On the road again. This time we’re doing the tourist / snowbird thing by spending a week at one of our favorite places on earth – Sanibel Island, Florida. In 1990, I worked for company that used a travel agency. I had dealt with them so when it came time to plan a personal vacation, I stopped by their local office and sat across from the agent I was familiar with. I said I was looking for a beach vacation where we could stay right on the beach. Donna (our agent) had just returned from a complimentary trip to Sanibel, Florida. I had never heard of Sanibel at that time but trusted her not to steer us wrong. Wow – did she ever deliver. She arranged the flight and made the condo reservation, even the rental car. If you’ve ever been here, you know where Sundial Condo’s are located. It turned out to be beach paradise. We’ve been back every year since – well almost.

I really struggle during the Indiana winter. Dark gloomy skies and cold temperatures are more than I want to deal with. Ask my friends, they will tell you that I’m hard to deal with in winter months. Sanibel quickly became our mid-winter break destination. We know the streets of this island like we know our hometown layout.

For some reason, we were not coming down here this year. At the last minute I changed my mind and decided we both needed this break. I scrambled to find a condo and selected a complex that we had never stayed in before – Shell Island Beach Club. The VRBO listing promised a great view / proximity to the beach. More about that later.

Finding a flight that met our needs was more difficult. I have frequent flyer miles at Delta Airlines who just happen to fly into Fort Myers, Florida. I like to fly early in the morning but had to settle for a 2:00 PM flight. That put us into Fort Myers at 8:00 PM if everything went right. Not ideal.

If you’ve traveled much, you’ve been through Atlanta airport. It a sprawling, busy place. A 90 minute layover at ATL on paper looks like plenty of time. Let me tell you, even if you eat fast food, 90 minutes is nothing. We didn’t have to run but got our gate just as they started boarding. That’s too close for me.

The last leg from ATL to Fort Myers was a bumpy ride but fortunately uneventful. We retrieved our luggage and proceeded to the rental car counter. Enterprise calls a Mazda Series 3, a full sized car. Let me tell you, if you’re much over 5 feet 8, you won’t fit in this car. This is a 2025 model with 800 miles and is one of the most disappointing rentals I’ve ever driven.

In the car, it’s now 8:30 PM and dark. I’m tired and ready to not be doing more traveling. Unfortunately, there is a required stop at a grocery store so we have something to eat in the condo. I try to avoid grocery shopping whenever I can, but into Publix we went.

The road to Sanibel is pretty familiar and just after crossing the Sanibel causeway bridge, we were greeted by the Sanibel coyote that people have been reporting. The car at least has good headlights.

We parked at the condo and discovered that our condo was up 3 flights of stairs. Carrying suitcases and groceries up 3 flights of stairs was no fun. We managed to successfully get it all into the condo without anything hitting the ground. Yahoo.

I earlier commented that we had been to the island “almost” every year since 1990. In 2022, we had reservations in the fall to stay at a beautiful little beach front cottage at White Caps. There was a hurricane that took aim at Sanibel at the same time we were to visit. I managed to get everything canceled 2 days before we were scheduled to be there. The hurricane made a path right across Sanibel and the cottage we would have been staying in was obliterated. Only the foundation remained. I was disappointed but happy we made the right decision.

After the hurricane, we decided to wait a couple of years for things to get rebuilt on the island. That brings us to today. We’re here and this is the view that rewarded us.

I tried not to say much to the folks back in Indiana but it’s mid 70’s (temperature – not me) here while it’s below zero in Indiana. I promise not to mention that more than 436 times.

One last thought. During our layover in Atlanta, I conducted a very scientific study. The collegiate national football championship is in Atlanta in 2 days. My study showed that 7 people were wearing Notre Dame shirts and 2 people were dressed in Ohio State garb. It’s obvious based on that, Notre Dame will win.

Thank you Donna.