Cabbage Key and Cayo Costa

We took the State Ferry to two of the barrier islands

 off of Pine Island where we were camping near Fort Myers.

The ferry boat was a lot like the African Queen ... 

it chugged along fairly slowly between the islands. 

We ate lunch at the only restaurant on the island.

 And had a little Planters Punch .... yummy.

Then we boarded the boat and went to Cayo Costa for a little beach time.

The island is part of a state park and there are tent sites and rental cabins.

I had a wonderful time swimming and Anita relaxed in the sun.

This is a very good area for shelling.

Sanibel and Captiva Islands

We went to Sanibel Island to visit the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge,

 another great place to see wildlife in a mangrove estuary. 

First we stopped to have a picnic by the water.

This was the first place we saw large numbers of White Pelicans.

 They are much larger than the Brown Pelican that we commonly see.

Red Mangrove seedlings.

We learned about Mullet. These fish are herbivores and so the fisherman

 cast big, weighted, circular nets to catch them.

 Mullet also have a habit of jumping high out of the water,

 so they are very entertaining to watch.

The mangroves have interesting snails and crabs that attract the birds.

 

Then we headed to Captiva  to watch the sunset and have dinner.