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Post by Kimby on May 11, 2012 19:06:30 GMT
We've never seen the hatching because we are never here in the heat of summer. They hatch 60 days after being laid, which would be in July. Not good weather for people! This one anyway.
The Turtle Patrol people return to each nest at its expected time of hatching, however, to make sure the little ones are able to dig their way to the surface (and help them if they are not able), and to get them headed toward the sea.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 5, 2012 4:55:30 GMT
 This is Bowman's Beach, a popular public beach on Sanibel. |
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Post by nycgirl on Jun 5, 2012 19:48:21 GMT
Looks like nice weather.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 5, 2012 21:06:45 GMT
Early May is delightful on Sanibel. April is probably the sweetest month. Warm and uncrowded, as the snowbirds have headed back to spring up north.
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Post by htmb on Jun 7, 2012 3:52:01 GMT
Sanibel is a special place. I grew up spending summers at Englewood and Longboat Key, just up the road from you a bit. There were miles and miles of white beach back then with hardly another human in sight. Lots of great family memories!
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Post by Kimby on Jun 28, 2012 17:30:54 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jun 28, 2012 19:21:47 GMT
I guess Sanibel has grown a bit since I was last there right after college  |
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Post by Kimby on Jun 28, 2012 21:33:42 GMT
Why do you say that, htmb? Sanibel, thanks to the foresight of its citizens and local government, has remained almost 70% nature preserves, and there are no high rises above 4 or 5 stories. Many neighborhoods maintain natural vegetation, though there certainly are exotic tropical gardens as well.
There is NOT ONE SINGLE STOPLIGHT on the island, and the widest road is 2 lanes. (Sometimes during "rush hour" a traffic cop is posted at the four way stop near the end of the causeway to keep things moving smoothly.)
Yes, during high season, mainly February and March, it can get kind of crowded, but there are fewer than 4000 homes on the whole island. (More accommodations in condos and motels and cottage resorts for the transient visitors.)
The island is essentially "built out" except for the preserved land which cannot be developed. So it will stay more or less the same as it is now.
The vegetation has largely recovered since Hurricane Charley on August 13, 2004, though the Casuarinas = Australian Pines that fell in the storm have not been replanted, and those that remain are gradually being removed because of the hazard this shallow-rooted species presents during tropical storms. So if you remember the tunnel-like Periwinkle Way from your last visit, you might not recognize the place.
Sounds like it's time for a return visit, htmb. Just come during a shoulder-season month (Nov, Dec, April, May) to experience the island at it's finest.
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Post by nycgirl on Jun 29, 2012 12:39:47 GMT
Sounds like a peaceful, relaxed place. Nice to hear it's going to stay that way.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 29, 2012 16:17:40 GMT
 Sanibel's working lighthouse. (Photo taken by a cousin.) |
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Post by htmb on Jun 29, 2012 19:53:51 GMT
Kimby, I'm glad to hear the island has been protected. It sounds like it still retains a beautiful, natural "old Florida" landscape. With 70% of the island protected, how lucky for you to live there.
I was born and raised in Tampa. The last time I was in Sanibel was 1974, and there was hardly anyone there. The Fort Myers area was small and undeveloped, also. To a kid just out of college, it looked like the back side of nowhere. Interstate 75 didn't even go that far. Now, as a mature adult, I'd give anything to be able to enjoy more undeveloped areas in Florida like Sanibel.
I spent much of my adult life on Longboat Key until I just couldn't stand the development or high rises anymore and we sold our old Florida cottage. So, you are right. Maybe I do need to make a trip to Sanibel, but with the publicity you have just received many more folks may also want to visit, too.
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Post by nycboy on Jun 30, 2012 2:13:27 GMT
Used to visit when I was a kid 20+ years ago, what a beautiful spot.
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Post by htmb on Jul 4, 2012 14:43:11 GMT
Kimby, this morning I read an article in our north Florida newspaper about a young, male bear captured June 20, on Sanibel Island. Are you familiar with the story?
It seems the bear swam across from Ft. Myers and, after it began appearing in more populated areas of Sanibel, it was captured and relocated 200 miles north to Hernando County (north of Tampa).
