If there is a more bike friendly island in Florida than Sanibel Island and its sister Captiva, we don’t know it. Perched on the southwestern Gulf Coast off Fort Myers, Florida, Sanibel is the tranquil tropical garden spot of Florida. For a mere $6, we take the causeway bridge from the mainland to tropical paradise.
Causeway Bridge heading to the mainland from Sanibel
Some ten years ago, Hannah and I first came to Sanibel Island for the annual meeting of the American Reading Forum (ARF). At the time, I was in an epic battle for promotion at Eastern Connecticut State University, my first fulltime university position, and then later for tenure at the University of New England, two division 3 schools where teaching was the primary focus. But not so fast my friend. Those of you thinking of a career in academia pause just a moment and hear me out. Do you like to write for publication as well as teach? Are you willing to be a graduate assistant as you bide your time for the big break into the ivory towers? From my vantage point, academia advancement is a publish or perish proposition, make no mistake about it. That said, teaching at the university was my dream job. After twenty years in public schools, working with preservice teachers was the second entrée of my meal in education (I get the metaphor is a stretch, but you got to admit I’m trying [and not in the annoying sense, I hope]). Throughout, my colleagues were supportive of my efforts to grab the brass ring of academia. (Metaphor overdose alert)
While there, I learned that the American Reading Forum had an annual meeting, in of all places, Sanibel Island. Presenting at ARF was win/win for me. It was a warm winter place to take Hannah as well as a chance to build my vitae (academic resume). Truth be told, I wasn’t what you’d call an academic’s academic. I just wanted to teach. But I did want a mini-career at the university in my 50s, so I paid my dues and wrote and presented. Anyway, someone had to go to Sanibel in December!
In past trips to Sanibel Island, Hannah and I walked the beaches picking through millions of shells beneath our feet. The warm Gulf water is home to manta rays, which we saw mere feet from the shore’s edge. Morning walks on the Gulf-side beaches and seeing the sunset in the evenings over the water defined tropical paradise for us. Soon our friends Rich and Mary, then later Steve and Amelia would join us for a few days in Sanibel. One treat you must give yourself if you come is to breakfast at the Island Cow. With these good Arizona State friends and wives, we had breakfast outside in January! We have come to expect 70s and 80s every time we come to Sanibel Island, be it in December or January. We have not been disappointed.
Today we cross the Causeway Bridge on to Sanibel Island and head for Billy’s Rentals on Periwinkle Drive, the main drag. For a modest $12 for four hours we rent six-speed bikes with fat tires and front baskets for our lunches. Rarely do you see anyone wearing a helmet on the bicycle paths which are usually away from the traffic. The bikes are slow going and made for exploring, not for aerobic exercise. Most bikes have bells and riders are uniformly considerate.
In town, the 12 foot wide bike trails weave next to the main road and then head north where the bike path narrows on the Sanibel-Captiva Road towards the Ding Darling Natural Wildlife Preserve.
Though those in cars are charged $5 to drive through the Darling Preserve, hikers and we bicyclists are charged a single greenback (i.e., a simoleon). Alligators in the ditches by the parking lots and herons and egrets galore in the bays are all a part of the four mile one way roll through the park.
Alas, the four mile road through the Preserve is less than friendly for bicyclists. Its bumpy, gravelly texture makes for a jostling ride that makes us pine for the smoothness of the island bike paths. Truth be told, we did some major bellyaching about the bumpy road and swore we would never bike it again. Walk or go by car!
Back on the bike path which narrows to six feet across, we ride side by side for easy conversation. In my quest to understand if a few months in Florida would be for us, I think about a young man I saw just playing guitar under a tree. Fun fact. I took up the guitar years ago, abandoned my pursuit within months, and stuck to playing the fitness game. So activities that take time to learn and develop, such as improving one’s golf game or learning a new instrument, would be ideal for being in Florida. I still wonder how I’d fill my time productively away down South. Hanging out just isn’t enough.
As we head north into Captiva Island we ride in a 2-3 foot bike lane where the vehicle traffic is a pedestrian 25 mph or so. Nothing says paradise like queen palms and the Queen Bee (Hannah B).
Captiva Hannah
Hakuna Matata means “no worries”
Our lunch of Spicy Italian (Hannah) and Tuna (Dan) Subway subs in a resort courtyard in front of the gated community’s barrier refuels us for the ten mile ride back to Billy’s - into the wind.
Sanibel/Captiva is an escape from the North’s cold and the mainland’s traffic. Later we cross back over the Sanibel Causeway Bridge, grit our teeth, and go one-on-one with the afternoon traffic.
It’s time to head for home in Maine.
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