What to expect on the 2 Day Cabbage Key
How many times have you heard someone say, “There’s this little place I know of…” and then proceeded to tell you a story of that place. In your mind, you tell yourself, “Now that’s a place I have to get to before I die.” Here’s your chance to do it.
There’s this little place I know of that I like to take people to. It’s a small island. It is just south of Middle Key, just west of Useppa, just north of Captiva and just east of Cayo Costa. It’s a unique little island and has a rich history. There are a few cabin rentals and then there’s the Cabbage Key Restaurant. This is “Old Florida”. You can only get there by boat. It has a small marina. We can spend the night there, or we can anchor just outside of the Intracoastal Waterway by Useppa and dingy in.
The restaurant has great food and atmosphere. The bar is small and intimate. There are dollar bills taped everywhere. The fishermen started this. When they went out to sea, if they didn’t have any money when they got back, they always knew that they could get a beer with their dollar that was on the wall. From what I understand thousands of dollars fall off the walls and ceilings of this place and each year that money is donated to a charity.
The people that work there are great. Usually young and they live in a dorm type situation with four days on and three off to go to the mainland.
We will leave the dock in the morning and sail north around Sanibel Island and up to Boca Grande. We will enter Charlotte Harbor and head south on the Intracoastal Waterway to Cabbage Key. We will either anchor off of Useppa, or get a slip at the Marina.
We can decide
to have dinner at the Cabbage Key Restaurant, or I can cook up one of my
gourmet dinners for you and your guests. We will decide that at the planning
stage of your trip.
After dinner, we will enjoy the evening on the island and/or on the deck of
Star of Orion. It’s your cruise, so you will decide.
In the morning after breakfast, we can go back to the island and take the nature walk to the old Indian shell mound and learn more about the island. There we will hoist anchor and begin our journey south down the Intracoastal Waterway passing many islands and watching for dolphins and other wildlife along the way.
Once we pass under the Sanibel Causeway Bridge, we will sail into the Gulf of Mexico and then back to our homeport at Salty Sam’s Marina.
They say that this is the island where Jimmy Buffet got his inspiration for the song Cheeseburger in Paradise. Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter, but you will be writing your own song about this experience.
When you get home, you’ll tell a friend, “There’s this little place I know of…”
Legend: