2/26/19 Tuesday

We went for a walk in the neighborhood late yesterday afternoon and found the burrowing owl holes.  Unfortunately, no one was popping out to greet us.  I think we need to check early in the morning or at dusk.  We did walk over to the canal and saw a flying fish.  He jumped 2-3 feet out of the water several times - great fun!  We ate at Twisted Lobster last night.  Dave had shrimp and I had a lovely piece of haddock.  The meals were served with mashed potatoes, a half ear of corn, and a lovely coleslaw that was made with pineapple.  I will have the other half of my meal for dinner tonight.

This morning we woke up early and did some wash before heading out for the day.  We went to Sanibel Island and headed for the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  We took a hike on the Indigo trail where we saw roseate spoonbills in a tree off in the distance, a green heron, and a small black racer snake.  We then walked back to get the car and took the wildlife loop through the park.  We saw lots of white pelicans, a few smaller brown pelicans, an osprey on her nest, egrets, some ibis, a small blue heron (we spent a lot of time watching him as he was running through the water to stir up the mud and then picking off whatever edible came into his view).  He was very funny to watch.  We then headed over to Captiva Island and had lunch at the Bubble Room.  This is a crazy restaurant that has been in existence since 1979.  Inside, it is Christmas all year long.  There is a train that runs along a narrow shelf through every room.  Funky atmosphere, but the food is good.  Dave had grouper with a tomato and cucumber salsa and refried black beans on the side (he saved half for his dinner tonight) and I had a Mango Tango sandwich - grilled chicken with lettuce and tomato with slices of avocado and mango.  It was delicious.  I brought back the other half for tomorrow's lunch.  The waitress came around with the dessert choices and I had to take a picture of the wonderful and huge choices.  We stopped at Bowman's Beach to pick a few shells (It is un-American not to pick up shells on Sanibel's beaches).  I spotted a tortoise munching on green vegetation on the side of the path.  We then headed back to Cape Coral and will stay in to have leftovers for dinner.  Hopefully we will spot an owl this evening.