And now (In my best Paul Harvey voice) for the rest of the story. Low tide is the best time for shelling, so we were determined to get out early to meet the tide and beat the other shell gatherers. After a quick breakfast and some strong coffee, we walked through the marina to see the boats.
There were boats of every size docked here and each one looked like so much fun. A few were already out and ready to hit the open sea.
This is why I prefer the Gulf waters to the East coast. I like to see what I'm stepping on before it gets me. I'm only partially joking. I did happen to step on what I think was a stingray on a previous trip. Scared the living daylights out of me.
Aren't we cute? My hubby is always humoring me with my photos for this blog. He's good sport.
I thought I would surprise him with this sand art while he was out gathering shells since this was supposed to be a romantic getaway. He didn't even see it until I showed him the pictures later.
Now for my two favorite parts of the trip. Sanibel and Captiva always have something new for us. A few years ago, it was finding live starfish for the girls to hold.
This time, it was the manatees. I had never seen a live manatee outside of captivity, so this was a real treat for me. We had seen a few in the marina earlier and were just thrilled. Later, while picking up shells on a sand bar, my hubby called my name and pointed out what came up in front of me. Not more than five feet away were a mama manatee and her calf.
If you look just to the right of the manatee here, you can see her baby swimming right beside her. It was just amazing. We just stood there watching them for about twenty minutes and they rolled through the waters.
Island Pizza is our all time favorite place to go on the island. We always order the "Islander" pizza. I'm not sure what makes it taste so much better than any other pizza we have had, but it is.
It's impossible for us to not go when we visit. I'm sure we will be back again soon. Even though it was only for one night, I felt much more relaxed than when we arrived. The islands have that kind of effect on you. If you ever get the chance to go, you should. We are already trying to plan our next getaway there.
Who can resist when you have beautiful waters like this?
They didn't seem to mind us being there, but as more people came out to the beach and into the waters, they made their way out of the area. We stayed a few hours gathering shells and enjoying the peaceful setting before heading back to our room to pack up.
This little guy came to say goodbye to us. Wasn't that sweet? Now it was time to hit up our favorite place on the way out of town.
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