Lazy Iguana's Excellent Adventure To Cabbage Key

Like the sign says, welcome to Cabbage Key! Cabbage Key is a pretty cool place. It is privatly owned, but open to the public. There are no cars, paved roads, or bridges. To get there, you have to swim or use a boat. Here is a marine chart showing the location of the island. The whole island is about 100 acres. Do not forget to TIP THE DOCKMASTER! I did not tip the guy, because I did not use the main docks. I cheaped out :)

The island is more of a place of business than it is a home. The owners DO live on the island however. Hell, if I owned the place you can bet all you own that I would live there! The owners have a hell of a nice pad. I think this is the island owner's provate residence. It might also be the Inn.

I mentioned rental cottages! Here is what the cottages look like. Rates for a 2 room cottage without a kitchen is a scant $145 per night. Dockage for your boat is a mere $1 per foot per night. If you do not have a boat NO PROBLEM! Tour boats go there daily. By the way, rooms at the Inn are only $99 per night. Anyway, for my money I would nab a cottage.

There is also a resturant on the island. I ate lunch there. The resturant is built on top of an indian shell mound, so it is 40 some odd feet above sea level. Here is what the resturant looks like.

There is one unique thing about this resturant. Years ago, when most of the visitors to the key were commercial fishermen, a tradition was started. When the fishermen had a good day, they would leave a buck at the bar. When they had a crappy day, they could use their dollar to pay for the soup. Of course, when the place became popular with the boating public this is what happened.

People have left thousands of dollars. The walls are covered in bills from the roof to the floor. Every post is covered. So is the roof. The dollars are everywhere. It is like a stripper's fantasy.

People write messages on the money before they stick it up somewhere.

There is also a water tower on the island that is open to the public. You have to climb 40 steps, and this is what you see.

Cabbage Key also has wildlife up the wazoo. I found this fellow roaming about minding his own business.

This is a Florida Gopher Tortise. You do not see these things just anywhere. They are protected or something. Somehow, this non swimming reptile managed to get on an island. There are also playful otters that live on the island, but I did not see any. They only show up when a fishing boat shows up. The otters are fearless and WILL raid your boat. If they find your catch, it is gone. It is funny as hell to watch an otter steal someone's catch. They eat the fish, and leave the boat owner with a mess to deal with. Fish guts are everywhere. They also eat any bait you have left.

Tomorrow I will give the boat a rest, and take you all on a driving tour of Sanibel.