A Cheeseburger and Paradise – On the Road with Don and Paula

Here?

“Yup!”

You mean, right here?

“Yes sir!”

This actual spot?

(Sigh)

“Yes Don, right. here. in. that. bar.”

Well, it was Paradise, and the Cheeseburger was really good.

What makes it even better was the fact that back in the day, Jimmy Buffett was a frequent visitor to this Island. So, it was easy to see that this was the spot that inspired that song.

We’re sitting on the patio of the Cabbage Key’s only business, the Island Inn Bar and Restaurant. This place screams that island lifestyle that Mr. Buffett was so enamored with. Yes, you can come here, but only by boat. Yes, you can stay here, but only in one of the Cottages that are for rent.

Yes……. you can do anything that you would do at any other resort!

Can I swim in the pool?

Nope, don’t have one.

Can I play tennis or pickleball?

Nope. No courts.

Can I get a massage?

Sorry, nope to that too. No spa.

How about at least a nightclub? Is there one of those?

That’s a big negatory there good buddy.

Sheesh! So, what is there to do around here?

You can relax. You can let yourself succumb to that Island existence that Jimmy sang so longingly about. You can let this island transport you back to the mid 1940’s when this place was built, and savor that “Old Florida” lifestyle. It creeps up on you unsuspectingly and when it grabs you, you’re a goner. You’ve been infected and the only remedy is to come back for more.

Our table of choice, part sun, part shade! (It was too windy to put the umbrellas up!)

As you may have surmised by now, we are in southern Florida, Fort Myers to be exact, where Sherry and Harold live. We met them on the World Cruise and have been close ever since. In fact, on this day last year we were in Barcelona having Paella and Sangria on the La Rambla with them. This year they surprised us with this day trip and now we’re having cheeseburgers, grilled Mahi sandwiches, and libations such as the “Cabbage Creeper” and Golden Margaritas on Cabbage Key!

Why Cabbage Key?

It’s because of all of the Cabbage Palm Trees that cover the island. The place has been around since the last ice age when a bunch of sand was pushed and deposited here. It’s been inhabited more or less for the last two thousand years, mostly less. That is until the early 1900’s when a series of owners decided that their vision of paradise was this somewhat small (100 acres) island off the southern coast of Florida. Its most famous neighbor is Sanibel Island, which is about an hour’s boat ride south of it. Remember, everything is by boat. There are no cars here. Hey, I didn’t even see a golf cart! That means that everything (food, beverages, sheets, paper towels, merch for the store, etc.) needs to come and go (garbage!) by boat. Some of the employees live on the Island and the rest commute…. by boat.

We arrived in our own chartered boat just in time for the restaurant to open at 11:30. Captain Steve said that if we didn’t get there before the Island Girl ferry deposited it’s complement of day visitors we’d be on the end of a long line of eager, hungry patrons. So, after a glorious boat ride out through Pine Island Sound, we were the first customers of the day. As quaint and original as the inside of this establishment is, there was no way to waste the weather that we were experiencing by sitting inside. The patio and its views of the bay and surrounding islands were the only way to go!

A view of the dining room inside. Note all of the “dollar bills” hanging from the ceiling and walls. Hence the name of the bar in another room, *Dollar Bill’s.* They (the dollars) eventually get removed and donated.

The water tower, built in the 1940’s still in use today and has withstood many a pounding of hurricanes including a direct hit from *Ian,* several years ago.

On our way back to the mainland Captain Steve brought us up to an area where manatees frequent, but due to an unusually low “low tide”, we couldn’t get in there. But miraculously several dolphins appeared and put on a show for us! If it had been planned, it could not have been any better!

Earlier, whilst still on the patio, our food arrived quite expeditiously as ours was the first order into the kitchen. Everyone enjoyed what they had ordered (Rueben and Mahi) but I could not imagine having any other item at a place that inspired such an iconic phrase, experience, and song as Cheeseburger in Paradise.

And when the gentleman who had the guitar around his neck, clicked on his amp, and opened with Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, I knew that I had made the right decision.