John's Sanibel Island Real Estate Blog

There’s nothing like a relaxing boat ride to make you remember why Sanibel is the greatest place to be. Selling Sanibel Real Estate and boating is a great combination!

It’s getting to be a habit to go out in my boat on Saturdays. The boat is a 19 foot center consol Aquasport with a Johnson outboard. One of these days I’ll go into more about my love/hate relationship with that motor. Maybe it’s more of a hate/hate relationship.

This past Saturday my buddy Scott McPhee and I went out for a spin and to have lunch somewhere. The weather was perfect so we figured a trip to the famous Cabbage Key Restaurant was in order. But first let me tell you something about Scott – back in 1989 he sailed out of‘Tween Waters Marina on his 46 foot ketch “Shadowfax” and took almost 5 years sailing around the world. He then sailed out again and went to the South Pacific because he liked that area so much.

He ended up working in Samoa as newspaper editor and then helped open a legal aid clinic. Now Scott is back in the area and runs his own marketing and website business. He’s also a licensed boat captain which is always handy to have along. Anyway, we left from Shell Harbor on Sanibel and headed north up the intra-coastal waterway toward Cabbage Key. The seas were a bit choppy but we made good time, arriving at Cabbage Key in about 45 minutes.

Cabbage Key is a small island (boat access only) just off the channel. The restaurant sits on top of a Calusa shell mound about 37 feet high, which is pretty high for Florida. The restaurant serves great food and is a popular stop for tour boats and private boats for miles around. We arrived to crowds filling the three dining areas and even some people at the bar.

I’d guess about 150 people were having lunch at this out-of-the-way destination. The place is so popular that guests sign dollar bills and tape them to the walls. I think a good guess would be about 20,000 one dollar bills taped to almost every square inch on the walls and ceiling!

Scott had a large cheeseburger (no such thing as a small burger on Cabbage Key) and I tried the bean salad with chicken strips. Definitely worth the trip and we’ll be back for sure. Sorry I didn't get a photo of the food... we were too busy eating! The round trip (including lunch) took us about 3 ½ hours and about 10 gallons of fuel. Very enjoyable day on the water! On the way back we took a detour into Safety Harbor on North Captiva Island (another destination reached only by boat). North Captiva is a barrier island with the northern third having electricity, homes and three restaurants. I see North Captiva as another lunch trip in the near future. There is a back story about the boat that involves the motor (see, I’m back to the motor again). Maybe I’ll have to get a new one just so I can sleep without thinking about it. A four-stroke maybe? Next week I think we’ll head south to Fort Myers Beach and check out a different restaurant. A couple weeks ago we went to the new Doc Fords restaurant just under the Fort Myers Beach Bridge and that’s another place we can highly recommend. It’s hard to beat eating outside under an umbrella with live music in the background. On a Sanibel real estate related topic - I think our market on Sanibel & Captiva has hit the bottom (what we try never to do with the boat!). We have had quite a few sales recently and the market is getting lots of attention. Sanibel real estate prices have leveled off and interest rates are incredibly low, which makes a great combination! Until next time… John Gee