The Chamber

When you go to Sanibel/Captiva, The Island's Chamber Of Commerce is a must stop. It is one of the first island themed buildings as you cross over the causeway. 

This cute little place is a wealth of information with a funny sign at the entrance. It is filled with island related magazines, maps, guided tour information and much more. They even have a weekly handout of activities on both islands that also include the sunrise/sunset and tide schedules. The staff manning the center are helpful, friendly and kind.

Our first stop several years ago, we encountered a volunteer who told us a little story behind Captiva's Historic graveyard at the Chapel by the Sea.  We were so intrigued by what we had heard, we set out the next day and did some exploring in the graveyard by the sea.

Don't pass up this little gem. Stop in, pick up some brochures and maybe if you're lucky, there will be a story teller waiting on you.

The End....Till Next Time

The time has come when all great trips come to an end. We will be leaving the Island today but will take many memories home with us. This is our last sunset and sunrise. 

Good Morning

Start your morning off with a good stretch...

and this sunrise. 

Orange Day

I'm one of those people who loves just about everything orange. Orange protein drinks, orange jewelry, orange clothes, and orange flavored foods.

One place I wanted to check out while on the island was Bennett's Fresh Roast. I found them on Trip Advisor in the Fort Meyers area a couple of years ago and started following them on Facebook. When I saw that they opened a new location on Sanibel, I knew it was a must "go-to" on out next trip. They are famous for their in house roasted coffee and fresh hand cut donuts. There were many flavors to choose from but my eye caught the Orange Crunch. It looked as good as it sounded and after one bite, I was not disappointed. If you're ever in Fort Meyers/Sanibel area, I recommend you stop in for snack.

Our friend Laurie had dinner at The Bubble Room on her last trip to Sanibel and recommended that we check it out this trip. After reading an article in one of the local flyers, we learned that they are famous for their desserts. One in particular is, that's right, you guessed it, Orange Crunch Cake. After watching the sunset, Bill and I headed over to the famous eclectic place to see what all the hoopla was about. It's a quirky little place with an enormous amount of Hollywood and Christmas memorabilia from the thirties and forties. Bill had a slice of Tropical Breeze and I had the Orange Crunch. The slices were huge and could easily be shared. Both cakes were moist and flavorful. I took more than half of mine home and well, one of us ate everything but the kiwi decoration.  

Dinner Time

For the past couple of afternoons, the pelicans have been fishing in front of the condo. It's amazing to watch these birds glide across the water

 and then dive head first for their meal.  

Island Fun

Animals can be so funny. I was walking back from the fishing pier and looked up to see this Great Egret walking along the railing of this condo. At first glance, I thought it was a statue mounted on the railing, until it started to move and talk to his reflection. Here's what happened next. 

Hello feather friend! New to the area?  Would you like to take a tour of the island?

   

 I'd invite you in for some fish before we leave, but I can't find my keys. 

No, they're not in my pockets. Do you see any pockets on me? I'm not a Pelican. 

Stupid bird, this is going to be a long tour. 

The Island Cow

The Island Cow was on the agenda after a long travel day. The Jimmy Buffett  motife helps you settle into the Island mode.

If you don't know what you want to eat, this is the place to go. The menu is a 11 ×17 fold out filled with tastebud options. Bill & I shared a Taco Trio meal that came with black beans and rice. We ordered a side of fries because we thought our tacos would be small. When our order arrived, we were surprised by how humongous they were. We split all three tacos and my favorite of the three was the blackened mahi with the sweet and spicy mango salsa. Bill liked the crunchy fried grouper the best. We didn't finish the fries. 

If you're on the island, and want some udderly good eats, we recommend this fun, wacky, little dive.

I

Grocery Stores

Sanibel has two grocery stores. Bailey's General Store (circa 1889) and Jerry's Foods. Because the Island prices are a little steeper, we stop at a Publix on our way to pick up the majority of our food for the week.

We like Bailey's General Store, but we love Jerry's Foods. The store is the anchor to a unique shopping plaza. The entrance is lined with tropical foliage and nestled along the walkways are large cages of tropical talking birds. Jerry's has a small cafe where they serve daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner specials. We've had a yummy breakfast there before and the prices were reasonable. 