The bear then worked his way down to north Tampa where he was spotted on the University of South Florida campus, and later captured INSIDE Busch Gardens. Wildlife officers captured him again and have transported the bear to the Apalachicola area where there are over a million acres of bear habitat.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2012 4:33:23 GMT
My parents lived in Hernando County. I can understand why the bear did not find it of much interest.
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Post by htmb on Jul 5, 2012 12:34:59 GMT
Interesting that your parents lived there. Did they like Hernando County, the land of Weeki Wachee?
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Post by Kimby on Jul 9, 2012 19:17:21 GMT
Kimby, this morning I read an article in our north Florida newspaper about a young, male bear captured June 20, on Sanibel Island. Are you familiar with the story? Yes, in fact that bear is presumed to be the critter who tore the "boots" off one of our cabbage palms and left piles of scat in our neighborhood.  I had not heard that it had been captured and moved, however, so thanks for the heads-up! I went to Ft. Myers News-Press website and read the archived articles, all 5 of them! |
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Post by Kimby on Aug 27, 2012 16:43:52 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2012 3:42:08 GMT
Surf's up!
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Post by Kimby on Nov 15, 2012 18:50:59 GMT
 No one I know, performing the Sanibel Stoop |
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Post by Kimby on Nov 15, 2012 18:52:21 GMT
 This fellow lays on our lawn and watches us do yard work. |
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Post by Kimby on Nov 15, 2012 19:00:32 GMT
 The tranquil Gulf of Mexico was pretty riled up last week. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2012 23:58:39 GMT
This fellow lays on our lawn and watches us do yard work. Does he blow leaves?   |
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Post by Kimby on Nov 16, 2012 12:35:46 GMT
No, casi, and neither do I. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2012 12:53:47 GMT
;D.......couldn't resist.
In all seriousness
Kimby, this is such a wonderful place. I've not had occasion to go there but have heard from many people just how beautiful a place it is.
Your photos chronicling this are gorgeous and makes me so homesick for a seaside retreat.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful place with us.
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Post by nycgirl on Nov 16, 2012 18:40:08 GMT
Whoa, that is one beastly beast!  Cute photo of the Sanibel Stoop. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2012 16:29:53 GMT
Your reptilian friend looks totally satisfied -- his stomach is probably full of the little tourist dogs.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 19, 2012 16:30:39 GMT
One can only hope, K2! ;-)
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Post by Kimby on Aug 26, 2023 22:14:38 GMT
My oh my, it’s been a long time since I posted on here. A few changes on Sanibel courtesy of a guy named Ian. I’ll try to post some post-hurricane imagery. So glad for our stilts. The storm surge was over 6’ deep at our house! Ground level was a mess, but the living level was spared.  So much mud! Ian scooped up silt from the Gulf floor and deposited it on everything. 2-3” thick. Yuck! (Mr. Kimby enjoying an Al fresco lunch under the house.)  Some of the 7 bikes we lost to salt and rust. Also lost a car and a shop full of tools. But the house stayed high and dry.  |
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Post by whatagain on Aug 26, 2023 22:56:25 GMT
We must hav a company called Sanibel.
Sanitation Belgium.
Sanibel.
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Post by Kimby on Sept 1, 2023 4:44:36 GMT
After Ian, we were pretty busy cleaning up and I never got around to posting many images. The storm surge was at least 6 feet high and completely filled our ground level shop/storage room. When the water retreated, it couldn’t drain fast enough from the shop so the breakaway wall broke away.  This is what we found when we got down there. Everything had floated and been redeposited in a jumble.  We had to untangle and pull it all out, clean what was cleanable, toss what wasn’t onto the growing pile at the street, remove 2 inches of mud from the shop, power wash it and replace the insulation before we could put the salvaged items back.     A neighbor had tossed out a lot of decking and we grabbed it and used it to stay out of the mud under the house.  Eventually FEMA came with claw trucks/trailers to take away the piles. (The piles came right back as more damaged stuff and vegetation were piled in their place.)  But sitting on our lanai at sunset was much like it always was….  PS that "candle lantern" used to be our front walk post lamp, but Ian broke it off and we got a new one.
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