I loved Bonita beach - the wide main street was lined with palms and other tropical vegetation and the houses were beautiful. There was also lots of places where you could park and access the Gulf as well, which was great. We were able to catch glimpses of white sand and the blue waters of the sea.
From Bonita Beach we turned inland slightly and skirted Fort Myers before travelling over a long bridge and paying a toll of $6. It reminded me very much of going over to Anna Maria Island. Once on the island I turned right and headed for Captiva. We saw a sign for a beach and drove down a long road but at the end there was no beach at all, just the sea! I could have driven into it!
We turned around and went back onto the main road and drove for quite a few miles without really seeing anything, just tall trees and bushes on either side of the road. Every now and again we saw houses and resorts but they were all private. Just as we were all beginning to get a bit fed up, we saw a sign for Bowman's Beach and turned off the road. The surface of the car park was dazzling as it was made from sand and the heat was intense. We managed to work out what to do with the parking meter and fed $4 into it for an hour.
We'd bought towels and a change of clothes with us, but we just headed for the beach which was a fair walk. We passed over a wide river called Clam Bayou...
The beach was quite busy with people enjoying the sea and sun. We could see shells everywhere and there was a wide line of them as you entered the sea. Keith, Sophie and I went for a paddle.
The water was really warm and clear and it was a beautiful setting. If we'd been able to bring umbrellas and chairs with us I would have stayed all day!
I collected some shells and we paddled about in the sea for a bit, getting wet in the process! All of us decided it was time for lunch so we got back into the car and carried on further up the road, eventually driving over a short bridge onto Captiva Island. The beach by the bridge looked gorgeous and people were enjoying the sea by either sunbathing, swimming or messing about in boats.
I fell in love with Captiva - it was all I imagined a Caribbean island to be. The one main street was lined with the most beautiful houses painted in gorgeous pastel shades and surrounded by tropical vegetation. Some of the houses were stunning and a lot faced the Gulf. Others were hidden off the road shaded by tall palm trees. I could easily have stayed all day just gazing at the views.
Our main aim now, though, was to find a lunchtime cafe or bar where we could have a bite to eat. We drove into the car park of a restaurant right on the bay but it looked a little posh for us! We drove back out again and made it to the very end of the island where the road stopped. Although there were several places to eat, none of them looked right so we turned around and headed back to the waterfront restaurant called The Green Flash, so called because of the spectacle that sometimes occurs at sunset.
We parked the car (one space was right at the water's edge!) and had a look at the reasonable lunchtime menu. We were taken to a table overlooking the beautiful view.
Keith and Sophie had beers, Mike had an iced tea and I quenched my thirst with a lemonade. For lunch we enjoyed fried shrimp (Mike and Sophie) a chicken Caesar salad (Keith) and fried strips of clams (me). All the way through the meal we saw pelicans flying back and forth and they reminded me of pre-historic birds.
The food was lovely, the views out of this world and we loved this restaurant, feeling very happy we'd eventually chosen it for lunch. We couldn't resist desserts so Sophie and I had ice-cream while Mike tucked into a "suicide" chocolate cake!
The last thing we did before leaving was use the facilities and Sophie came back laughing as there was a male mannequin in the ladies' toilet, facing the wall and looking like he was having a wee! I went in there afterwards and joked with a woman who had almost run back out again after seeing it!
Apparently, the men's toilets have a two way mirror so you can see people dining at nearby tables, but they obviously can't see you! Someone has a sense of humour!
We paid the bill ($100 with a tip) and reluctantly left with Keith and the children anxious to get back to the villa to sunbathe and swim. As we left the island we wondered about the solar eclipse taking place. We were too far south to have a total eclipse, but as we drove back to the mainland the sky did become a little darker, like a cloud had passed over the sun.
Back at the villa we managed a couple of hours of sunbathing and swimming before we went out in the evening. Before we left the villa I took some photos of our lovely surroundings.
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| Terrazzo Lane |
Our restaurant choice for this evening was The Cheesecake Factory, somewhere I've always wanted to go, mainly because I love the creamy dessert! The restaurant is on a shopping complex on the Tamiami Trail and was quite busy when we arrived, with people eating outside. We preferred an indoor table as it was still very hot and I was impressed with the decor which looked a bit Egyptian. Why that has anything to do with cheesecake I'll never know, especially as the founders of the restaurant came from Detroit!
As we'd had a largish lunch, we skipped starters and I ordered the Spicy Cashew Chicken while Sophie chose a similar meal, the Orange chicken. The menu was huge and there were so many choices! Mike went for a burger while Keith had steak and our server for the evening was Dawn, who looked quite stressed and busy!
My meal was huge and could easily have fed two people! The chicken came on a bed of rice and was delicious but I just ate half of it, the other half going into a takeaway box for my lunch tomorrow! The others gamely ate all their food and enjoyed the dishes, but the service this evening was very slow and it took ages for Keith to catch Dawn's eye to ask for another beer.
I had left room for dessert and I chose the strawberry cheesecake while Keith and Sophie shared one with cherries. By the end of the meal we were all stuffed and it was heaven to get back to the villa, have a glass of wine and sit by the pool for half an hour!
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