Hangin' with the Girls

A day or two after Hurricane Charley devastated Sanibel Island on Friday, August 13, 2004, a message board Best of Sanibel Captiva was formed to keep people informed on what was going on. Since then it has become a board where people can discover Sanibel and meet others who are Sanibel Lovers. It was through this board that I have met many of my Sanibel friends--Tink, Tootie, Gary, Bonnie, Cheryl, Kim, Fran and the list goes on and on. Last fall several of us got together for a "pub crawl". Now when some of our out of town friends visit, we try to get together for a crawl. Today was such a day. Fran is here for her yearly visit and Kim is also in town from out of state so Tink and I met up with them today for some lunch, adult beverages and girl talk.

We were slated to start with lunch at the Sanibel Cafe which is owned and managed by friends Richard and Bonnie. Unfortunately the mast of a sail boat a lot of miles away in Matlacha Pass "came in contact with the main electrical transmission line" and wiped out the power on Sanibel, Captiva and Pine Island for a couple of hours. The power had just returned as we arrived at the Cafe but they had decided to close up. So, we headed to Jerry's which has their own generator.

After lunch we decided to head to the West Wind Pool Bar.

We ordered yummy Pina Coladas and Mango Margaritas.

We settled in with our drinks but pretty soon the slapping and itching began. The No See Um's had hit! So, we gulped down our yummy drinks and headed to Biddle's which was air conditioned and bug free.

We all had a great afternoon of just talking, laughing and getting to know each other better. And of course blogging!

Our First Crawl of the Season

OK so this isn't the best picture ever taken but it's the best I have. The Sanibel Sunday Bar Crawlers and Militant Shellers Association met today for our first Crawl of the season and a Welcome Home party for the Snowbirds--now dubbed the Sunbirds. But I still answer to Yo Sno, as Tink calls me. Anyway, Gary, Tootie, Cheryl, Tony, Tink, Mr. Snowbird/Sunbird and Yours Truly met at the Sanibel Cafe where we had terrific service. It doesn't hurt when you know the owner!!

This is the sign that Tootie and Gary greeted us with. And these cute little Welcome Home Flip Flops. See Tootie, I have them hanging on my wall already.

Mr. Snowbird had a yummy Crabcake sandwich.

From the Sanibel Cafe, we moved on to the West Wind Pool Bar. Let's face it, 90 degree weather and REALLY HIGH humidity along with nasty little No See Ums is not too conducive to sitting outside--especially if you don't have to. Now, granted, the view is amazing. But even the view wasn't enough to keep us there for very long.

So, we moved on to the Sanibel Grill where it was much more comfortable. By then most of us were drinking Iced Tea instead of adult beverages. It was a lot cooler but really loud with 12 TVs all showing football games and patrons cheering for their respective teams. It was a great opening Crawl. Thanks guys for giving us such a great Welcome Home.

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Fun

The Sanibel Crawlers crawled again today. Our group was smaller than last week consisting of Gary, Tootie, Tink and the Snowbirds.

We started out by meeting at the Sanibel Grille for lunch. They have nice big booths there so we could get all five into one booth--and Gary could watch his New England Patriots beat the Dolphins. Hey, just because we live in Florida doesn't mean we have to root for the Florida teams.

Here are Gary and Tootie and their usual Bucket of Beer.

There was lots of food all around. Mr. Snowbird had the Nachos.

Mr. Snowbird also had a regular Margarita. There was a sign advertising a special Margarita for $5.00. The waitress said that the regular which was $5.50 was a lot better and she even gave him the glass that went with the special. Hey, what the heck. For 50 cents he got a better margarita and the glass to boot.

Tink had a cranberry shrimp salad which she said was so-so.

Tootie had the Sliders which as you can see needed a little salt. Gary had a cheese burger and fries but I failed to get a picture of it.

I had the pizza. I don't get pizza very often and I love it. It wasn't the best pizza I've had but hey, it was pizza!!

From the Grille, we moved on to McT's.

McT's has all kinds of signs hanging around. I love this one. It's kind of like Washington didn't sleep here.

This is another of their signs. Doesn't this guy look like Ronald Reagan?

McT's also has unique beer taps.

Tink blogs on the go. Reception on Sanibel is a bit iffy at times so she had to stand next to the window to send to her blog. She looks a bit harried here. I think she was just trying to keep up with Tootie who was text messaging more than Tink was blogging.

Mr. Snowbird tends to look a bit serious at times but actually had a great time too. In fact, we all had a great time on this week's crawl--yet again.