Siesta Bay is a RESORT!
2 heated swimming pools, 2 fishing lakes, tennis, shuffleboard, bocce
ball and pickle ball courts besides shuffleboard and horseshoe! The streets are paved and well lit and
although the sites are not huge, they are adequate and most have palm trees and
grass! There are over 900 well-kept
sites of either park models, old trailers that have been covered up and added
onto, motor homes, a spattering of fifth wheels and a few trailers. Everyone speaks
to everyone else! The park is well
located – right between the two bridges to the islands of Sanibel and also Ft
Myers/Estero Beach. Wide sidewalks
allow for safe bike riding to and from the bridges, shopping and the wifi and
McDonalds!.
As
on Anna Marie Island, there is a trolley system that runs out onto Ft Myers
Beach. This one costs a whopping 25c
per (old) person! The first trolley
heads to the very north of the island to beautiful Bowditch Park and
Beach. H attempted to herd a flock of
wary seagulls, which we all know, doesn’t work. Neither does herding cats!
As we kicked up sand on the beach, a cruise ship headed out towards the
Gulf with its load of prospective gamblers on board. The channel was just feet from the edge of the beach! Back down at the junction of the bridge and
Estero Beach Rd is the extremely busy touristy area, aptly named “Times Square”
with its balconies, patio restaurants and multitude of tee shirt shops. The fishing pier, complete with fishermen
and an accompanying pelican, gave great views of the expansive beach full of
colorful umbrellas and the millions of folks attempting to perfect their winter
tans. With the deep blue sky and temps
up in the mid 80’s – they had an easy task!
At the other end of the island is Lover’s Key State Park. The trolley pulls right in the entrance area
but we realized that we had already been to their beach – so we stayed on the
trolley and enjoyed the reverse ride back down to Times Square. On another daytrip we did stop at a beach
just past Lovers Key and found out it was a dog beach! Folks unleashed their four footed furry
friends and let them romp and play on the beach and in the water. As we watched, 4 little Dachshunds
commandeered their area and chased all the bigger dogs away. Yippy yappy little Napoleons! The key looks like it has great kayaking
areas and we saw the fabulous views of the Gulf! The south end of the roadway takes you off the island and into
the fancier areas of Barefoot Beach, Vanderbilt Beach and Bonita Beach. Silly H!
Thought that since we were driving thru Barefoot “Beach” that we would
be able to see some beach! For $8
parking - a block away – you could. Not
us! But we did end up in a rather well
to do area of red bricked roadways lined with Royal Palms and gracefully dotted
with expansively large mansions, almost hidden behind expertly manicured trees
and lawns. I felt way more comfortable
back at our humble “condo”!
Since
the fee for just driving over the bridge to Sanibel Island is $6 and parking is
even more – we parked on the causeway beach area and watched a group of kite
boarders fly across the choppy waves with their bright U shaped kites pulling
them with amazing speed. That was
before the cold front came thru last evening and brought the rain and cooler
albeit still windy weather! Thursday
morning arrived with clouds and rain – a perfect time to do laundry and our
usual household chores! The morning
weather and traffic reports were full of the terrible weather up north and the
consequence of the small amount of rain down here - 16 traffic accidents before 9am just because it had rained and
folks forgot how to drive on wet roads.
Friday
is the last day of month and our last day in Siesta Bay. The road in front of us is leading east but
where we’ll end up for night is up for grabs yet. LaBelle or Moore Haven?
Our winter adventure is half over, but we are not at our destination
yet!
