Monday, February 6, 2012
We arrived at Tween Waters Marina located in Captiva on Saturday afternoon. Captiva is another barrier island connected to the mainland via Sanibel Island. This marina was a recommendation from some folks that we met along the way. Tween Marina is located between the Gulf & Pine Island Sound. Lots of amenities & a couple of nice restaurants on the property. They also have a great pool area, guest cottages, & a nice Inn. This would be a good place to have guests (on another trip), because of all of the activities available & it's located across the street from the beach.
Speaking of activities, here's one for the books - 'crab racing'! One night we decided to venture up to the local restaurant/bar & check out what all of the excitement was about the 'crab races'. We decided to pay the fee to participate in the event, so we approached the emcee of the event (who is originally from New York). He loudly informed us that if we didn't like foul language or being picked on, we should not sign up. At that point, we should have turned around & left, but noooo, we jumped right into the boiling pot! WOW, what an experience!
We sat down at the round table with 10 other fools & Mr. Emcee points at me to join him on the other side of the table. He then reached down on the floor & picked up a huge bowl filled with live squirming crabs & instructed me to pick the 'crab' I wanted for the race. This forced me to put my hand into the bowl, which I did NOT want to do! But, I did as he asked since he was practically screaming at me! When I started to touch 'my crab' he shook the bowl so the crabs would move even more! Ugh!
Anyway, after everyone picked their crab, he dumped the bowl of crabs into the center of the table & proceeded to spray them with water so that they would start running toward to corners of the table! It was creepy, watching all those crabs coming right at us! Mr. Emcee made it very clear to all of us, that, under no circumstances, were we aloud to touch the fast approaching crabs! I still have nightmares about tons of crabs jumping into my lap!
But, just as the crabs were about to 'jump into our laps' he put a net over them & they stopped moving. He declared a winner & it was finally over! So here are some photos of those adorable little squirming critters!
Moving forward onto more pleasant activities.
On Sunday morning we rode our bikes to the Key Lime Bistro, which included a jazz brunch & this special Shrimp Bloody Mary, which was a meal in itself. Had a great brunch then headed out to tour the area. Of course I had to check out the shopping opportunities. The area is a little pricey for me; I found the neatest shop which was really different, & I saw things I would love everywhere I looked. A cute little t-shirt - $500, a little sundress - $2500! Our bike ride to Sanibel was rained out. I left these barrier islands empty handed.
This area seems to be very good for fishing both for people, as well as, the wildlife. Took this shot of a Blue Heron right off our starboard side where we were docked. He was waiting patiently for the boat next to us to catch a fish, because he had been getting the leftovers for several days.
Misty really enjoyed watching all of the birds flying around, she didn't even try to jump off, she was too busy watching the Blue Heron; which could have cared less about us sitting out on the front of our boat.
Every morning we saw these white pelicans lined up in a row like this & they stayed together the entire time they were move across the water, it was really fascinating.
They are so interested in fishing, they don't seem to be bothered by anything at all. At least that is what I thought the first day. That idea changed dramatically on the day we were getting ready to leave. BON STORY ALERT!
I'm taking some more pics of the Pelican Parade because this morning they were headed right for our boat, so the fishing must have been good around the boat. All is going swimmingly, until out of the blue, this huge splash off our port side got my attention. Low & behold this huge alligator surfaced - looked at me - slapped his really long tail & disappeared, never to reappear again, of course!
So I'm running around like a ninnie telling anyone that would listen that I had just seen this huge alligator, probably 8 to 10 ft. long right along side our boat. Now, I know you are all doing the same thing right now that everyone I told at that moment did - just rolled their eyes, like 'sure you did - 'but alligators don't run in these waters, so you probably saw a manatee or a little garr'! Ugh!
So, here is my take on what happened, from the alligator & pelican's point of view! He is lurking around in these waters, despite what everyone says, he sees my cute little Misty walking around the boat every day.
He thinks, "I've got one last shot at that 'kitty' falling off the boat, & I'll have my tasty kitty breakfast"'! Then he says, "darn - no kitty this morning, but look what's swimming my way just ahead, the Pelican Parade"! "That means they see fish right here, so I'm going to scare those pelicans away & then I'll settle for a fish breakfast, that works for me"!
In the meantime, one of the Pelican Parade gang says, "did you guys see what Bonnie & I just saw, that 8 to 10 foot alligator, coming our way"?
Well, we need to make an about face ASAP, before he decides to have us for breakfast"!
END OF STORY!
These are the official 'Pelican Patrol' Hawk Cay Greeters! They sit on this guy's boat all day long, he's not going to be a happy camper when he returns, if you get my drift!
