Sanibel Island

Good morning from beautiful Sanibel Island!

We hope everyone is having a great week and gearing up for Santa's visit!  Hopefully everyone has been nice and not naughty - if naughty, you have 4 days to get your act together!  :-)

We left Moore Haven early yesterday morning and really enjoyed the second half of the Okeechobee Waterway - and there were a lot of "firsts" sitings as we cruised - explained below in the photos.  We reached Fort Myers in the mid afternoon and docked at Sanibel Island at 4pm.  What a beautiful place and there is only one marina here and it's really cute - great staff and quaint facilities.  We're so glad we brought our bikes as the bike paths here are awesome.  Once we got settled, we rode our bikes to the beach to enjoy the nice sunset.

Enjoy the photos below:


A barge docked near us in Moore Haven - he passed us at about 11pm the night before, but the locks were closed, so he had to wait it out until morning.



And off he goes heading East bound . . .



This part of the Okeechobee Waterway is filled with agriculture - it was a very calm day and the reflection caught my eye.



You can see the fields in the background - this is where they'll get water for the fields - these are located periodically along the way.





A Master Plan adventure "first" - cattle grazing along the way!




Approaching the 4th Lock (of 5) - you'll notice the dam on the left - most locks also have a dam next to them.




Here is the lock about to close - note the water level - we dropped at least 10 feet in this lock.




Assuming our lock positions - Paul at the bow (close to the pilot house) and me at the stern.




Leaving the lock - you can see the wet wall on the right showing how far we went down.



Another Master Plan first - horses grazing in the front yard!



Another "first" - a CAMEL (yep - a camel) resting in the front yard.




A very cool "first" - a manatee right off our bow - just as we were leaving the 5th Lock.




Heading back into civilization - Fort Myers



Not a first - but always a thrill - a large dolphin playing in our wake.

An Osprey in a palm tree right next to our slip next to Sanibel - cool!

Shells shells and more shells - Sanibel is notorious for their beautiful shells!  Some additions were made to the placemat!

My sweet captain walking the beach at sunset.



Sigh - sunset . . .



The first mate scoping out more shells with the Sanibel Lighthouse in the background.



The lighthouse at sunset.

 So we are now heading to Marco Island where we will spend at least one night - weather is looking great and our next destination hopes to be Key West.  We'll keep you posted!  Love, Jen & Paul

Today's Quote:
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.  ~Norman Vincent Peale