I think the real reason we keep going back are these.

It's A Florida Year

This year we are vacationing in Florida. In April we took the Jeep & went camping in The Keys. After that trip we decided that camping is a good idea; until you go camping. We are giving away the tent along with the sleeping bags and are now the proud owners of the largest new fangeled blow up bed. 

This trip we are headed to our favorite place in Florida, Sanibel/Captiva. It's our place to really unwind and I transform into a crazy person & try to bring home all the shells from the island. We are taking a more comfortable ride and driving the Escape. The Jeep is a cool vehicle but not for long trips. We rented a condo on the bay front in a regime where we stayed a couple of years ago.

Stay tuned, I'll keep everyone updated more frequently this trip. We have all the luxuries of home.  No buying fans because it's stinking hot outside, no waking up at the crack of dawn because the sun is up (well maybe to go shelling), no running down the road to the wash house in the middle of the night and certainly no worries about this guy sneaking up on you. 

Handpicked

My friend Deanna and I went to the Sisterhood Under The Stars event put on by 

Seacoast Church a couple of months ago.

 
We had a really nice time walking around the decorated Awendaw Green listening to the 

praise and worship team, browsing through the various vendors and enjoying some good eats.

 One vendor in particular was selling these interesting little handmade necklaces with scripture on the back. I even think the vendor said you could put oils on the back of them. Deanna picked one out and of course my eye caught the one with the orange surrounding the outer edges. I love this little necklace and wear it often because it matches just about half my wardrobe.

    The scripture on the back looked familiar, but I didn't know what it was nor did I take the time to look it up!  A couple of weeks ago I finally did. This is what it said, Philippians 4: 6-7

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

It brought tears to my eyes because of course it said that. It's what I needed/need to hear quite often in my life. Now it's more than just an orange little necklace that I adore because of it's color. It's a wonderful piece of handmade pottery, handpicked by The Potter Himself,  just for me. 

  

If you'd like a unique piece of jewelry that supports different ministries, check out Compelled.

  

Sebastian Inlet State Park

I guess some of you are wondering, "What happened to those two and their big camping adventure?" We arrived home last night a couple of days early due to the nasty weather everywhere.

More to come on that subject.

Blogging while camping was more difficult than blogging in Hawaii. The cell signal was not always great at the campsites and blogging in a tent wasn't like sitting in a hotel room at night.

So, I'm going to get you caught up from the comforts of my home. Here we go!

Our first stop was Sebastian Inlet State Park. We arrived around 3:00 pm and the weather forecast was spot on. It was 90 degrees and there was no breeze. Sometime between set-up and dinner, I began to pray for a breeze and no rain. Our "four-person" tent housed our queen blow up mattress and nothing else. If we positioned the bed just right, we could fit our Adidas fitness bags 

(our luggage for the week) too.

 

Sebastian Inlet State Park is known for it's beautiful beach area and surfing.

 

 

Fishing is huge too. You can launch your boat at the inlet or fish from the great fishing pier or jetties.

  

Here's where we took our selfie looking out towards the jetty. Do you see us?

We found a great little Cuban restaurant thanks to Yelp and Tripadvisor called Las Palmas.

We arrived back at the campsite after dinner to a beautiful sunset and a gale force wind. When God delivers, He delivers big! We were grateful for the breeze but it was so strong the tent was flapping all over the place. At one point in the middle of the night, Bill got up to use the facilities and I thought for sure, me, the tent, and the queen-sized air mattress we meticulously 

shopped for was going to blow away. 

The ranger that checked us in told us that Sebastian Inlet was the only park to stay open 24/7. Okay, that was no big deal when she told us. During the night we realized it was a big deal. The road in front of our site was the road to the boat launch. So, between the gale force wind and the vehicular traffic all throughout the night, it made for some rough sleeping conditions.

Thank goodness for our Moka Express stove top coffee maker and the Portable Propane Stove.  These two wonderful items made the morning that much better.

 

FLA USA

The best part of traveling south on I-95 is crossing into Florida and stopping at the Information Center. For as long as I can remember, they have been giving out small cups of orange or grapefruit juice. We stop every time, it's tradition. Besides, who doesn't like a quick cup of Florida sunshine along with a big welcome to FLA USA.

