This report is written well past the time I usually submit one but, with Hurricane Ian’s rampage and destruction, it was a reminder for me to get it done. Many of the places my 12 YO granddaughter and I visited were hit badly by the storm. I pay homage to Floridians’ and their resolve to rebuild after such a tragedy. Sanibel Island is one such place. Our trip was August 10-17 (St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Sanibel Island and Tampa) - we had a wonderful time together during a very hot and humid time.
GD is a laid back young lady that likes to take her time doing pretty much everything. We together focused our trip on nature with visits to a couple of great museums. Here is what we did.
8/10 (St Pete): walked the waterfront, nice dinner
8/11 (St Pete): Salvador Dali Museum and Sunken Gardens
8/12 (Lakeland) Visit my sister and boyfriend
8/13 (Sarasota) Ringling Brothers Museum
8/14 (Sanibel Island) explore beach for shells and a dip
8/15 (Sanibel Island) Sister/boyfriend visit, beach walk and explore JN Ding Darling Reserve
8/16 (Sanibel Island) Bailey Matthews Shell museum
8/17 (Tampa, Ybor City) explored Cuban influenced streets, cigar rolling
Guessing the highlights of the trip for both GD and I was the visit to the Ringling Brothers museum. GD blown away by the opulence of the Ca D Zan mansion and I absolutely loved the Howard Brothers Circus model. We both also enjoyed discovering the many different shells on Sanibel Island and just chillin at our comfortable cabin near the beach. The excursion to the Ding Darling nature reserve with my sister was also special because GD think it was an alligator that made a big splash in the water as we approached an inlet. We didn’t see it, but , man that was a huge splash.
My GD really felt special and fortunate to enjoy going out to dinner almost every night. She loved the key lime pie enjoyed at a waterfront restaurant in St. Petersburg, the fabulous Spanish mezzo plate at The Dali and the Ahi Tuna Poke at the Ringling Grillroom. My favorite meals were the mezzo plate and a simple plate of peel and eat Gulf shrimp at Doc Ford restaurant on Sanibel Island. I’m praying that the restaurant survived hurricane Ian.
All in all, a great short trip with my granddaughter-looking forward to planning more adventures with her and her older sister in the future.