The flat stretch of highway traverses the Everglades, a subtropical wetland area in Southern Florida.
In the Toyota Sienna - our rental van for the week, Tricia took the wheel while I navigated riding shot-gun and the boys piled into the back.
We planned to eat most of our dinners out, but we did purchase a bunch of breakfast and lunch foods, snacks, and booze at Super Wallmart in Fort Myers before heading over to Sanibel.
After paying the $6 toll we ventured over the Causeway bridge into paradise.
Just to give you an idea of where we're at in the scheme of things, I took a picture of this map at the public beach. 
Above is Southern Florida and below is a zoom in of the South Western coast of the state. Our condo is located at the southernmost tip of the island as indicated by the large red arrow. 
Earlier, I posted some shots of the beach outside our condo which sits on San Carlos Bay.
However, we spent most of our time across the street at the Lighthouse Beach which sits on The Gulf of Mexico. 
The water is more clear and the beach is much larger but still relaxed and private. The Gulf side is where it's at.
Some days were windy and we got a few waves. Other days the water was perfectly still and calm. 
My beach spread:
The Crew:
Tricia's Aunt, Uncle and Cousins were also part of our crew. They have a timeshare at the condo complex and have been coming to Sanibel for years. 
Most likely a Vodka Pineapple or a Yuengling we're sippin' on. Life.is.good.
We didn't run into any issues drinking on the beach. Technically it's not allowed so we played it safe and rocked solo cups. 
A blow up tube is essential. We'd spend hours at a time just floating around in the Gulf. I've never swam in water so warm. I'm talking bathwater temperature.....
Just your run of the mill cheapo-float will suffice. We purchased these for about $5 at a local surf shop. 
Paddle-ball games! (Nice action shot taken by Tricia.)
We also spent a lot of time at the condo pool & jacuzzi. 
There's nothing like a dip after a day on the beach or soaking in a jacuzzi after hours. I'm pretty sure Tricia and I were in there at least twice a day, everyday. Visit her blog for some great in and under water antics. (She's got a waterproof camera!)
Shuffleboard was a fun post beach activity. 
I really liked this game once I got the hang of it!!
Kona Longboard is another popular bottled beer down south. I've had it up North on draft but don't usually see it for sale in bottled 6 packs. Score. 
Downtime and late nights in the living room.
Chess on the screened in patio. 
Breakfast overlooking the bay.
I have so much more to share about our time here. Stay tuned for an Island bike ride, our day at the Wildlife Preserve, a beach hike to the Sanibel Lighthouse, my shell collection, and I hope to review all the great dinners and drinks out and about. We were also supposed to go on a dolphin watch / speedboat ride but our last day was super windy and a cold front came through so it was canceled as a result. As this post publishes the group is headed to Orlando for a long weekend at Disney before we fly home! What are you all up to this weekend? Hope it's a good one!
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