Did Someone Say "Florida?"

The Ciocco adventures continue. We are headed to various locations in Florida for a week. The Jeep is the mode of transportation and at night we'll be sleeping under the stars. Well almost, we'll be in a tent. Campfire cooking is not for us, so eating out is how we roll. Except for coffee in the mornings. You know I must have my java first thing. I will be posting as often as I can so stay tuned 

and I hope you enjoy the adventure as much as we do. 

Arise!

 Here's a little throwback from a couple of weeks ago. 

Hope you enjoy as you sit and sip your coffee this morning.

The Sunrise Service at Breach Inlet has become somewhat of a tradition for us. If were not working the Family Circle Cup we usually end up at this beautiful service. It's hosted by several of the churches on both Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island. 

The weather around Easter is a toss up every year, but everyone
 is usually sporting their blankets and hot coffee. 

We sang songs and listened to the Easter message. 

Each minister had a part in the service.

I'm like a little kid at this event. I find it hard to stay focused. The birds whirl in the air, the
waves are crashing on shore. The main attraction slowly creeps over the
homes exposing the darkness of the morning. 

On this particular Easter morning my thoughts turned to a powerful song by NewSong, called "Arise My Love." It's a song about why we celebrate Easter. It's about the
Resurrection of our Saviour, which is the main attraction.

The Waiting Game and Parris Island

Most of you know that I'm a Triathlete. My Tri buddy and awesome friend, Deanna (aka D. Mermaid) and I decided to go back and revisit our first event in our triathlon journey, the Parris Island Triathlon. You know, where they "Make Marines!" I'm not kidding there is a huge sign over the street on base that says so.

Since that race is in March my training schedule begins right around Christmas. That's twelve weeks of cramming in bike rides, (mostly indoors) and training runs in the cold. 

This was my set up on the porch before it turned bitter cold. Nothing motivates me more than watching the Ironman World Championships while training on my bike. I'm almost embarrassed at how many times I've watched those races and now that I've been to Kailua-Kona it has much more meaning.

Time flies when you're on a training schedule. Before I knew it, race week was here and I was ready to rock and roll. The last week of training is always a recovery week. It's a week of no hard workouts, just staying warmed up, taking in the right nutrition, and making sure you have your gear in order. Out of the twelve weeks, this past week was the most difficult, it was a huge waiting game.

Friday came and after many days of spring like weather, the forecast for the weekend was gloom. Rain was on the horizon and it was cold, gray, and, my least favorite element of all, WIND! For the first time ever before a race, I felt like a race horse in a starting gate, not one the calm horses, but the jumpy nervous ones. I was anxious, and there was no other way around those feelings than to get on my two-wheeled steed, and get going. Three miles later and a quick visit with my mother-in-law and Baxter, I was relaxed.

D. Mermaid picked me and my two-wheel steed up and we headed down to Beaufort. It may have been gloomy outside but inside that pale yellow bug of hers were two excited fifty-one year olds ready to take on the fifty to fifty four year old age groupers.

Race day arrived and it appeared that we woke up to a huge blessing. God heard our prayers and the radar was looking clear. We arrived on base around 7:00 am and we both had an eerie calmness. The race started on time and just like last year, we waited around for what seemed like forever. An hour later we were called to jump into the huge Marine Corp pool.

The pool swim was crazy, the bike ride was windy and I felt spent on the run. The run portion of the triathlon is always a funny sensation getting off the bike. My legs were like concrete boulders. You think you're not going fast, but history shows I was faster than I thought. I had a personal record for my 5k with a time of 26:45.


Our hard training paid off on that overcast and windy day. I placed sixth out of fourteen in our age group and Deanna took home third! They make Marines on that base. But, for one day, we had the opportunity to pump our fists and shout Ooh Rah, 'cause we're Triathletes.

 

Calling All Athletes

If you're a walker, runner or athlete of any kind, this is a great devotional book. I started attending a Run for God bible study at my church. The title was something I thought the leader had thought up. You know, it's a church ministry and a run group, so Run for God was a logical name. After attending the first meeting, I found out it was a national bible study that has 5k, 10k, Half Marathons, and Junior Triathlon challenges. 

