Ocean Reach Condominiums is a resort tucked away in secluded stretch of the Gulf coast of Iceland on Sanibel. For over three decades, visitors were enjoying the ocean range of the Gulf of Mexico from their balconies overlooking the sea, wading in a pool with an unobstructed view of Sanibel Island, and at the foot of the fabled "nineteen steps" it takes for the beach shell strewn reach. And now, thanks to a eco-conscious and diligent Ocean Key Resort, can doorganic whole with a clear conscience. Reach ocean is the first property on the Green Lodging designation of the islands of Sanibel and Captiva to reach.
Regardless of where you make the last leg of a trip to Sanibel Causeway REACH Ocean begins. After several years of noise and dirt of major construction projects, more a tribute to the new construction in three parts and the dam-bridge to Sanibel was finally completed in the summer of 2007.
My wife and I drive past the toll boothand begin the steep ascent of the new high-span. The original was a drawbridge, and the elegant, the beauty is now in strong force. The tallest bridge in Lee County. Anticipation builds, and in my opinion is not free, when I go to his peak, concrete face. My temporary blindness is rewarded when I reach the top and shows a tropical fantasy with all the pomp and grandeur of nature can muster. Here is a magical place. Here is where the smooth curveSanibel stretches into the distance. That's where the melt water from the Caloosahatchee River and Pine Iceland sound with the salty waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This is where he kisses full light on the key tops of the trees Fisherman Picnic in Florida and Iceland. Here is where the iron skeleton of the Sanibel Light Iceland is the first view. This is where surfers brave the waves, aimless pleasure boats, and fishing bait the hooks. Once I reached the summit of that first bridge, Ilet the whole world behind and immerse myself in the paradise that is Sanibel Island.
The grace of the landscape through improved artificial islands causeway. Palm trees shade intermittent. A mobile home is parked on the coast with his tent fully extended. Two tourists dozing in deck. A blue heron stands guard nearby.
A brown pelican races our car on the final field, then bank on the right side and dive into a dive sloppywater below.
It was not long before I are in the Periwinkle. The Australian pine canopy is gone, ripped from Hurricane Charley. Nature always a tabula rasa, given time. We are in the right direction, sometimes nudging sometimes punching. The voice of nature is always there, it's all we have to do to hear it.
Sanibel is a good job listening on Periwinkle Road. The IAS have been replaced with native species of vegetation due Periwinkle CorridorRestoration project. More than 3000 native trees have been planted with native under-story. Bald cypress. Sabal Palm. Gumbo Limbo. Live Oak. Green Buttonwood. Strangler Fig Seagrape. All drought-resistant. All they need fertilizer. All for robust enough against hurricanes. Native plants are good for storage. Native plants are good for the environment. Nature loves native plants.
A few laps later and the traffic is far behind me. Ia final round quiet Camino Del Mar. At the end of the road is a row of four interconnected buildings, like a fortress on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico ... Ocean Reach.
Pulling my car in the covered parking near the shuffleboard court and the "best tennis on hard courts court Sanibel Island." I go to a barbecue and landscaped picnic grove on the way to the check-in
Headquartered control fermentation with energy and enthusiasm, as members of the staffChecklists of accommodation and green indicates the last minute preparations for the Green Lodging On-Site Assessment.
I wonder REACH Responsible ocean, Andy Boyle, who is the Green Lodging designation.
"We started the formal process for six months to submit the documents and a request to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to be admitted. Next, we will become a self-assessment to see where we are in their relationship had beenRequirements. We had a program for the use of certified green cleaning products, recycled paper products and environmentally friendly office supplies Institute. We had to change all the energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps. We reduce our waste pickup and increase our recycling pickup. We have developed a program for our guests on what we are trying to do to educate through written communications, e-mail and on our website. We had our flower beds and ornamental areas to Xeriscape water supplyConservation. We have Energy Star appliances and low flow showers and toilets. We had all staff on green practices to preserve and educate them informed at regular intervals. We had to work with our suppliers and ask for their help. Everything must be documented. There are a lot of work but the end result is worth it. We want to reach the ocean eco-friendly accommodation can target people feel good to stay at. "
Construction began in 1973 in Ocean Reach, a yearSanibel is a city in Iceland, in an attempt to defend itself against the development involved. The developer and builder was Robert Hollopeter of Lima, Ohio. Sanibel Sanibel was not then as now. Modern facilities and luxury were the norm. Most units have been sold without rinsing or telephone lines. Party lines were all that were in those days. Reminiscent of the early inhabitants of the sea range of a cell phone hanging from a shed between two buildings, where eachwould be in line to make calls. Remember, beach erosion so significant that a member of the City Council recommended range of motion of the ocean-front golf course behind the pool house so it would not be destroyed by a hurricane.
