Category: Sanibel Island

Sun, Sand, Shells and Signals

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Any island is a good island…

There is just something about being surrounded by water, feeling the ocean breeze flowing through your hair and the sand between your toes!

Having visited many islands in my life and Florida on many occasions, Sanibel Island had somehow escaped me, although I had spent much time in the southern part of the state. I had always heard that it was the Shelling Capitol of the World and I was curious to see what this meant. Would the shells be so plentiful that they would pave a path along the beaches?

After leaving Key West and driving to the mainland, my husband and I decided that we needed to head to the western part of the state and check it out for ourselves. Finding our way to the Sanibel Inn, we checked in and took a quick walk to the beach. The weather wasn’t cooperating at the moment, so our stay was short, but just long enough to see how many shells were embedded in the sand at the top of the beach near the hotel’s path. Grabbing a few, I took them back to the room and gave them a quick washing. Seeing what I had motivated me to wake up early the next morning for an early scavenging.

As dim daylight filtered through the drawn curtains, my alarm went off. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed and heading to the window, I was a bit dismayed to find that while there was daylight, there was no sunlight. In fact, the sky was dark and a light drizzle was falling.

Well, it might not be tanning weather, but I had brought a hat and a raincoat.

Walking along the narrow beach, I collected shell after shell. Canvasing every square inch, I collected many similar ones with ideas for craft projects swimming around in my head. My bag was full when I headed back inside our hotel and the sun was finally starting to show its face. It was a good day…sand, shells and sun!

Before heading back to the beach for some swimming and tanning, we decided to take a quick drive to see what the twelve mile island had to offer.

Driving from one end to the other, we admired the beautiful homes that lined the shores in Captiva and then eventually found our way to the Sanibel Lighthouse at the eastern end of the island.

The Sanibel Island Lighthouse park encompasses the entire tip of the island. Attracting visitors for the wide array of activities is offers, we found the parking lots packed with vehicles for those visiting the beach, the fishing pier and of course, the lighthouse.

Having just been to the lighthouse in Key West, it was interesting to see the differences between the two. Though visitors are allowed around the historic lighthouse, none are allowed to climb the 127 steps to the top of the 98 foot structure, like we were in Key West.

Much like the Key West structure, the lighthouse was built in the 1800s by settlers of the island. First lit on August 20th, 1884 with kerosene oil, the lighthouse keeper, Dudley Richardson, the keeper from 1884 until 1892, had to get to the top of the lighthouse by walking up an external spiral staircase. Various other keepers followed Richardson and lived on the premises in the structures you can still see today.

In 1949, the job was discontinued and the lighthouse became automated. The lighthouse continued its duty until 1972 when the Coast Guard proposed that it be decommissioned. The mariners in the area and the residents, however, opposed and halted the idea. In 1982, the buildings on the premises were offered to Sanibel residents to live in for free in exchange for its maintenance. In 2004, the Coast Guard gave the lighthouse to the City of Sanibel and it was restored in 2013.

It was nice to walk around the premises, although the museum was not open, and we ventured out to the crowded beach area. We also took a walk on the pier and watched the fisherman and the boats that passed nearby.

Finally, we headed back to our little beach, which had become smaller with the incoming tide, and relaxed while watching the large number of birds that come to enjoy the clear waters.

And of course, I grabbed a few more shells!

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Sanibel Island Lighthouse