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Sanibel Island - Part 1
A Respite from Reality
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
A short, but beautiful respite from the cold New York winter can be found in Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, Florida, complete with a seashell heaven and outdoor haven for creatures of all kinds.
The flight began with a duel. As I sat in the middle of the set of three seats with my wife, Margherita, on my left, and a stranger to my right, the Palm Pilot duel began. Margherita took out her Palm Pilot, and the stranger took out an even better one. I was forced to begin my story early by not only whipping out my Palm Pilot, but the keyboard, which is why I started this story here and now. It's a rather large keyboard and folds rather intricately as any good gadget should. To make it even better, it looks extremely complicated and thereby is even more impressive. I folded it and unfolded it to indicate my powers, and how wonderful my personal nature and spirit was. After all, a man must truly be important to have a better Palm Pilot amidst these other two "amateur" users.
Even with all of this folding and unfolding, the complete stranger paid no notice.
Heading to Fort Myers, Florida (or most destinations in Florida), when coming from the north is a bit of an odd, but important feeling--sort of like having a keyboard for your Palm Pilot. While it's still cold outside, you're wearing shorts. You're sitting on a plane wearing shorts, and people are looking at you in a rather odd way, but you can look back with that geeky and proud look, saying, "I'm going to Florida, so of course it's normal for me to walk around New York with shorts."
Going to Sanibel Island, Florida, increases the feeling as it's one of those cities in Florida that gets to leave the "Florida" part of its name off. That is, to most people, when you say Florida, they say, "Ahh Disney." It's a rather long state, and Disney does own a major portion, but Florida sometimes implies Disney--or Spring Break.
I'd say, there are only two other cities that can lose that Florida portion: Miami and Key West. Most people don't even realize Key West is really part of Florida, as the name is said so independently of the other. And Miami, on the other hand, is another world in itself.
Let me begin by saying Sanibel Island is the least Floridian city I've ever seen. Yes, it's in Florida, and they do sell the mandatory Coconut Patties, but other than those two pieces, the similarities end. Sanibel Island really is what Florida would be if they moved Nantucket Island down there. It's a bit rich (but not snobbish), clean, and peaceful. Instead of the cold winters that Nantucket has, they have dolphins and seashells.
Our first step to get to Sanibel was just outside of the island on the Fort Myers side, the Edison/Ford Winter Estates. Without recanting the entire life story of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, Thomas Edison had the land down in Florida to try and improve his health from those nasty northern winters. He became friends with Henry Ford who eventually moved right next door. Now the entire complex was fortunately saved as a museum.
This actually rates as one of my favorite attractions in the area. Edison was a genius, and this is not only the home of a genius, but it reflects the owner quite well. The first thing you notice is the largest Banyan tree in North America. The Banyan tree is one of the only trees I've seen that you can "recommend to somebody." Just like the Rockefeller Center tree In New York City, it's one of those trees that everybody walks around saying, "Have you seen the Banyan Tree?"
To begin with, it's large. Very large. Unusually large. It starts as a base tree which then grows branches, (like every other type of tree), but then, the craziness begins. Each of the branches grows roots that when they touch the ground, they turn into independent trees which support the branches and allow it to grow even further. The eventual result is a large forest coming out of one tree.
From there, you can take a tour of the grounds, which really stand up as more unusual, than the house. Every tree is so unusual, they've given me a newfound desire to visit my local botanical gardens and grow anything but standard vegetables in my gardens at home. The estate has trees with pods that explode; other trees that can cause excessively strong allergic reactions... the list goes on and on and each one is more unusual then the last. Each one leaves you wondering what planet you're on.
Anyway, after about an hour, we left the estate and headed over to Sanibel Island.
To get to Sanibel Island, you need to cross over this one bridge, which is half the trip, so pull to your right lane so you can slow down and look around. Look for the large Brown Pelicans swooping down and grabbing the fish right out of the sea.
After crossing the bridge, do not head straight towards your hotel, but make a left and walk along the beach by the lighthouse. The Point Ybel Lighthouse, has been in operation since 1884, and now serves the additional purpose of marking the spot where lots of people go shelling and walking along the beach.
It seems as if a majority of the people who come to Sanibel Island either go shelling, or walk along the beach and act like they're shelling. There also seems to be two basic ways of shelling. We did the easiest method, which is simply looking for what is pretty. If it was pretty, we picked it up. Other people get a bit more serious about the matter and will spend hours hunting for certain shells like one would look for baseball cards. To have some fun, mention you've found a "brown-speckled junonia" to one of these collectors, and they'll go insane. Supposedly it's quite rare and valuable, so to some this becomes a bit of a lottery game in hopes of finding that rare, elusive shell.
You can spend hours walking along the beach doing this as it's probably one of the most peaceful and restful activities I've done. If you get bored with walking on the sand, the water level is pretty low for at least 30-50 feet out, and you can walk right into the gulf. Beware of the large diving pelicans though. They'll swoop down and give you a bit of a fright. You can walk to within feet of the birds though.
After walking along the beach, we jumped in the car and headed down to the West Wind Inn. There are many Inns and Hotels that you can choose from on Sanibel Island, and we personally liked the West Wind Inn which seemed to cover most, if not all, of our needs. It had the official pool, volleyball, and other outdoor games, but it also had an outdoor bar, the beach attached to its property, and a restaurant. In addition, they had efficiency rooms with a kitchenette, which could certainly help the budget by doing a bit of shopping for lunch.
We had enough time to go for a walk along the beach (right by the hotel) and attempt to find some more rare shells--or at least pretend to do so. While walking along the beach, the West Wind Inn had a guitarist by the pool playing Jimmy Buffett and Eagles songs, which really did fit the mood.
After finding a few shells which Margherita deemed as "pretty," we went to the room, changed, and then headed right out for dinner to The Bubble Room. All of the locals seem to know about The Bubble Room, which is not located on Sanibel Island proper, but just north on Captiva Island, the next nearest land mass.
The Bubble Room is a restaurant, which seems to be known as much for its decorations as it is for its food. If you don't remember the "bubble lights" people once had for Christmas (which Christopher Radko recently brought back), they were little Christmas lights that had bubbles float up its stem by the heat. The entire restaurant is decorated with these lights, in addition to other '50s memorabilia. In fact, the restaurant itself has become a bit of a museum of '50s nostalgia.
As for the food, they serve excessively generous portions which means it's almost a requirement to take something home. The "slices" of cake aren't really slices, but small, two-person cakes within themselves. The whole restaurant is an "experience" on which they clearly pride themselves. Even the waitstaffers are not called "waiters and waitresses," but "Bubble Scouts."
After dinner, we rode back to our room at the West Wind Inn. The island is very peaceful and natural, and a drive along the back roads is a beautiful experience. Between the natural beauty and some of the architecture, it's okay to drive slow.
Read part 2
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