I woke up around 4am feeling very well rested. I knew today was going to be a good day. Plus I knew it was my last day to really relax and take it slow. Tomorrow we would be leaving for Orlando and there would be no time to take it slow.
I got myself ready and headed out of the room. It was still pretty dark out and the hotel was very dark. You see they did have lights on but it was all red lights. It was sea turtle nesting season and they turn the lights down along the coast. This way it doesn’t mess with the hatching turtles.
Now I wanted to walk all the way down to the water but I ended up just going a little past the hotel. I guess I just wanted somewhere to sit. Sure I could have sit my butt on the sand but I didn’t want to get sandy just yet.
I set up my GoPro to do a night lapse of the sky and set up my DSLR on the tripod to see what I might get. One of these days I will really start to master my astrophotography. Just today wouldn’t be that day.
I took a couple of shoots facing out towards the water. However, it was still much too bright to get anything good. I then turned around and took a couple of shots of the palm tree in front of me with the hope of getting a decent shot.
It wasn’t perfect but I liked it anyway. I know I need to go and buy some better glass to take better astrophotos. It’s just they cost so much. I just have to make it work with the equipment that I have.
Once I was happy with the photos I took I turned around once again. I took more shoots facing out towards the ocean. I even decided to try and get some with me in them.
I moved around a bit while out in front of the camera. I must say I really liked how that picture turned out. I look like a ghost on the beach. I just have to try that trick with the steel wool. I think I will try to get that shot before I turn 40. It will be one of the things I do before I turn 40.
The sky was starting to get brighter so I packed my things up and made my way back to the room. My daughter was already up which was a bit of a surprise. I think she was looking forward to walking the beach this morning with the hopes of finding some cool seashells and sand dollars.
The beach already had a bunch of people out there taking a morning walk. We passed by a couple of fisherman casting lines out into the surf. A bunch of older couples walking along the shore getting their feet wet by the gentle waves of the gulf. We even saw other people doing the same thing as us.
We ended up not finding any sand dollars this morning. My mom found some last year in July. We just didn’t find any this time. We did find a bunch of shells though. An older man gave my daughter a couple of the more interesting ones he found. He also told us the different names of the shells.
There were so many seashells on the beach this morning. A lot of them washed up overnight. We did find some good ones but not as many as I expected.
After our little stroll on the beach it was time to get some breakfast. We ended up getting breakfast at the hotel. The outdoor portion of Pinchers wasn’t open for breakfast but the inside part was.
Breakfast was reasonable priced and was very good. The coffee was really good too. The food came out quick and was hot and delicious.
After breakfast we jumped in the car and headed to Sanibel Island. My cousin told me that they have really nice beaches over there and a great place for seashells. The drive from Fort Myers Beach to Bowman’s Beach on Sanibel Island is around an hour.
It is a really nice drive. I really loved driving over the Sanibel Causeway. There were so many sights to see. When I come back here I will have to pull off on the Causeway like so many other people and go out into the water.
Anyway, I continued to drive and passed by many places I would love to check out. So many different restaurants with unique names and many little shops. Before I knew it we were pulling into the parking lot for Bowman’s beach.
I wasn’t expecting to have to pay for parking. It wasn’t too much and you pay by the half hour. It just stinks since you don’t know how long you are going to go for. I hate having to keep an eye on the time to make sure I don’t go over or way under.
I do have to say that Bowman’s beach is a really nice beach. We took a walk along the coast and looked for seashells. Most of the good ones where already picked up by the time we got there. However, we did find some.
My daughter enjoyed the water. Just like she always does. The water felt a little warmer here than it did at Fort Myers Beach. It also seemed like you could go out much further before the water got to my knees.
Before we left and headed back to the hotel I saw a couple people snorkeling. One of the reasons this caught my eye was because they had the same snorkeling mask my daughter has. The other reason is it looked as if they were seashell hunting. Well I know we will have to pull her mask out when we go into the Gulf at the hotel. Maybe we too will find some cool things.
