Thank you for a very helpful report.
My family enjoyed 4 of July week, this year actually from July 4 to July 11 and enjoyed it very much, meeting old friends and so on.
Your eating and dining report would have been very helpful to us, as we had some rainy days to cope with also with grand children on board.
I am going to ad a page for just those items to this web site, for owners to give some references for
places to visit, as I find those comments very helpful.

Our visit to Timbers, which I have always gone to, mostly when they were on Rabbit Road, now on Tarpon Bay Rd, was so different. My wife had pork, which she just could not eat, and I had grouper so over fried and dry that I drowned it in tarter sauce to eat.
What has happened there? New ownership?

Owners and guests:
Please suggest a name for this new wine, dine, and play web page, and the webmaster will ad it to our web site.
Perhaps also get an "owners only" page started for more privacy, with a code for owners only.
Thanks
Carl Appelberg

Carl, I think you've come up with a great name already for this new page to our owners' website:

The Islands' Wine, Dine, and Play

This would really be a great website and source of information for the owners - although I'm sure we'll all have our opinions and tastes will be different.

I failed to mention how disappointed I was with McT's. The only good thing about our dining experience there was the $24.95 all you can eat crab legs and the bread was homemade and warm too (also good), but the rest of the menu was very poor.

To end on a good note, our number one favorite restaurant is Traders! The bread, by the way, is from France.

We eat out nearly every evening on Sanibel and feel that the Islands are blessed with many excellent restaurants. Our favorites are Timbers, Thistle Lodge for the Gulf view, Gramma Dots for their coconut shrimp, Jacaranda and Lazy Flamingo for the outside dining and for a really special (and a bit more expensive dinner) Mad Hatter, the only Sanibel restaurant with gulf-sunset views. We like Mucky Duck for lunch. Used to love Timmy's nook, but alas Timmy died and it is gone, replaced by Green Flash.

After Easter, the Sanibel-Captive Kiwanis Club sells "Diner's Delight" books, which get you a free entree with the purchase of another entree of equal or grater value at participating restaurants. The 2008 book had 16 coupons. I purchase mine at the Big Red Q printshop across the street from the Dairy Queen. The owner of the print shop died recently and we may have to look elsewhere for them next year.

If you like entertainment with your meals, the Island Reporter newpaper publishes a weekly list of the restaurants and their entertainers.