On Thursday I packed a beach towel, sunscreen, some fruit, and a book and headed south and west of Fort Myers to Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Sanibel Island measures roughly 12 miles long and five miles across at its widest. Captiva Island is smaller at less than 5 miles long and 1/2 mile wide. The Sanibel Causeway Bridge ($6) leads to Causeway Road on Sanibel Island. At the four way stop Causeway Road intersects with Periwinkle Road, one of two main island roads along with Gulf Drive. Periwinkle Road links to Sanibel-Captiva (San-Cap) Road which continues to Captiva Island. My first stop was all the way to the end of Captiva Island to Captiva Beach where I walked the shoreline and enjoyed the sunshine. Captiva Island is the location where Anne Morrow Lindberg penned her book of personal reflections "Gift From The Sea" in 1955.
The 98 foot lighthouse tower sits at the northeastern tip of Sanibel Island. The lighthouse went into service in August of 1844 at the insistence of cattle barons who needed an aid to navigate the tricky waters at Point Ybel. The U.S. Coast Guard decided to extinguish it in 1972, but it is still lit today due to public protests. It is now a popular recreational area complete with beach, fishing pier, and nature trail.
Leaving Captiva Island I headed back to Sanibel and the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge which I will write about in the next post. Meanwhile here are some pictures of beautiful Captiva Island.
