February 21

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I was off the next morning (2-21) after breakfast and bike photos with Vincent and Sarah (and their Dad, Vinnie). I was planning to visit Sanibel Island for just a short time, then head back to the mainland to find a place to stay the night (I knew of a State Park campground in Estero). However, just about the first thing I found on the island was the Periwinkle Campground. It was a little high ($24), but not compared with everything else on the island. Anyway, it allowed me to spend about 20 hours on Sanibel instead of just two.

Just getting to Sanibel was an experience in itself. As I approached the 3-mile long causeway, I encountered traffic backed-up to the sign which advised that the tollbooth was one mile ahead. However, I was able to sneak down the shoulder of the road and reach the tollbooth long before the cars at the end of the line. Once there, I was routed around the tollbooth (i.e. no toll for bicyclists), and headed across the causeway. I know I arrived a lot sooner than those cars I passed at the end of the line.

Sanibel has probably been spoiled already from what it was like just a few years ago before the causeway was built. There are now quite a few full-time residents (big, expensive houses) and lots of day visitors (hence the traffic).

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The scenic highlight of Sanibel Island is the Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge was established in 1945, and named for Darling (who headed the U.S. Biological Survey under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration) in 1967. At over 6000 acres, it takes up nearly half of the island, and is a bird-watchers paradise. I don’t know my birds very well, but I saw a lot of them including herons, pelicans and many wading birds. I also saw my first live alligator, a nice seven-footer sunning himself on the bank.

I found some interesting information on alligators. Like most (all?) reptiles, they are cold blooded which is why they like to lie in the sun on the banks of lakes or rivers. In the U.S., they are found in all of the southeastern states from eastern Texas to North Carolina. The females lay eggs (20 to 50 per nest) and are very protective of their nests, but once hatched, only an average of one alligator per nest will reach adulthood. It’s interesting that many members of an adult alligator’s diet (birds, raccoons, etc.) are those that also prey on the babies of the species. The most interesting fact: an alligator produces teeth from about 80 sockets, and may produce several thousand during its lifetime. With all of that money from the tooth fairy, maybe that's’ why most of them are (retired) in Florida.

I’ve decided that bird photographers drive me nuts. They have these two-foot long telephoto lenses mounted to their cameras, and their cameras mounted to tripods. They aim, then focus, then aim again, then focus again, then adjust the tripod, aim and focus again. Then wait, and wait and refocus again, then wait some more. I just wanted to shout: “Take the ____ picture!”

Earlier in the day, as I came through Fort Myers, I passed by the winter homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford (side by side). I didn’t take the tour (lots of other people were doing so), but I did stop long enough for a couple of photos including one of what may be the world’s largest Banyon tree.

I closed the day with a walk on the beach near the campground. Sanibel Island’s beaches are well known for their fabulous array of seashells. The beach was a great place to walk, although full of people at sunset, but there were certainly loads of seashells for the taking (I took one very small one).

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G.A.S.P.

(Great Adventures to Scenic Places)