Well… as Hurricane “Irene”  makes her way up the East Coast, we are quickly reminded that it’s THAT time of year again… Hurricane Season in Florida!

Forgive me if I can’t get the images of being smacked by Hurricane Charley in 2004 out of my  head… but that’s just something you never forget.

Even though we Floridians know full well that it’s pretty unlikely for hurricanes to strike the same area twice in consecutive years, we continue to be ultra-prepared nevertheless.

From a historical perspective, “what comes around goes around”, so they say… pun fully intended.  So, I thought I’d share a few historical graphics (below) depicting exactly where hurricanes in Florida have fallen over the many years, just to make us feel super blessed when it comes to not typically being hit head on.

We need to count our blessings and hope that this year leaves us unscathed and smiling!

Have a great week,

Rob and Sandy

p.s. There are some great homes on the market, are you looking? Know anyone?  Send ‘em our way  SanCap One Source Realty

Well, you’ve probably been seeing all the roadwork being done around the island, but I wasn’t sure if you’d heard all the details.

The City of Sanibel is widening the bike paths along Causeway Road, Dunlop Road and Pine Ave. from 6ft across to 8 ft across, and Periwinkle Way will be widened to 10 ft across due to its increased traffic.  Everything is expected to be finished by October as we gear up for a (hopefully) very busy tourist season.

Rob and I are thrilled with this city project because most people know that we frequent these trails quite often and simply love criss-crossing the island!

You can hear more about it in the video below, but also feel free to click the link just above the image and it will bring you over to the Interactive Bike Trail System Map so that you can plot your “plan of attack”…

Video Courtesy of www.WinkNews.com

Just click this link to play with the interactive map…  http://www.sanibeltrails.com/sanibel-bike-paths.aspx 

That’s it for this week, have a great one!

Sandy and Rob

p.s. SanCap One Source Realty… hmmmm

There’s been a lot of buzz for awhile now promoting sustainable “green” living on Sanibel and Captiva, but no action was really being taken.

Well, it seems that two groups, Benchmark General Contractors and the University of Florida’s School of Architecture, have decided to make this buzz a reality by creating the first sustainable community for coastal living on Sanibel and Captiva Islands.

This 10-acre community of 12 eco-friendly homes, of up to 3,200 sq ft. each, will be known as the “Sea Glass of Sanibel” and will be located just off Periwinkle Way.  You can expect that these homes will have as many of the high-tech amenities that go with green living as possible.

Sea Glass of Sanibel broke ground on January 11 of this year (1-11-2011 at 11:11am) and is scheduled to be completed in early 2012.

You can read a LOT more about it at Sea Glass of Sanibel and they even have a Facebook page where you can follow their progress.

This is a great project for Sanibel and Rob and I are really looking forward to seeing it come to fruition!

That’s it for this week, have a great one,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. SanCap One Source Realty Rocks! Check us out!

This weekend our brave firefighters of the Sanibel Fire Rescue District (SFRD) will bare their chests and show off their physiques while posing for the 2012 Sanibel Fire Rescue Calendar to benefit two local charities.  This year’s chosen charities are Caleb’s Crusade and F.I.S.H.

This is the second annual calendar after the 2010 calendar raised more than $8,000 for the two local charities chosen. The idea came from firefighter/EMT, John DeMaria, as a way to give back, have fun and get into even better shape!

The calendars will begin going on sale at Baileyfest in October when the models themselves will be on hand to personally autograph “their month”… it should be a lot of fun!  We can’t wait to see them!

You can find out more information here:   2012 Sanibel Fire Rescue Calendar

Hope you have a great week!

Sandy and Rob

p.s. It’s a great time of year to relocate to Sanibel. Know anybody? Send ‘em here:  SanCap One Source Realty

Ok, this post is for all you fishermen (and women) out there…

Due to a colliding of the July new moon and strange counter-clockwise winds out of the south and east (versus the normal clockwise winds out of the south and west), the next seven days should make for phenomenal fishing.  Only overcast skies could dampen the feeding frenzy that the fish will partake in this entire week.

The best hours to fish will be from 7:30-10:30am and again from 7-10pm with the evening peak being between 8 and 9pm. The sunnier the day, the more the fish will be active.  The worst time to fish is said to be from 2-7pm UNLESS the morning is overcast and the afternoon is sunny, causing the fish to shift their feeding feast into the sunnier hours of the afternoon.

So, what are you waiting for?  Grab your rod, call your buddies or notify your spouse and make plans now because once this new moon passes you’ll have to wait until next year before this phenomenon comes back around!

