Slimmed down from 1030 photos

 ... and upload 90. 

I can't slim down further even though I need to. 

My mother and I took another local Floridian adventure this morning. 

Lee County Board of Commissioners have been gracious enough to not charge people the price of admission to go over the toll to Sanibel and Captiva, every Sunday from August 6, 2023 to September 10, 2023, in order to "Savor the Shores"; a campaign to help get the area back on its feet and a little spending money in local business pockets. 

It seemed like a slow roll today, as when we got on the Causeway and into Sanibel. There weren't a lot of cars around until we headed for the Lighthouse. We decided to make that our first stop, so once we got to that beach and I took pictures... I solemnly swear I didn't make friends today like I did at Bunche Beach. I made it my mission to get to the actual Lighthouse and get back to the car... which I was eventful in doing. My problem was, my camera went a little wonky the second I got on the sand. It was a battery issue, I think, because I had to pop the battery out and pop it back in. When I was finished, I got back in the car (full of sand fly bites. Big mistake not to have worn spray or something), my mother told me she heard someone recently say that this is the first time the lighthouse has been lit in a while. I don't know about that, as aren't lighthouses meant to shine in the night? Maybe it's the first time since the hurricane that the light works. I don't know I haven't fact checked that. 

Anyway, we made our way through the rest of Periwinkle Way and into Captiva, where more cars seemed to follow us in that direction. It wasn't a parade of any type or sort, but when we landed (parked) at the Mucky Duck for lunch, that was the one place we noticed getting busy. 

The restaurant opened at 11:30 and I'm told under normal circumstances, you're super lucky if you can get in at any time of the business day. It's always a packed house and today was no exception. The place is like a hole in the wall, it's that tiny, so of course it'll get full real quick. As we waited in the 100° heat, the line was already snaking around the corner to get in. Once the lunch bell rang that they were open (yes a worker rang a bell), the restaurant was soon to be standing room only for a table. As my mom and I were able to sit and eat, we watched the wait staff hustle so quickly, that you'd think the building were on fire. By the time we left to finish exploring and go home, the line to wait for a table was back out the door and around the building. Inside and outside patio seats were so full, it was a wonder there was places to turn the car around to get out. It was amazing to see that many people support this place. Plenty business was generated today, and again, this was normal! 

We snaked back through the same way we came in, and let this be a reminder or a notice: some of these places (Sanibel, Captiva, Fort Myers Beach, Pine Island / Matlacha, Naples to Marco Island) are one way in and the same bridge out. That's why they had big problems after Ian visited and destroyed everything. A two lane stretch of road that begins and ends on the same bridge and circles the entirety of the island / area, makes for not good times when you need to get out of dodge, quick. It brings new meaning to "The Long And Winding Road" because the road did disappear and is now being rebuilt. 

Which is why when I had to go to Marco everyday for a month and a half for work, I said to myself I would never live in a place where you rely on a single bridge to get to your city and home. It was the end of hurricane season when I was driving there, but it made me uneasy because it's a 65 minute drive to get there and a 65 minute drive to get home. Driving in the dark in an area with very little street lights and then going on a bridge is not the best when you're not used to it. It's creepy and very eerie. I'll take the 90 minute (train) commute to Boston (or just about any shitty traffic jam in the city) any day of the week, over having to drive on a single use strip of road. Thankyouverymuch. 

Anyway, there are parts of Sanibel and Captiva that are still looking third world country, but there are other places that are definitely getting rebuilt. There are scaffolding pieces on buildings, holes looking patched up, but it could have a house next to it that is missing an entire section of siding.  Parts of the million dollar houses look like they never got a blink of wind, yet, there are sprawling areas of mangroves / tree lines where they are so bent out of shape, you wonder if someone actually took a heat gun to it and started bending it. The unfortunate part of all of this is, some of the quaint little plaza shops are no more. The one off kitsch stores are still standing to an extent and trying to continue selling items even though they still have a blue tarp or plywood on a window. It seems that the bigger plazas were the ones that got hit the worst. Even though they are mom and pop stores, solely known to be one of Sanibel and Captiva's finest or coolest, the locals have very little places to visit right now because too many buildings are boarded up. 

Hence part of the reasoning behind the campaign to get people over to visit. Those places and restaurants that are open are the ones who can then potentially help the ones who need to start again. Although, there are some restaurants that have food truck ability, to they've had to slim down their menu and are working out of the truck at the moment, in order to get the locals fed and generate enough income to work on the building.  

All the photos I'm posting were taken with my Canon EOS Rebel T71 and I didn't do any editing to them. Because we stayed mainly in the car, I had on sports mode and ended up keeping the windows up while taking the photos. So some pictures have reflections in them and some look darkly weird. I didn't want to try to do any editing because there are just so many. Like I said, I tried to slim down from 1030 photos but ended up "liking" 90. 

There are some I shouldn't include and some I debated on including. Others didn't make it in the cut. But without much further ado, the pictures or this was all for naught:

I know some look the same. I wanted to get every angle of buildings as we were driving that I could. There were some I could have stitched together, but the way I was holding the camera and the way we drove by places, there was no way I could, as the slight shift in movement caused the angle to change too much. Otherwise I would have gotten quite a few panoramic pictures of some of the places we passed. 

All in all, I guess it was a good day. We got to see what people were talking about (those who have made it over by paying) and we helped the economy just a tinge by eating at a restaurant. We could have stopped at some of the stores that were open, but where they're probably gearing up for the tourist trap - everything would be extremely overpriced. 

As it is, my mom and I were talking about there not being a proper grocery store on the island. There are two super local places the natives can shop at: Jerry's and Bailey's. Unfortunately, Bailey's is compeltely torn down at the moment and getting ready to be rebuilt. So part of the conversation was... that your basic items are probably so inflated, that you are forced to buy it or travel off the island even though it's already probably so expensive to purchase items as it is (normally). There is no [enter regional name brand grocery store here] anywhere in Sanibel and Captiva. Sure, with the million dollar homes and expensive vacation rentals, people can afford to pay out the nose for their items, but that mindset is getting to be everywhere else too. We all just choose to ignore it until we go to these tiny communities and can't use coupons. Good on the local businesses though, for keeping people thriving while they rise out of the ashes from the storm, but how come some big business hasn't come in and at least offered to build a supermarket yet? Why don't they want it? Is it to keep the riff raffs off the island? It could give the teenagers or retirees living there some work though... -shrugs-.

That's about it for now. It was nice to take the ride and see the cleanup. Now I can tell people I was there and once things get a little back to normal, I'd probably venture out there again and try one of the beaches or another restaurant. I just need to remember to take earth friendly repellant with me if I attempt the walk at the ocean again. 

Cheers;

By the way, have you checked my side links yet? Ko-Fi page, Yelp, Pinterest, etc? If not, nip them out, and if you like what you've been reading, definitely stop by my Ko-Fi page (because, as they say in the podcast realm: "Podcasts aren't cheap", so someone has to keep the lights on. I need to keep my camera charged to go out like this).

See also:

* The Beatles The Long and Winding Road, (track 10), Let It Be

* Canon EOS Rebel T7i EF-S 18-55. It's renewed on Amazon because it's an old model already. 

* Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras. Another renewed item as it's an old model