We watched the sun rise as we walked along the beach. I again left my camera in my camera bag for most of the walk and just enjoyed the moment. At one point, I pulled out my journal and sat in the sand to write.
This first photo is of our hotel, the view from the beach. I don't think I ever took any photos of the inside but it was a really nice unit. We stayed at the
Island Inn in one of the units in Matthew's Lodge. The first floor was covered parking with one spot assigned to each unit. There was a gravel lot in front for additional cars. Our unit was on the second floor and the screened in patio had a walkway down to the beach. (Note - no-see-ums are small enough to get through screens.) The unit had a bedroom that could be closed off completely or opened up to make the space look larger. There was a bathroom with the sinks separate which is really nice when sharing with multiple people. And the living area had a kitchen, kitchen table and chairs, two chairs, pull-out couch and TV.
After the beach walk, my Dad and I went to Bailey Tract, a portion of J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge with about 2 miles of trails. We had fun photographing the birds together, especially the Anhingas which were plentiful and perched right off the side of the path. They didn't seem bothered by us at all.
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| Mottled Ducks |
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| Common Gallinules |
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| Mottled Ducks |
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| White Ibis |
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| White Ibis in the middle of an argument |
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| White Ibis |
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| Double-crested Cormorant |
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| Great Egret |
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| Pied-bill Grebes with two Mottled Ducks in the background |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Mottled Duck |
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| Juvenile White Ibis (left) and a Snowy Egret (right) |
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| Juvenile White Ibis |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Juvenile Little Blue Heron |
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| Tricolored Heron |
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| Tricolored Heron |
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| Tricolored Heron |
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| Tricolored Heron |
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| Osprey |
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| Male Anhinga |
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| Male Anhinga |
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| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
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| Tricolored Heron |
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| Tricolored Heron |
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| Green Heron |
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| Green Heron |
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| Red-belled Woodpecker |
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| Red-bellied Woodpecker |
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| Female Anhinga |
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| A noisy Anhinga with some sad looking wings |
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| Anhinga - a little better look at the sad wings |
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| Golpher Tortoise |
After our walk through Bailey Tract, we all went to
Gramma Dot's at the Sanibel Marina. They have some great seafood - I enjoyed the coconut shrimp and the fried grouper. And they also have excellent dessert, both the key lime pie and the chocolate cake.
Before returning to the hotel, we checked out the lighthouse. All that is left from Hurricane Ian is the tower and they are still doing a lot of restoration around it.
After a really busy morning and early afternoon, it was really nice to just relax the rest of the day.
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