A Little Piece of Heaven

Last week I was in Sanibel, Florida for my family vacation. Every year we go to Sanibel for a week to fish, relax, snorkel, drink, eat, bike and much more. We go with our entire family, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, etc...each year it can be anywhere from 15-25 people - so the whole Island knows which week we come each year!

For those who haven't been to Sanibel, it's North of Fort Myers and very close to Captiva. Sanibel still has no stop lights, neon lights or chain restaurants on the Island (except Dairy Queen). It is totally removed from reality and every year I'm there it gets better and better.

With 15 people this year we were always on the go. We do our annual fishing trip, which this year landed several sharks, Snapper and a Grouper that was too big to bring in the boat. We also did a snorkeling excursion where some lucky people had the chance to swim with a manatee. We then spend a lot of time at the pool, in the ocean, surf fishing at dusk and pier fishing at night.

We do a lot of eating out and great food - not the healthiest food, but it's vacation so I'm ok with it. We always eat breakfast at the The Lighthouse and Island Cow, which is my favorite breakfast place. They serve these delicious cranberry muffins for free and this year added Funfetti muffins to the mix. The breakfast places are decorated so nice and always have the best juices!

We always eat dinner at Lazy Flamingo and also down a few beers here pretty often. They serve the best steamed shrimp and wings on the island- along with the coldest beer. They also put on Reds games for us when we show up, and this year even the All Star game. We do all you can eat crab legs at McT's, Timber's for the atmosphere and good food, Trader's for Danny Morgan and usually throw in another restaurant here and there, but those four are the staples.

We had a great time and lots of funny stories. I swear, someday someone in our family could write a book with all the crazy things that happen. Between my Uncle bringing home fish and meatballs on the plane to my Grandma requesting no fizz and ice on the side for her pop - we are a lot to handle but always a lot of fun.

I can't wait until next year!