Month: February 2019

We recently received yet another wonderful gift from longtime guest Parker B. from Rock Island, IL.

He and his wife, Debbie, spend two weeks with us each February, during which time we get to enjoy seeing Parker’s creative juices flowing!

You may recall that we shared the beautiful pen-and-ink drawing of the Sanibel Lighthouse he gave us last year.  We were thrilled to receive this gorgeous piece of artwork from Parker this year,  » Read more

Did you know that the Florida Bobcat is able to take down prey animals eight times its own weight and also leap a distance of ten feet?

Those are just two of the reasons that we enthusiastically agreed with guest Jim G. from Edelstein, IL when he mentioned that he didn’t want to get “too close” when capturing this somewhat rare sighting of a bobcat here at Ocean’s Reach a few weeks ago.  » Read more

Photo from RiverStyleMag.com

Each year, the Southwest Florida Reading Festival gets better and better, and this year promises to be the best one yet!  After all, the free family-friendly event is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year on Saturday, March 2, in downtown Fort Myers.

Regarded as the largest one-day reading festival in Florida, the event will feature a lineup of nationally acclaimed adult,  » Read more

Longtime Ocean’s Reach guest Harold B. from Hartford, IL shared this photo he captured of a glorious Wood Stork on a recent outing to nearby Apple Pond Trail.

FUN FACT:  According to National Geographic, the Wood Stork has a rare, but effective, fishing technique. The stork opens its bill and sticks it into the water, then waits for the touch of an unfortunate fish that wanders too close.  » Read more

Our new Butterfly Nursery has been a point of great interest to our guests and staff alike. Since it was built in October, we have raised and released well over 100 monarch butterflies to roam our beautiful grounds.

The brilliantly-colored monarch butterfly is among the most easily recognizable of the butterfly species that call North America home.

Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed,  » Read more

Our good friends Ed M. and Joyce W. from Ithaca, NY are “wintering” once again with us this year, and we couldn’t be more delighted.

Ed sent along this photo that Joyce took shortly after a recent storm came through.  He named their photo “If you think I’m going out in that, think again!”  » Read more

Photo by MarineGEO

We recently ran across this fascinating article on mangroves, courtesy of the folks at Smithsonian’s Marine Global Earth Observatory.

Mangrove forests are considered one of the most important, and complex, ecosystems on the planet, found in subtropical and tropical coastlines of nearly 120 countries.

The article explains how they exist in a delicate balance with neighboring coastal systems,  » Read more

The International Hobie Class Association (IHCA) has announced that the 22nd Hobie 16 World Championships are coming to Captiva Island from November 1 – 16, 2019.

The IHCA is proud to return the event to the USA, after 35 years of events being held in other beautiful locations worldwide. Sailors from across the globe will be competing in three world championship disciplines: Women’s, Youth and Open and three additional disciplines;  » Read more

We are all tickled pink — no-one more so than Lisa — when our furry friend Darby comes to visit with “Mom” Marcia, one of our favorite Ocean’s Reach owners.

Darby and Marcia live up in Saratoga Springs, NY.  It’s become a tradition that when they’re ready to head down to Florida, Lisa will fly up to NY and then drive Darby down to Sanibel Island in Marcia’s car.  » Read more

Once you have tasted the taste of sky, 

you will forever look up.

— Leonardo Da Vinci

Should you have any photos you’d like to share, please email them to [email protected].

Today’s Guest Photographer:  Kathy Lynn  » Read more