CAPTIVA ISLAND
If you are feeling the need for a little bit
more action than North Captiva can offer you,
a great alternative is a day trip to our
sister islands of Capitva and Sanibel.
Just a short boat trip away, Captiva
offers quaint eclectic shopping and dining.
Downtown Captiva has a small grocery
store, liquor store, plenty of boutiques and casual restaurants.
Start off your visit at the Chapel by the Sea on Chapin Lane. Built in 1901 as a schoolhouse it doubled as a church on Sundays. Now this charming chapel serves as a seaside interdenominational church ( Mid November through Mid April 11A.M.) and a popular wedding spot. The cemetery next door holds the graves of many early settlers who came to Captiva in the late 19th century to homestead and farm.
Downtown Captiva is just a short walk from the chapel either by the beach or down the palm tree lined stree. On the gulf end of Andy Rosse Lane is the Mucky Duck an old english pub established in 1976. They serve lunch from 11:30 to 3:00 and dinner from 5:00 to 9:30 and have beer & wine. They are closed on Sunday.
A little further down the stree is YOLO (You Only Live Once) water sports where you can
sign up to go parasailing, rent jet skies, golf carts,
motor scooters and bikes.
The Jungle Drums Wildlife Gallery is also on Andy Rosse Lane and was named one of top 100 Galleries in the USA by Niche Magazine. The owners are commited to showcasing the best in wildlife and enviornmental art from around the world and raising awareness concering the enviornment. Allow plenty of time to explore this shop. It is one of Gretchens' favorites.
One of our favorite restaurants is the Green Flash which overlooks Roosevelt Channel. You can
watch the boats and manatees go by while enjoying a great meal. They have a full bar and beer on tap.
We love their Shrimp Bisque, the Captiva Salad and the Steam Pot.
Stop by Jensen’s Marina and Cottage to see if the manatees are on duty and say "Hi" to the Jensen boys; David, John & Jimmy. We have known these guys for over 15 years and their resort is a touch of old Florida. Don’t forget to get you manatee souvenir
or may one of their T-shirts. I love the one that says...
“We Are All Here Because We Are Not All There!”
Another good friend of ours, Linda Boltrek is the ownerof the Seaweed Galley. Gretchen used to work with her on Captiva many moons ago (I’m not tell how many moons and neither will she.)
The Seaweed Gallery
features creations by local artists
including some of Linda's own miniatures.
If you don’t get down to Captiva
to see her, stop in at her other location in downtown Matlacha.
‘Tween Waters Inn is Gretchens' old stomping ground and
she knows many of the people who work at the resort .
A great place to quench your thirst is
at either the NO-See-Um pool bar or the
Crow’s Nest Lounge.
You can 
have a romantic dinner at the
Old Captiva House and dance to live
music in the Crow’s Nest Lounge at night.
Sanible Island
If you want to travel further to Sanibel I would recommend that you rent a car from South Seas Island Resort. We can drop you off at the bayside marina right across from the rental car office.
Call Hertz at 239-395-1419 for rental car rates. 
There are many nice shopping venues. The Village Shops, Periwinkel Place and The Tahitian Gardens just to name a few. There are shell shops and even The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum the only museum in the world devoted to shells.The museum is open daily from 10A.M. to 5 P.M. They have picutres for shell identification on their web site.
http://www.shellmuseum.org/sanibel_shells_pictures.html
Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge
Captiva Rd.
http://www.fws.gov/dingdarling/index.htm
The visitor center at the refuge features interactive exhibits on refuge ecosystems, the work of "Ding" Darling, migratory flyways, the National Wildlife Refuge System, and a hands-on area for children. The Center is open daily except federal holidays. The Center hours are January - April from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and May - December from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Center is located two miles west of Tarpon Bay Rd. on Sanibel
Visitors can find numerous field guides, nature books, children's books, shirts, postcards, and many other items. The refuge's public access road, is open Saturday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 1/2 hour before sunset. The road is closed every Friday to all access. This gives refuge staff the opportunity to do maintenance along the road without endangering the public and allows biologists to do surveys and other research without human interference. The Wildlife Drive is open on all federal holidays unless those holidays fall on a Friday. Entrance fees are $5 per vehicle .
There is much to see and do on Sanible or Captiva. Plan on spending the whole day.