Sanibel Journal

Published in local newspapers June 2018 -- In early February, the News-Press published an article about the remarkable news that Fort Myers Beach now has a ban on plastic drinking straws.   I thought to myself, “If Fort Myers Beach can do this, then Sanibel certainly can!”    After reading the newspaper, I went for my morning walk.   On that walk I saw my neighbor, city council member Jason Maughan, and asked him what he thought of the idea.   He was positive.   We talked about how many more straws were probably on Fort Myers Beach because of all the commercial enterprises there.   But there are some near-beach establishments where plastic straws are routinely used on Sanibel. The first person I ever heard talk about the environmental threats posed by plastic drinking straws was Carolyn Raffensperger, our keynote speaker at the Committee of the Islands (COTI) annual meeting in 2011.   Several COTI board members took Carolyn out to lunc...

What do the locals do when the mobs of tourists are gone?  We play!  I have been out to eat every evening this week.  Last night was happy hour with my Zonta friends at Traders.  The night before was happy hour with political club friends at Traders.  And the night before that was happy hour with Gulf Pines neighborhood friends at Traders. Traders, Traders, Traders.  One of the reasons we locals choose Traders for these gatherings is size.  This restaurant is big enough that it can handle several large tables and still have many smaller tables available.  The service is friendly and very professional. Swimming is a fun way to work off restaurant food calories. Another reason is the happy hour food and drink – all high-quality and good value.  The happy hour menu is called the “light menu,” but many of the options on it are not light.  Still, the portion sizes are under control, and that’s good for those who dine out nig...

April 18, 2015 -- The hoards are gone.  The traffic jams are almost nonexistent.  There’s still plenty of humanity around, but the ridiculous level of overcrowdedness has left southwest Florida and won’t return until the end of the year. So I left the island for a while yesterday.  Without concern about traffic delays, I found it easier now to plan a trip to the mainland with a sense of vague accuracy about time.  While it is nice to patronize island businesses, in such a small town it is impossible to find everything we need.  On the mainland, I visited my favorite shoe store, another specialty store, and an outlet store; then it was time to attend the open house at Lee County’s Planned Parenthood clinic.  I served on the advisory panel for this local Planned Parenthood years ago, and I knew that the clinic had undergone a major remodeling.  Yesterday, I was able to see the transformation. I met a new friend who is in the process of reviv...