The pool did not move. The beach is now three times as large as it was then. I think the prediction of nature is always an imperfect science.
Many things changed over the years. But the changes still resonates in the range Ocean came as a resultextreme weather events. In August and September 2004, Hurricanes Charley and Frances 1-2 punch in the complex problems to reach Ocean. The damage was so severe that the water required for every 64 housing units at Ocean Reach to be stripped and gutted. Appliances, furniture, cabinets, drywall, and all have been demolished and removed. What remained was the concrete-block walls. The restoration has 16 months. It was almost a complete rebuild of the property.
Althoughemotional and financial cost of the hurricanes were loving owners range ocean, many of which the credit terrible storms breathe a new life, that the aging of a destination. All the interiors have been renovated as new. The residential units have been modernized and refurbished. New appliances, new furniture and new paint are all surrounded by the same charm of Sanibel.
For Dru Anne Doyle, a member of the board at Ocean Reach, the damageHurricane Charley was a turning point.
"Although major reconstruction of Hurricane Charley was 16 months completed, somehow, that was only the beginning, and the momentum continued to push us even today. We must continue to develop a better experience for our owners and guests. We 're still our ecological footprint and the impact of our resort is to reduce the local environment. The catastrophe wrought by Hurricane Charley, you could actually make a series ofimportant decisions, decisions that our path towards the successful restructuring of our choices that make us an example of Ocean Reach bright green, allowing the possible future of ecotourism Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Here at Ocean Reach, we strive to help people create lasting memories for hospitality for our guests and we are also proud, conscientious stewards of natural resources and beauty of our building to be around. "
NatureItem is new. Reach the ocean has done a good job listening.
The condo I can control a far cry from the ill-equipped unit yesterday. The first impression on entering the unit is new. Devices of sparkling wine. A fully equipped kitchen. A laundry room with full size washer and dryer. Clean paint on the walls. Carpet Fresh. Wireless high-speed Internet. A stereo CD player. Flat-screen TVs with DVD players in every room. I neverhave guessed this place was built more than thirty years ago. There is a phone, but those who need it. Imagine what all the guests wait in lines on the pay phone would be wet legendary for the mobile world we live in today, they gave. Then again, can not as often mentioned, but I bet that the calls were always interesting. Technology is often a trade-off.
The king size bed in the bedroom is comfortable and has a world class view. Another sliding glass door opens tothe Veranda.
The feature that we love the most is the veranda overlooking the coast of Sanibel. The sliding glass doors to transmit images of beach-utopia in HD reality. To Suncapped shine. Children in the upper legs sprinting the water run low. Sailboats glide on the horizon, the use of clean energy. A slow parade of beach-walkers follow the path of land meeting water. In the distance, storm clouds are dark, the shadow of massivethe surface of the sea, spectral leviathans swimming in bright, tropical waters. A vision like this can cost more than the monthly cable bill, but it is infinitely more interesting to watch.
The wife and I dressed as a bathroom, take the strong-colored body boards from our apartment, and run towards the beach. Minutes later we were drinking and splashing in the salty surf, as children were more often than we'd like, but they are not. The sea temperature is in the low eighties. The airThe temperature is low in the nineties. An osprey makes his reverence kept dive in deeper water and comes with a fish wriggling in its talons. He turns the fish until it is parallel to his body, to reduce aerodynamic drag, and then flapped his wings and heads for the nest.
Shortly after, we cook a quick lunch at home and relax on the terrace, as insinuated in the afternoon to evening. One after another, the tribes dismantle their umbrellas and beach residentsChairs leave their camp, and from the island welcoming dinner. Once the beach was cleared of the rest put on sunscreen and water, we take our shoes and head out.
The sun hangs low in the sky, the beach as thief, kitefliers, romantic sunset and observers to report for duty, under the omnipresent shell collectors and fishermen. Couples and friends sit in chairs, drinking beer and glasses of wine while facing one of the natural phenomena. The sun falls into aDirection. The moon rises in the other solstice. Among them is the ebb and flow of a full moon tide.
