Sanibel Island, Florida

A couple weekends ago, Stephen and I went to visit his parents in Sanibel. I want to share a million few photos from the trip. If you are considering vacationing there, I'd say: do it! It's a beautiful island on the gulf side of Florida. It has a tropical feel, despite still being part of the United States (not unlike Puerto Rico (which I love), but closer, of course!) We flew into Fort Myers, and it's only about a 45 minute drive from there.

On the tip of Sanibel is Captiva, a pretty tiny little island. This time we stayed on Sanibel since it was a short trip, but Captiva provides a more "Key West" feel.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

This flower is in Stephen's parents' backyard...can you believe it? It's crazy to think the island is technically "Florida" because it really feels like the Caribbean.

I went shopping with Stephen's mom and found these Sperry flip flops which I love!! Their driveway is made of broken sea shells. (How cool is that?) Sanibel is, apparently, the second best shelling place in the world. (Isn't "shelling" a fun verb? It means what it sounds like, going out to find shells.)

We explored J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge where we saw crabs, pretty cranes and other birds, lots of jumping fish, and a spider that was so big I'm still trying to forget about it. We didn't see any gators though—the word on the street was it was too hot for them!

Then we headed to the beach to watch the sunset. As most islands do, Sanibel has a ton of pretty beaches. We picked one with a good view of the sunset this time of year!

It did not disappoint!

Overall, it was a very nice trip! Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. R for hosting us :)

Also, if you're looking for a delicious restaurant on the island, we enjoyed Traders.

I'm off to Pittsburgh for the long weekend to hang out with my family, so I won't be posting until next week. Happy Fourth to everyone! (And happy birthday to my middle sister, Grace! I will never forget the night you were born and I laid in the front yard, watching fireworks, waiting for my little sister to come home!)