Now before we stopped at the hotel I wanted to check out Lovers Key State Park. It was only a couple minute drive passed the hotel. I did a little reading on it before I started the trip and it was a place you could walk around and maybe see a gator or two.
We arrived at Lovers Key State Park to find out you had to pay to enter. I didn’t feel like paying to enter a State Park. Especially since we wouldn’t be staying too long. We were all getting hunger and just wanted to relax. Next time I might take the trolley down to the state park.
Once back at the hotel we grabbed lunch at Pinchers. I gotta say I really loved everything we had there so far. I ordered the Crab Rangoon this time. I also order the 32oz Gulf Coast Hurricane. Both were very good.
Now the Crab Rangoon isn’t like what you will find at your local Chinese restaurant. These guys have real crab meat in them and not much filler. They were so tasty. Plus the sauce they have with them and on them was mouthwatering. I couldn’t get enough of them.
After lunch we headed back down to the water. We spent a couple more hours in the water. I also remembered to bring my daughters snorkeling mask down. She had a blast with it on.
The water wasn’t too clear but it was clear enough for her to see all the different shells on the ocean floor. She even found quite a few sand dollars. They were all live sand dollars so we had to put them back. Maybe one will wash up on shore tonight.
We had a great time rolling around in the sand and water. However, like it usually does in Florida in the summer time. It started to get cloudy and you could tell a storm was getting ready to roll in.
Hopefully we had enough time for my mother to walk down memory lane and check out the hotel down the street. She would usually stay at Pointe Estero Resort when she would come down to visit. It was only a couple of minute walk from the Wyndham Garden. Pointe Estero Resort was a really nice place.
Like she suggested we might stay here next year when we come down again. My mom wants to try and plan a family trip with my bother down here. I know my daughter is all about it. She really wants me to move the two of us down here.
After we checked out the resort we made our way back onto the beach and headed back to our hotel. As we were walking we saw what looked like a snake to my daughter and I. My mom thought it was a rope. She was so confident it was a rope she ended up walking right over top of it.
My daughter really didn’t believe it was a rope and started walking back towards it. Guess what! It wasn’t a rope but a snake. The snake wasn’t alive but it was a snake.
Not sure where my moms head was but right after we were all talking about our sunburns we all got. Now none of us burn. We are lucky enough to be able to go out in the full summer sun and not burn. Plus we usually visit Florida every year and do trips to the Jersey shore.
Somehow all three of us got sunburn this time. My daughter and I both got it on our shoulders. My mother got it on her knees. Now when she was telling us she mixed her words up a bit and my daughter couldn’t stop laughing.
“I got knees on my sunburn”
My Mother
That little comment made my daughter laugh so much. She couldn’t help herself. I think what was even more funny was my mom was so damn serious about what she said. It took her a minute to realize what she said.
For the rest of the day my daughter would bring up that comment. To her it was the funniest thing in the world. It was really good seeing her like that.
Once back at the hotel it started to rain a little. So we decided to get dinner since it was getting late. It was already around 1900 and with the rain starting I wouldn’t be able to catch the sunset. Not a clear one anyway.
We ordered food and dessert this time. Again everything was amazing. There is a part of me that wishes I checked out some other places but Pinchers at Wyndham Gardens was very good. I almost tried everything I wanted to on the menu.
I know if I come back to Fort Myers Beach that I will be having at least one meal at Pinchers. The drinks were good at didn’t cost you an arm and a leg. The food was amazing. So fresh and cooked perfectly. Oh and the desserts weren’t bad either.
As we were getting done our meal the winds really started to pick up. It wasn’t raining too bad but boy was it windy. It made packing up the car a little tricky but I managed.
I had the car all packed up and ready to go. The only thing that need to go in there in the morning was the cooler. I didn’t want to put it in tonight since I would have to refill it in the morning with ice. I would have to get ice in the morning too. I had a smaller cooler with some drinks in it and a larger cooler with some food and drinks.
I wasn’t sure what time I would get my room tomorrow in Orlando so I wanted to make sure everything stayed as cold as it could. Tomorrow was going to be another hot day. Just not as hot as today was.
Kozmo Photos 
Looking forward to Day 5!
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