Some of the best vacations, in my opinion, start with a drive across a sweeping causeway to a sandy stretch of beach resort. My trip to Sanibel Island this past June was no exception. As I negotiated the Sanibel Causeway over San Carlos Bay (note the $6 toll), the southern Gulf of Mexico unfolded in front of me, sparkling in that startlingly bright Florida sunshine. I glimpsed slices of white-sand beach (no globs of oil here, thankfully) and inched my speed up just a bit, anxious to get settled on the sand with a good book.

Sanibel is the farthest south of a string of barrier islands sitting west of Ft. Myers Beach, between Pine Island Sound and the Gulf of Mexico. It's also the largest (12 miles long), busiest, and most commercial, with loads of restaurants, shops, hotels, condominium complexes, even a few churches. Directly north of Sanibel and connected by a short bridge is petite Captiva Island, only four miles long and worlds away in atmosphere and exclusiveness. Many of the homes here are impressive estates, buffered from the main road by lush vegetation and long, winding driveways.

September 2010