We started the day with a quick run to the island with Frank. Once that was taken care of, we took the dinghy over to Cabbage Key Restaurant. The island is only accessible by boat or helicopter. The restaurant is famous for the thousands of dollar bills hanging from every inch of the place, and the food. There are also a couple of trails through a wildlife sanctuary which we explored after lunch. Our lunch was tasty and once we finished the lunch and the small hike, we went back to prepare to leave.
The trip from Cabbage Key to Sanibel was only a little over twenty miles. We had looked at the weather and saw it looked pretty good the next couple of days, but this being Florida it could change quickly. Our anchorage we had picked out was at the end of the island, close to the lighthouse. The trip there was a bit rocky from all of the boats zipping by causing all kinds of wakes from every direction. Once we got close it started to become a bit more comfortable due to the fact it was close to getting dark and everyone was finishing their weekend and there were fewer boats zipping by. We made the last turn to come under the Sanibel Causeway and saw where we wanted to anchor. We made the approach just as a very large yacht came from the other direction and headed toward the same area. We got there first and dropped anchor. The large yacht stayed a little further out and then they dropped anchor too. We were fairly close to land, maybe thirty yards from shore, but sitting in almost twenty feet of water depth. They stayed a bit farther out than that. Once we were secure, we loaded into the dinghy to explore the island. We took Frank with us and admired the lighthouse close up. The island has a ton of shells on the beach and Lauren collected some cool ones. We returned to the boat and fired up the generator for dinner. While we were cooking, I noticed the large yacht had departed- that was strange to me. We had dinner and were treated to another great sunset before calling it a night.
Day 2- Lauren wanted to hang out on the beach for a while in the morning, so I took her into shore and dropped her off. I returned to the boat and put together her paddleboard we brought but had yet to inflate it. Once I was done with that, I loaded the bikes on the dinghy to bring to shore. This allows us to explore more and get out farther. We rode around the island and stopped for lunch at Island Cow and we found two seats at the bar instead of waiting for the forty five minutes we were quoted. Afterward we rode back on the only other street that runs the length of the island. I noticed parking at the park is $5/ hour and it costs $6 to cross the bridge to get here! They sure have the racket going on here. The island was beautiful though and there were tons of people everywhere including on the bike paths we were on. Once back to the beach we hung out a bit before getting Frank to land, then making dinner. We had left the bikes on shore in case we decided to take another ride, but in the end we didn’t feel like it so we just researched tomorrows destination: Ft. Meyers Beach, which was also New Years Eve.