Erata, Mad Hatter, "Ding" Darling, SCCF, & CROW

It is uncommon for us to make a blatant error in our blog.  We rarely do things on the fly or make stuff up as we go.  Historical and factual references are researched and are believed to be accurate when they are posted.  However, occasionally something will slip in that is dead wrong.  Frequently, readers will notice the error and will correct us, at other times we find the mistake ourselves.  In our last blog we were waxing elloquently about Sanibel and mentioned a couple of notable residents.  Oops, it was the late, great Dave Brubeck who resided on Sanibel, not Stan Getz.  We had Christmas Eve dinner at Ellington’s Jazz Club here in 2004--a club that Brubeck played at and was associated with for a number of years.  Alas, Ellington’s is temporarily closed, so we'll have to celebrate elsewhere.

From our table at Mad Hatter

At almost every longish layover we will treat ourselves to a really nice meal at a top rated restaurant.  Friday night it was at the Mad Hatter.  As many of these places are, it was kinda pricey.  Actually, the food wasn’t too bad, but the wine list was outrageous; the lowest priced wine was a lowly Pinot Grigio at $30 a bottle.  The food, we both had Grouper, was fantastic and the service was better than pretty good.  Mad Hatter is located right on the beach near Blind Pass, which separates Sanibel from Captiva.  It presents a wonderful place from which to observe a spectacular sunset with a glass of wine, free from no see-ums.

Front entrance to Mad Hatter

Earlier we mentioned the “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge and other conservation efforts on the islands.  The NWR was created by Harry Truman in 1945 and the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation was formed in the 1960s in response to Lee County (where the islands are located) approving wide-spread housing develop on the islands.  To head off this development, the SCCF began acquiring land to hold in its natural state.  The NWR comprises some 6400 acres and SCCF has more than 1300 acres of land set aside for natural protection--all on an island 12 miles long and 5 miles across at its widest point.  It is one of the things that sets Sanibel off from her brasher sisters.

We spent a couple of days this week re-exploring these natural wonders.  This time of year the bird population is relatively low, so it wasn’t as spectacular as it has been on other visits, but it was quite satisfying none-the-less.  For the first time, we visited C.R.O.W. (Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife) which, essentially, rescues injured wild birds, reptiles, and some small mammals and returns them to their natural habitat once they are healed.  CROW was also founded in the 1960s. (Who said that these were worthless times occupied by worthless people?)   There are dozens of interns and other volunteers from colleges and universities around the country as well as a staff of veterinarians that reside here.  They do remarkable work and have rapidly expanded their operations on Sanibel.  Indeed, they operate two daily pickup runs to local vets and animal control agencies throughout Ft. Myers and Lee County.

 

The weather this year has been remarkable.  It has been in the low 80s most days and dips into the high 50s overnight.  Two years ago it was much cooler and actually felt like winter.  The balmy weather has enhanced our beach wanderings and bicycle excursions.  We are thoroughly enjoying Florida this time.  We had lunch at Doc Ford’s Sanibel Rum Bar & Grille after visiting Ding Darling and picked up a new Randy Wayne White novel.  We discovered novelist White in 2004 while having lunch at Doc Ford’s.  We have since read most of his offerings.  Doc Ford is the protagonist of all of White’s novels.  The good doctor is a marine biologist who lives, fictionally, on Tarpon Bay.   We recommend his books for those who like fiction and who particularly relish books set in this part of America, as well as a pretty good yarn, too.  As Susan recently said, "Reading RWW is like sitting down and chatting with an old friend."



Black Swans at Periwinkle Trailer Park