Schnapper's Hots on Sanibel Island

When we go to Sanibel Island, the very first thing we do when we get there is stop at Schnapper's Hots to get something to eat.  It's our annual tradition.

I love the beachy vibe of the hot pink and canary yellow building.  As soon as we pull into the parking lot we scan the front windows and say a quick prayer that the line isn't going to be out the door.  I cannot wait to shove some of their French fries into my mouth!

You walk up to the cashier and place your order.  I never have to look at the menu because I always get the exact same thing - the buffalo chicken wings.  Chablis always gets a hot dog and we split an order of French fries.  They have the best fries on the planet!

While you're waiting for your order, it's fun to walk around the interior of the building and read all the signs and look at the posters....

 

Have a comment?  Fill out a post card and stick it on the wall....

 

5 minutes or so later and our order is ready.  Sorry that the photo quality here isn't too great.  I was too worried about eating and not paying attention to the lighting.....

The restaurant is small and there is no inside seating, just 2 long counters for standing room only - which is fun and adds to the ambiance.  They have huge rolls of paper towels on the counters to use instead of napkins and believe me, I needed them for my chicken wings.  However, there are picnic tables scattered outside if you prefer sitting down.

Schnapper's Hots is an award winning restaurant and has been a Sanibel Island fixture since 1998.

 

 

The next time you're on Sanibel Island, be sure to stop by and give them a try.  You can check out their menu and catch their hours here.  Also be sure to visit their FB page.

How to Geo-Fish with a Stick

 

Recently we were out geocaching and we came across a cache hidden high up on this pole.  It was way too high up for us to reach with my metal grabber.  It was even too high to reach if we pulled the car up next to the pole and stood on top of the car like we've been known to do from time to time.  What to do??  Can you see it?

 





Dad tried reaching it with my hiking pole, but even he couldn't stretch far enough...

We kept trying different things until finally Louie stuck a long tree branch into the sharp end of the hiking pole.

Unfortunately, the branch was a little limp....

 

 

But teamwork and persistence paid off....

And the cache was soon in hand!

We signed our names....

And threw that sucker back up where we found it for the next guy!

High fives and a job well done!  We also grabbed a few other nice geocaches that day.  We had a good laugh at this one.  Mom was searching all over for the cache and it was right over her head!

Dad did a little tree climbing...

Mom found a cache hidden on this cannon....

I loved this cache container.  When we opened it up....

... a snake jumped out at us!

This cache was in a cemetery and we enjoyed looking at the old headstones afterwards....

This one was a quick grab....

We found a Veterans Memorial out in the middle of nowhere...

This is a propane tank painted to look like a Chicago Style Hot Dog with all the trimmings.  We do find the strangest things when we geocache sometimes....

By then we were ready for lunch so we stopped at Hagen's Fish Market in Chicago.  I've been eating there since I was a kid and they have the best fried shrimp around.

Any day with geocaching, family and fried shrimp is a good day!

Multi Use Picnic Basket

A couple of weeks ago I won a picnic basket in a give-away over at Appalachia and Beyond.  Tim and Robin wasted no time packing this beauty up and mailing it out to me in time to use on our trip to Kentucky Lake. 

As promised, one of the first things we did was head over to our favorite picnic beach, Cousin Hill.  Chablis got busy setting out our picnic supplies and posing for pictures.  We spent a little mother/daughter bonding time while sitting and enjoying the beautiful view.

The basket is made of lightweight aluminum and easy to clean canvas.  It was crammed full of durable picnic supplies like multi colored plates and matching cups, silverware, that adorable checked tablecloth, a frisbee, napkins and 4 extension marshmallow sticks.  Robin even tucked in a jar of her special homemade jelly.  I'd show you a picture of the jelly but I already ate the whole thing!!

One evening we filled the basket with all the goodies needed to make S'mores over a campfire.

Every time we went out on the boat we grabbed the basket and filled it with drinks and snacks.  It fit perfectly underneath the pontoon dashboard.

The zipper top made for easy access.

Another evening we loaded it up with hot dogs and polish sausage, buns and all the fixings and had some friends over for a weenie roast after dark.

The basket also doubled as a handy carry all for my Tervis mug, my camera bag and my wallet.

We even toted it down to the dock when we were sun bathing or kayaking and it easily carried all our drinks and sun tan lotions.

I've never owned a picnic basket, so we had a lot of fun stuffing this one with different things.  We used it every single day of our trip.  There is just something about a picnic basket that screams "old fashioned fun!"   You might want to think about picking one up the next time you see one.  I guarantee you will enjoy it.  You might even find yourself looking for new opportunities to get out just so you can use it.

Thanks again to the folks at Appalachia and Beyond for sending me this great gift.  We really enjoyed it!