Leap Day on Sanibel Island

Wednesday Feb. 29

Well, today is Leap Day ... that gift of an extra day from the time gods that occurs only once very four years to reconcile man's calendar with earth's actual orbit around the sun, which takes 365 days and 6 hours, in case you didn't know (I had to look it up!)

I don't know about you, but I'm of the opinion that since basically every day is a gift, that this is extra little bonus of a day should be used wisely. And for me, I can think of no better way to spend the day than on Sanibel Island. I arrive at about 9 a.m., and the first order of business is breakfast. I go to the Sanibel Cafe, and while the food was very good as usual, their coffee sucks. This illustrates just how difficult it is to find the "perfect" breakfast place. So next time on Sanibel, I am going to try a place for breakfast called "The Island Cow," which kind of has that "Ben & Jerry's Hippie Funk" to it. I've passed this place several times on Periwinkle Road (the island's "main drag"), and there always seems to be a crowd there, and I'll bet they have a great cup of some kind of  "fair trade" coffee. The stuff the Sanibel Cafe serves is just your basic industrial grade swill. As great as the food is here, you would think the owners would be coffee connoisseurs as well. Not so. I also want to check out another Sanibel breakfast placed called the "Over Easy Cafe," which has gotten good reviews.

Anyway, I stretch breakfast into a three-hour event, sipping coffee, reading, and surfing the ‘net, using the wi-fi service and drinking the much better coffee of cafe next door, Dolce Tesero. I sit on the shaded porch at one of their cafe tables. This is a great place just to hang, and they don’t mind you taking your time.

By this time, it's about noon, so I drive over to Billy's Rental and rent a beach cruiser, and proceed to Casa Ybel which, if not the island's premiere resort, is certainly one of them. In fact, it is mentioned by name in the novel, Sanibel Flats, which I am currently reading. It is also where my landlord, Heather, works and she told me to c'mon over for lunch the next time I was on the island, so I am doing exactly that. Room at this resort during "high season" can typically run $500/night, so obviously this is out of my price range, but for $20 or so, a person can have lunch, peruse the grounds, take in the ocean view, and see how the other half lives. it takes me about 20 minutes to bike over there from Billy's. It's a bit off the "beaten track" (Periwinkle Road) but is easy enough to find on Casa Ybel Road, appropriately enough.

I get there about 1:15, and not exactly sure where in the resort Heather works, I start inquiring at the front office. Heather has told me her job is an "event planner," so I thought maybe she worked in an office somewhere in the "executive" part of the resort, planning conventions, corporate retreats, and the like. Not so. No one in the office has heard of her, so I start working my way "down," until I finally find a waiter who has heard of her, and she is tending bar/waitressing out at the pool bar/cafe which is called "Coconuts."
We greet one another, and I pull up to a seat at the Tiki bar (there's also umbrella tables poolside). Sweaty and thirsty from the bike ride (it's hot out today!), I immediately order up a Yeungling on tap, and Heather informs me it's "on her."

I sit there a while, soaking up the view and reading "Sanibel Flats," then decide to order lunch. Heather recommends the seared Ahi tuna tacos, so I order them. They are delicious, and if you want to read about them, you can check out the review I wrote on "Coconuts" for tripadvisor.com here.

Heather treats me to another Yeungling and a sample glass of "Shock Top" they have on tap, which is one of the newer trendy beers right now. If you've seen their TV commercials, they use a Mayan calendar "end of the world" theme and suggest if the end is coming, you might as well enjoy a good beer. Very cute. Good beer, too. A little spicy (it's supposed to be coriander) it kind of reminds me of Blue Moon. Try it. I pay only for the lunch; beer is on Heather. So the bill comes to $13. And with tax and the 18% gratuity that the resort automatically tacks on to every service bill, the total is $16 and some change. I slip a $20 bill into the bill wallet, and leave Heather the change.

I linger a while longer at Casa Ybel. There's a fair crowd at "Coconuts," and indeed there's plenty of cars in the parking lot, so there is apparently no recession at this place. If you ever get to Sanibel, check out this gem of a resort. But it's time to move on, so I get on my bike and head over to a beach that is right off Casa Ybel road, Gulf Side Park, aka Algier's Beach, at the end of Algier's Road. I lock up the bike, find a sunbathing couple willing to look after my backpack, and strip off my T-shirt, shoes, and socks, and go walking along the surf. The sand on all the beaches here is about half sand, and half pulverize sea shells, because the island acts as a natural "net" to capture shells. I did not realize this, but most of the islands off the coast of Florida run north to south, with their long sides oriented parallel to the ocean current. Sanibel Island is one of the few islands whose long sides run perpendicular to the ocean currents, and thus the gulf side (facing the ocean) acts as a natural net for the shells as they come washing up on the shore. That's why Sanibel is such a popular spot for "shellers," who comb the beaches looking for shells. (The locals say the best time is right after a big storm, and the earlier the better because apparently people come out in droves looking for fresh shells right after a storm.) The island even has an annual "Shellibration", which is occurring next weekend, and which I'm told attracts quite a crowd. There's also a Shell Museum on the island, which I may or may not check out.

Anyway, my time at Aglier's Beach is very pleasant, and my bare feet get a very nice exfoliation from the crushed sea shells. I spend a little time perusing a market along Periwinkle called "Bailey's General Store," which one of two places on the island where most of the locals buy their groceries. It's a very nice store, and clearly caters to the wealthy with a very premium deli and meat department among other things. The other grocery store is called "Jerry's," and Heather tells me they have a restaurant inside that serves breakfast and lunch, mostly using ingredients from their own store. Prices are reported to be reasonable, and it's supposed to be one of the better kept secrets among the locals as far as a place to get a good and cheap breakfast. I may have to check out that place as well!

I return my bike to Billy's. By now it is 5 p.m., and the traffic leaving the island is horrendous, so I decided to end my day with a little bite for dinner at a place called "Schnapper's," which is another Heather recommend. They are mostly a takeout restaurant, which very limited seating (three or four picnic tables outside) and do mostly "drive-in" food like hot dog, hamburgers, fries, and so forth. They are famous (at least locally) for their "Schnapper Dog" which is a skin-on wiener that they have specially made for them somewhere. This is what I order, It's served with a dill pickle spear inside the bun, along with mustard and some type of "secret sauce" that gives it a little bit of heat. It is pretty good, though nothing I would call out of this world. While it's a great dog, it's served on a wimpy Wonder-bread type bun.

After that, I head back to the condo, and fill up the over sized tub in the master bath and have a great soak.

All in all, an exquisite day. I almost feel bad about indulging myself in so many of my "guilty pleasures" for food, drink, reading, and basically sitting on my ass and soaking in my surroundings. Almost, but not quite. Hope you had an enjoyable "Leap Day" and used it wisely.

Expenses: food and drink on Sanibel Island, $40. Bike rental, $10. Total $50

Bruce