Surviving Sanibel: Sand, Shells & Sunsets Trip Report - UPDATED 7/13 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Thank you for stopping in and reading my pre-trip report! I hope you all enjoy this, and when we return hope you enjoy the Post Trip report. Let's get this party Started!
Every story or report has to start some where, and lets get you started with who will be trying to Survive Sanibel!
Who:
Me- Amy your host and report writer, I'm *gulp* a newly minted 28 year old, who loves all things beach related except swimming in the actual ocean...more on that later! I am also co driver of the trip and this will be my 3rd trip to Sanibel.
Angela- My mom who is turning the big 55 better her then me right?, and co-driver of the trip and lover of all things beach including swimming in the ocean (yeah let her get eaten by a fish I'm not risking it ) and this is her 3rd trip to Sanibel also.
Floor Foot Frannie (FFF) - aka my Grandma who is going to be 83 this year (bless her heart) and non swimmer never learned never wants to learn how either but loves to walk the beach and find shells. She is staying with mom and I for the summer and this is her 1st trip to Sanibel!
Nora- grandma's neice, my mom's cousin and I call her Aunt and is 57! Yeah we have a large italian family and Nora is just a bright and fun part of it! She is visiting FFF and us for a few days and has never been to Florida, Sanibel or Disney World before!!! (we will rectify the disney part after Sanibel!!) So this obviously is her 1st time to Sanibel too!
When:
July 9, 2010- July 12, 2010 a quick weekend getaway!
Where: Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, Fort Myers Beach, FL
Staying at:
Residence Inn, Fort Myers, Sanibel Gateway
Why:
This Started out as a trip with just my mom and I going down for mom's birthday weekend (her birthday is the 12th) we would leave late on the 12th letting her get some beach time in on her actual birthday and it was something she was excited about! We started scouring for a hotel deal and figured we had time and it was just us so we would be fine at any hotel.
Well, a few weeks go by, and FFF drops the news that she is going to be coming to visit for 2 months! hold up what?!?! yeah folks she is spending the whole summer with us and would that be a problem ...ummm of course NOT! I FFF! We have a very special Grandma/Granddaughter bond and I am beyond pysched! But wait... now we need a hotel with room for 3...no big deal shouldn't be a problem!
I scout out the hotel from our trip last year the Country Inn and Suites, prices aren't bad put a room on hold! Then I find a great deal thanks to FFF's age and mom's age for a Senior discount (yeah, since mom got her AARP card I am sure to point that out ) at the Residence Inn, for a suite with plenty of room for 3 of us. It's a 1 bedroom suite but it has 2 queen beds and a kitchen! So I book it and cancel the other hotel
Well, of course nothing ever stays the same and its about a month later we get a phone call from My Aunt Nora. She had been talking to FFF and had wanted to go to CT to visit FFF but since she'd be in Florida all summer would we mind if she came to visit? OF COURSE NOT! We don't have a ton of room but we would make space for her! Well, I have a brilliant beyond brilliant Idea!
See FFF doesn't know she is going to Sanibel, we decided for our Sanity to Survive the time between now and going (all the questions, etc) since FFF is like a small child very impatient we would make it a surprise trip! Well, she knows Nora was going to ask if she could crash at our place and visit, well, we set it up with Nora that she would fly in July 8th and then on the 9th all 4 of us would drive down to Sanibel, Visit and have a great time at the beach, then she would fly home on the 14th giving her 1 full day to spend in Orlando going to Disney!
So now we had a 4th person, that 1 bedroom was ok for space but it would be tight so I start scouring for a discount for either a 2nd room, or a bigger suite! I found one! At the same hotel no less! So we now have a 2 bedroom suite!
So that small trip that was going to be a Birthday bash at the beach for 2 of us is now Suriving Sanibel with 4 of us!
up next...our plans, our hopefuls for dining and only 4 more weeks until we go!
So you can skip right to the updates if you would rather I'll post the links here:
Pre-Trip Update # 1 6/08/2010- Click Here
Pre-Trip Update # 2 6/11/2010- Click Here
Pre-Trip Update # 3 6/20/2010- Click Here
Pre-Trip Update # 4 6/25/2010- Click Here
Pre-Trip Update # 5 7/05/2010- Click Here
Trip Report Update # 1 7/11/2010- Click Here
Trip Report Update # 2 7/13/2010- Click Here
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Last edited by iamgrumpy; 07-13-2010 at 05:25 PM..
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My husband and I spent our honeymoon at Captiva Island 19 years ago so I enjoyed reading you 1st Sanibel report and am excited that you are going back!
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I can't wait to read your report! I went to Sanibel for the first time last May (despite having lived in Tampa for 13 yrs at one point...) and thought it was just beautiful. Have a great time!
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Amy, if you want to know anything about the seashells on Sanibel and Captiva.....like where to go to collect shells, when to shell, what other treasures to look for..... I can help! I blog just about everyday on seashells on the beaches here on www.iLoveShelling.com . I know all of you will have a fantastic time. Girls Trip!
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How are we going to get there?
Well, when it was just the two of us (mom and I) we were going to drive my new car down since it gets great gas mileage, was low on miles, new tires etc was in better shape then my older car. It also had enough room for all the junk (I'll explain in a moment) the two of us were going to bring down with us. It is a Nissan Altima and for two of us had plenty of trunk space. See mom and I are overpackers...mom more then I of course!
Well now that two more people were joining us well, that wasn't going to work : sorry uh huh. not happening no way no how! SEE we overpack to the point that the back seat is filled with what doesn't fit in the trunk Yeah that bad! So we had to decide what to do. We could fly limit what we bring no beach chairs no umbrellas, rent a car just enough for the 4 of us or we could rent a car in Orlando, drive it down and back, and get one large enough for us and all our JUNK. (i'd say another word but this is a family board but you get the idea).
So we decided to road trip still, rent a car here and bring all our junk down and back. Ok so airfare, hotel and rental car were far more expensive and I wanted to bring a chair to sit on! (i don't like to sit ON the sand its a texture thing).
So I jumped onto Alamo's website, we use them primarily because they allow debit cards, and the office closest to our house has a really nice guy working there reminds me of a mix of the Mad hatter and Lumiere for some reason
I found a Full Size SUV Chevy Tahoe or similar we will need a step ladder to get into this bad boy for 5 days for $211 with taxes, fees, additional driver, unlimited miles the whole shebang! They even let me modify the hours of the rental without increasing the price when mom decided to take the whole day off Friday!!! SWEET! Alamo!!
So long story short on this, we will be Road Tripping to Fort Myers, FL where the hotel is located, we will stay there Friday to Monday, road trip back Monday and drop off the rental car either late Monday night (after hours) or before hours Tuesday before we start our 1 Day Disney Adventure.
Up next...Our Dining hopefuls and our Itinerary of sorts (not that its set in stone, but an idea of what we will try to accomplish)
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better her then me right?, and co-driver of the trip and lover of all things beach including swimming in the ocean (yeah let her get eaten by a fish I'm not risking it 
for 2 months! 
hold up what?!?! 
FFF! We have a very special Grandma/Granddaughter bond and I am beyond pysched! But wait... now we need a hotel with room for 3...no big deal shouldn't be a problem! 
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Pixie Dust
Your plans sound great. Can't wait to read more.
Waiting to eat with Goofy - DLR May 2010
) and thought it was just beautiful. Have a great time!
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
PassPorter Guide Author
: sorry uh huh. not happening no way no how! SEE we overpack to the point that the back seat is filled with what doesn't fit in the trunk 
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