June 26th, 2007

5am…alarm…we slowly rolled out of bed and finished packing. By 5:30, we were on our way to the airport to pick up our rental car. That process went smoothly, so we were quickly on our way to Siesta Key!!! It took us 2 hours to get there..1 hour west and 1 hour south. We first stopped at a local drug store to pick up some sun tan lotion and snacks. (Note for later…Dave is Mexican; I am not. You’ll understand shortly.) Once we were all stocked up with Coppertone, popcorn, cookies and water we checked in to our room. Picture several small streets, almost like alleys, with small motel-like “resorts” on either side; ours was called Captiva Beach Resort. We got our keys, lugged all our suitcases in the room, changed into our swim suits and were out the door! The beach is only about a half of a block from the resort. It was still early, so we were easily able to find a couple of chairs with an umbrella. We laid down for only a few minutes before Dave convinced me to go in the water. If any of you know me well, you know that I am terrified of large bodies of water and of course sharks! I have only gone in the ocean twice (actually the Gulf) and have gone in to my thighs and no higher. However, both those times I was with friends; this time I was with my husband and I think it made a difference. Dave was able to coax me to go as far as my chin without too much of a problem! I only had a couple of rules….Dave was not to go far from me when I was that deep and he was always to be the one further out. This insured the sharks would get him first!!!! He, he, he. Dave was very accommodating; which I am sure was partially due to the fact that he felt a sort of accomplishment that he was the one who helped me get over my fear (not completely though – I’m still not ready for a cruise)! Anyway, the day was great! We relaxed on the beach, soaked up some sun and did a lot of swimming. One of my favorite parts was seeing Dave care free and child-like with his adorable goggles on!!! Oh, and did I mention we saw dolphins???? Yeah, we did! It was so awesome and may have to be my favorite part over the goggles (sorry Honey). There were at least a dozen or more of them about 200 yards away from us! They were porpoising like crazy, which made it look as if they were playing! Dave let me get on his shoulders for a better view! I will never forget that moment…it truly was amazing! We got cleaned up for an early dinner at Phillippe Creek Oyster Bar. Dave and his family used to come here a lot, so it was highly recommended. I was certainly not disappointed. I had some wonderful coconut shrimp and Dave had the gator meal. After eating, we went shopping in the village. It was filled with all your typical tourist gift shops. Although, no matter how typical; it is impossible to stay away. We saw lots of Siesta Key t-shirts (Dave bought one); many swim suits, sunglasses and sandals; tons of shot glasses, mugs and cups; far too many trinkets with parrots, lizards and shells on them; more postcards than anyone could ever want; and of course any item imaginable that could be personalized with your name! It was great fun! We then drove around the island and the main land for awhile gawking at houses, resorts and palm trees. We finished the night with some great homemade ice cream! I was told that Dave and Matt got jumbo jaw breakers there once and couldn’t even make a dent in them! Lucky me…I get to witness this event because Dave bought one and is determined to get further this time!