This Fifty-two week devotional is a collection of stories to inspire and challenge you weekly. The  study also has a get in the Word section, scripture memory, things to ponder and running observations by Dean, a friend of the Run for God ministry. I'm into the first week and so far, I'm hooked.

The group bible study is doing The 5K Challenge which is approximately 12 weeks long. It is preparing many for their first local 5K.  Our group chose to participate in the Run Forrest Run Race at Joe Riley Park on May 16th. Bill and I have run this race several times and it's a lot of bang for your buck.

If you're looking for a challenge physically and spiritually, join me and my group or look for one in your local area. Who knows, you may be the next person called to lead a group.

Fifty to Fifty-One

My last days on top of the hill are coming too an end. Shoosh, don't tell anyone, I'm turning fifty-one! It's been a year of adventures, accomplishments and just plain old fun.

I trained and finished my first triathlon with this other fifty-year-old, Deanna Galasso.

 More to come about her in another post.

Because I didn't torture myself enough at Parris Island, I went on to do three more triathlons. Two of which really catapulted me out of my comfort zone, and into open water swims not in a lake, but in the Atlantic. The second Beach Bum Tri in Hilton Head was a real challenge.

 I can't say I haven't been stung by a jellyfish anymore, OUCH!

Then I got a surprise visit from this girlie. It's my tall beautiful little sissy. 

We always have such a great time together and can't wait to see her sweet face again.

After planning and saving for over a year, came our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary trip. 

Hawaii really is a Pacific paradise.

My mom hadn't been to South Carolina in while so, she came for Thanksgiving. We had a great time and the best part was she made chicken and dumplings. This is the two of us at the Festival of Lights at James Island County Park enjoying our hot chocolate.

My fiftieth year was made special by this hunk.  He has brought so much adventure to my life.  He's a living example of Ephesians 5:25 - "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."  He's  my biggest cheerleader and I love him to pieces. 

If last year is any indication of what this year may be. 

I say, "bring it on", I'm ready for fifty-one! 

First Day, First Race, First Place

It's 2015! Happy New Year

Our friend Deanna talked us into signing up for the Race The Landing that Lisa Deaton directs.  

 

It was such a great idea at the time. Deanna is such an encourager and can talk just about anyone into anything. "Start the New Year off right with a run," she said. 

"It won't be too cold," she said

"It will be fun!" she said.

 Bill and I whined the whole way to the race. We even jokingly fought over who would beat up Deanna first. What were we thinking? We weren't.

• One, we both dislike running in the cold.
• Two, I don't think I ever went to bed before ringing in the New Year.

 Living in SC, any kind of holiday means firework extravaganza night. I think our neighbors bought out the surrounding fireworks stands this year. There were huge cannons going off all night. So, there was very little sleep for this lady. After meeting up with Deanna, I was relieved that we weren't alone in the whining department. The same person that claimed this would be fun, admitted if it wasn't for us, she wouldn't have come. It was downright cold, it was a very early wake up, it was all the way across town, and did I mention, it was so cold, we saw white yards everywhere from the frost.

Once the race started, those thoughts were long gone. I had forgotten how beautiful The Charles Town Landing was. One long stretch of the race course, the trees covered the road as the morning sun was shinning through. It was a beautiful sight as the race participants ran greeting the first day of 2015.

This race is kind of whacky. It's a 5k that reuses old awards and race bibs and includes a race t-shirt swap that really doesn't require you to swap anything. There is a pile of old t-shirts and you add yours to the pile and take any that you like. 

 Fleet Feet was one of the sponsors and at registration we had our choice of a headband or a croakie. At the end of the race we had a variety of delicious soups and cornbread to choose from; including Hoppin' John. Our entertainment was a musician playing some upbeat songs and the sound was perfect for the size of the room. 

We met up with our Try Sports running friend Amy, aka The Tiny Terror. She diligently trains and her training pays off. She is witty, fun and very fast. Amy consistently places in many of the races she runs.

The race was fun and we were all winners today.  But who doesn't love a race where you take home a prize and the title of First Place in your Age Group, or Third Place in your Age Group, Female Overall Master, or Second Place Female Overall. That was us today on this First Day, First Race of the year.