Will, Mike and I left last Friday for a quick trip down to Captiva Island in Florida to relax and do a little scoping for my parents. They’re buying a condo down there and wanted measurements, photos, and information gathered for a Website to keep the place rented.
While nowhere as beautiful or exotic as St. John’s, Captiva is still a very attractive place. With it’s inviting shorelines, lush tropical foliage, and quaint collection of brightly-colored buildings, it radiates the expected mellow beach vibe. It is also expensive, a tad too racially homogeneous for my tastes, and filled with people so tan you’d swear the Captiva motto was: “Captiva! Where skin cancer is still considered an unproven theory!”.
Highlights
- The Captive Island Inn – highly recommended over one of the bigger chain-hotels.
- Ding Darling Nature Preserve – We never did see an alligator, but did catch plenty of tropical birds, thicket-filled swamps, and even a racoon who ran up to our car and begged for food.
- The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum – Nicely appointed and worth the $6 admission.
Pictures
 Will on Beach |
 Captiva Bistro |
 Egrets |
 Swamp Sticks |
 Lizard on Tree |
 Racoon Begging |
 Sunset Boat |
 Bowman Beach |
 Murky Leaves |
 Condo Dock |
Other Impressions
- Flat Landscape – I’m sure it’s great for biking, but something about the unchanging horizon line bugged me.
- Fat Ahoy! I’ve read somewhere that 6 in 10 Americans are overweight. I’d wager that number is a tad higher in Captiva… Not a place for checking out the hunky guys on the beach.
- Nice Alignment – because of the Island’s size and alignment you’re able to watch both sunrises and sunsets over the water.