You can check out even more details here:  New Moon Weather Improves Fishing

Enjoy yourselves and have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Beach Homes for Sale… Just sayin’…

This is so cool!

The next time you head out to J.N. Ding Darling’s NWR be sure to check out the newest (and coolest) feature on display… the new funky QR Codes on the trail signs all the way down Wildlife Road.

Here’s a quick video to explain it:

So what is a QR Code exactly?

According to www.Qurify.com (pronounced Q R ify .com)…  ”QR Codes are 2 dimensional barcodes that are easily scanned using any modern mobile phone. This code will then be converted (called “dequrified”) into a piece of (interactive) text and/or link…”

Hmmm… So why would we need these things?  Well, scan the code below and see why…

Pretty darn cool!!

Have a great weekend!

Sandy and Rob

As I am always looking for new ways to increase tourism to our lovely islands, when I came across this book, Sanibel Captiva Handbook (updated annually and surprisingly current and funny)  one day on someone’s desk, I immediately thought what a great gift it would be if we all would send a copy to our friends and family members across the country as a birthday or Christmas gift in hopes of enticing them to come on down for a visit!

Whataya think?

It’s cheap enough and light enough as a paperback to send by mail, so I think it’s a great way to advertise Sanibel and Captiva in a really fun way…

If you’re reading our blog and you actually live outside of Sanibel and Captiva, then heck, don’t wait for one of us to send this to you, head over to Amazon and order it for yourself… You will be on a plane down here before you know it and we will all be waiting here with open arms to greet you when you arrive!

Times are tough, we all know that, but why not spread some cheer by letting people know what an affordable, great vacation spot we are for tourists to come down and have a real vacation… stress-free and full of sun and fun!

Let me know your thoughts on any other ideas you can think of that are cheap, easy ways to bring more tourists to our beautiful shores… I’m all ears!

Have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. We also hope when they come that they will want to stay and, therefore, buy a house from us at SanCap One Source Realty… of course!

Well, homes sales in Florida are on the move, which is good news… but, ironically, the buyers that we are seeing are more foreign than domestic.

Which makes sense, I guess, beings that many foreign tourists that come to vacation in our beautiful state nearly always leave saying that they “would love to own a second home here”.  With prices down about 30%, they are now saying “Why not? Now is the time to buy”.

With Sanibel and Captiva being a little off the beaten path, we don’t see AS many foreigners as, say, Miami, Cape Coral or Naples might, but they do make their way over here every now and then and they definitely like what they see.

This article, “Foreign Buyers Lifting U.S. Home Sales”, references a few more statistics for you regarding this information and I’ve also pasted the chart in that article below for a quick glance and just where these buyers are buying within Florida and all of the United States.

Have a great week ahead,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. SanCap One Source Realty is located on 695 Tarpon Bay Road, Suite 14 – Come see us!

Image Credit to USA Today - Data from Trulia.com

Photo credit: Greenpeace

Hey all,

As we celebrate our country’s independence over this long weekend, I thought it would be very “patriotic” to think back to one year ago when we were very much hoping and praying that 2 months after the largest oil spill in U.S. history, we would not see any sign of oil washing up on our beaches… and thankfully, we were spared!

However, that does not mean that we should just forget what has happened and go on our merry ways!

On the one year anniversary (April 20th), British Petroleum (BP) had the nerve to to file a $100+ BILLION lawsuit against the owners of the Deep Water Oil Rig and the makers of the device that caused the explosion… all the while continuing on doing what they’ve always been doing (business as usual, as if nothing has happened) without missing a beat with regards to the continuation of offshore drilling and the great potential, once again, to affect our natural environment and every day livelihood!

I’ve included screenshots below of some very startling statistics of the past year regarding this issue… You can also find the entire article by clicking here

Any thoughts?  Just post them below…

Have a great week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Sanibel Beach Real Estate

Statistics credited to http://www.good.is

Statistics credited to http://www.good.is

Oh, how we love the Fourth of July on Sanibel and Captiva!

So, I sure hope that your plans are in place to be down on Periwinkle Way at 9:30am Monday morning for our Annual July 4th Parade and Road Rally…

It is always such a fun day and is then topped off by the spectacular fireworks on Causeway Road from 6pm (dusk) to roughly 9pm…

If you have not experienced July 4th on Sanibel Island, then you have truly been missing out and this year is YOUR year to get in on all the action!

Rob and I can’t wait to see you all down there… Sooo much fun to be had!

Have a very happy and very safe Fourth!

Until next week,

Sandy and Rob

p.s. Sanibel Beach Homes – Take Your Pick!