Happy Election Day (or, unhappy, depending on who ends up winning…)!  You should have seen the lines at the polls, here on Sanibel Island!  I just hope that when I wake up tomorrow, the election will be DONE; no talk of “hanging chads”, “pregnant chads”, “butterfly ballots”, etc.  (Well, that’s not my only hope, but I’ll leave politics out of this post…)

So, the day began for us out on the water, near the bridge that links Fort Myers to Sanibel Island.  The fishing is supposed to be good in that spot and dolphins are often spotted there, as well.  Unfortunately, there was no catching or dolphins; probably thanks to the red tide that has plagued the area as it did last November.

Red tide is a natural phenomenon caused by tiny, single celled algae called Gymnodinium breve.  While red tide causes little more than respiratory and eye discomfort for most humans, it has a more serious effect on marine wildlife.  Exposure to the algal bloom can be dangerous, even fatal, to fish, sea turtles and birds.  Yesterday, we saw numerous dead mullet everywhere.

Needless to say, the fishing has been awful for everybody.  So, while Bruce gave it his best effort, I paddled around and photographed my favorite bird: pelicans.  I also got some shots of the egrets, eyeing the schooling bait fish that came in right up to the shoreline.  My last shot was of a heron, snapped right before it poured down rain and we both got too cold to stay out. 

At the recommendation (once again!) of our Sun City friends, we had lunch at Island Cow; a very popular spot on the island.  The atmosphere was quite cute with their collection of cows throughout the interior.  And, the food was just fine.  But, I am still thinking about Over Easy Café’s Summer Salad that I enjoyed yesterday for lunch.

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The salad dressing alone; raspberry pecan vinaigrette was exquisite.  But, tossed with the mixed greens, red onions, blue cheese, mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, candied pecans, and crispy chow mien noodles; it was simply the tastiest salad I had savored in a long time.  So, since it is Election Day,  Over Easy Café gets my vote as my favorite restaurant to go with my favorite bird.  We also had great meals at every other restaurant we dined at, including:  Gramma Dots, Cheeburger Cheeburger (a chain, but recommended by our friends), R.C. Otter’s, and today’s lunch at Island Cow.

After lunch, we browsed the boutiques at Periwinkle Place; all very nice shops.  That was followed by a swim workout at the Sanibel Recreation Center; my 7^th and last one on my one week pass.

Well, it’s time to check in on the election.  And, my vote goes to… I’ll give you one guess!