the title of the youngest to share this special place. Today Skylar and I spent some quality time on the Lania (also known as the screened in porch for you folks back in the midwest).  As you can see Skylar thinks PaPa is a hoot! A long drive which started at 2:45 a.m. Friday Morning.  Our first leg of the trip was quiet because the Beach Angels rode with their Mom & Dad till we met up in Kentucky for some Smiley face pancakes in Paducah.  We started a routine years ago when the Beach Angels were little where NaNa would give them surprises along the way. It was typical five & dime type stuff that was meant to occupy them so we c