We walk along the coast felt the foam of the waves breaking and hissing sound as the pound against the shore. The remains of the day's activities near the beach. Sand castles. Algae mosaics. Holes dug in the sand. Derived subconscious Art, architecture from the fertile imagination of children and guided by their instincts. Fingerprints. Umbrella hole. Stray and bathSwimming goggles. News and writes love letters in the sand. All change with the angle of the sun, all that the long shadow of gloomy grandeur.
The messages engraved on the beach starting to play enough. They say "Gulf of Mexico." Another says: "Live Clam Farm -. 49 cents each" has some arrows in the direction of a bed of pastel coquina clams. Like any progressive wave says, shake it, and dig in the sand for protection.
The further we go,more graffiti sand begins to personal meaning. It reads, "Happy to be here !!!". The strongest message written in the sand, says: "STOP." For some reason, fluctuations in costs that a word in my literature. I follow the instructions given to me on the beach and stop for a few minutes. I think back and think what is important in my life. This, ever fleeting, we are always in and take the time so rare,appreciate. I call my wife with me STOP. We embrace, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. We take it all in white noise Listen to the song of the sea. The smell of the salty, damp sand. Seeing the light of the sun and moon affect the water simultaneously. And the feeling of touching the sea and the other. Completely in the moment and timeless.
The clouds on the horizon seem to be a series of snow-capped mountains, obstinate in the summer heat.The skyscrapers of Bonita Springs and Naples reflected along the vanishing point of the 'horizon like a mirage of heat. To provide the young travelers of Facebook photos and the camera flash on the mirror the rhythm of the beach head sporadic flashes of heat. A thin layer of water at low tide, the sand reflects the last traces of bleeding red light, which make the landscape and the sky.
In the end, especially in light of nesting sea turtles and the extinctFuture of their species. What remains is the path of the moon on the waves, with the signs of nature to cause the young turtle returns home ocean.
The only people still on the beach are the burning shell collectors with flashlights and a couple of men fishing in the dark, the provision of Sanibel allows them to relax fully embrace their passions and fanaticism. I meditate on their happiness, as I drift off to sleep.
The menacing roar of thunder wakes me up in the morningthe next morning. The first rain arrived just in time for me to take the sun from the sea.
On the way to the coast, I get distracted for a quick dip in the gulf front pool. There is no one nearby. The warm air, fog before sunrise, and the mix of whispy clouds looming general and provide a quality experience for the whole dream. Everything is from a thin layer of moisture that sparkle and shine when the first rays of sun breaking behind the coversClouds.
Jumping out of the pool and seeing off at a deserted beach, which has the storm and the flood in a Snowy Egret full moon brought basks in the rising sun. A white ibis pushes its beak curved orange in the wet sand to dig for shellfish.
On my short walk, they can, lightning whelks different basins fighting a Florida couple, a cone alphabet, and a handful of the most common, but still aesthetically collect scallops. I also think one of the largest intact sandDollars I've ever seen, but it is still alive, so I throw it back.
Few have the day before the castles made of sand all night, and it seems bruises and wounds. The holes were filled. Mussels and seaweed scattered. All deleted messages from the sand. The mood of the sea has deleted the tabula rasa, as it does again and again.
As I am the way back home, are the first birds on the beach, especially joggers, SanibelStoop, and fishermen. It 'nice to have company, but I appreciate the time I have shared only with the beach that morning.
Coming after dawn I thrill my wife at home, and we decide to do nothing for a lazy morning. Outside the sliding glass doors, look at the families bring their umbrellas, chairs, coolers and toys back on the edge of the ocean. White mothers Patient smear sunscreen on the shoulders of children afraid to run on the beach open itching and dryerSalty sea spray. Not far from the shore, a pod of dolphins contact surface, their dorsal fins of the sun and the world. Nobody even noticed at the beach.
Flipping through the channels looking for a news broadcast, I am a Travel Channel show called "best beaches in Florida." I happen to get on the channel, as are the introduction of number nine, Sanibel Island. My wife and I see each other in shock. What are the chances? I look at the screen. I look out theWindow to see. I look back on the screen. I look out the window. I turn on the TV, and take off my shoes to go out again.
I'm not interested in speed, what number, Sanibel Island ... I'm just happy to be here now.
The hotel industry is one of the largest business areas of Florida. In 2005, according to research by VISIT FLORIDA ®, 83.6 million people visited Florida with about 50 percent of staying in a motel or bed & breakfast hotels.With this many visitors, the hotel industry a significant and positive impact on natural resources in Florida. It can do its part to stay in a designated Green Lodging property for your next vacation. If your favorite song creation is not a designated Green Lodging destination, ask them why not.
