Last Day in Paradise

Last burger in Paradise....

Frozen Mango Daiquiri

Today, alas, we leave this little bit of tropical paradise for the return to cold and rain and real life. The two weeks flew by. What an amazing place this is and how much I have enjoyed, basically, doing nothing for fourteen days! I should be feeling like a sloth, but I'm not. I'm tanned, relaxed and happy---all good things I think all vacations should provide.

I can't speak highly enough of the rental house we have stayed in. The Flynn's have done a great job of making a very livable house both beach friendly and elegantly casual. There are little bits of Toni's shell art displayed, especially a gorgeous mirror that neither Nonie nor I could figure how to get into our suitcases.....darn. We were lucky enough to get to meet Toni & Mike while we were here and you couldn't ask for nicer people. Their house is just what you want for a vacation---big screen TV for the evenings and a good selection of movies, kitchen with anything you might need for making a quick snack to baking a birthday cake, screened porch with fans and good lighting for anyone who would rather enjoy the evening quietly reading or playing a game, a bookshelf with many good choices for whiling away any hours not spent tooling about in the golf cart or on the beach. But, really, North Captiva Island is all about the beaches. Whether or not you walk down to the State Land or just out the end of Escondido Drive to "our" path to the sands, it is all about the beach. And, for me, the birds!

We spent yesterday morning down on the State Lands, Nonie combing the beach for those last few shells to fill yet another box to mail home and me, well, I tried my best to get a good shot of the eagle flying into or out of the nest that is right along the beach. But, no, the eagle had landed and there it sat, for hours! I stayed right there long enough for Nonie to walk waaaaaaay down the beach and slooooooowly work her way back, long enough for me to get sunburned just standing there, staring at the nest, willing the eagle to fly away for a moment or two, so I could get the shot. The closest I came was when the baby got up on the edge of the nest and tried flapping its wings. I thought, for a moment, that I might be able to get a shot of the first flight, but noooooo......no eagles were going anywhere while I was standing there with my camera!

Nonie found a dead pelican on the beach, which she kindly dragged back towards my eagle watching location. We looked it over pretty carefully, as neither of us had ever been so close to a brown pelican, nor will we ever be again, I suspect! There is a wicked hook on the end of the beak and the pouch is amazing----elastic and very beautiful in its functionality. It looked like something had gotten the poor bird by the neck----what I have no idea. And no, it had not been dead very long and it did not smell! It was just a science lesson that presented itself on a beautiful beach on a beautiful day.


When we got back from the State Lands we decided to celebrate our last day by having lunch at Barnacle Phil's. That was a good choice! Frozen mango daiquiri, hamburgers and that special ambiance that is only available at Barnacle Phil's! http://www.bphils.com/index.php/About-Us.html Love the interior decor.....
The rest of the day was spent packing up (boxes of shells that need to be mailed will be given to Carin this morning....I have no idea how odd my postman is going to think I am when smelly boxes from Florida start arriving in Edmonds!). We cleaned up a little, mostly sweeping out two week's worth of sand, and fixed ourselves a big mess o'shrimp for dinner on the porch. It was wonderful.
Here are a few, last images of the island.