SANIBEL ISLAND: Before and After Hurricane Ian
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- In September of 2022, the islands were rocked by Hurricane Ian with 160 mph winds and a surging 13' of gulf water. It was the mostly costly hurricane in Florida's history and the 3rd in US history.
We chose to visit in January 2024, not sure what to expect after looking at news reports and social media. What we found was sobering but also encouraging. If you want more information, I would recommend my favorite source: @TheSanibelCaptivaGuide / @thesanibelcaptivaguide
If you like these videos, please SUBSCRIBE and if you really like them, you could buy me a coffee ☕️ (https:/buymeacoffee.com/raadventures)
Milestones:
0:02:53 Ride 1: Sanibel Lighthouse to Captiva
0:23:38 Ride 2: Resorts along the Gulf and Periwinkle Way
0:32:30 Ride 3: To and From Ding Darling National Refuge
0:43:16 The Wrap Up
Other Exciting Moments:
0:16:49 The Biggest Moment of Awe (and why I chose it for the thumbnail)
0:46:03 Serious Pickleball!!
0:29:20 Bailey's Supermarket (wow)
0:11:08 More HISTORY than you could ask for
If you want to enjoy these same rides from 2022, prior to the Hurricane, but without the mindless chatter, you can see them here: • Sanibel Bike Adventures
I ride a Trek Checkpoint ALR5 normally but this trip was all about a beach cruiser that felt like it survived the Hurricane also. This content was filmed on a GoPro 11 Black (4K/24fps, Linear mode) and an iPhone 13 Max Pro and edited in Final Cut Pro X.
You can contact me if you like at: bryan@ridealongadventures.com
We sold our place on San Carlos Blvd in Fort Myers 4 months before Ian hit, I still watch videos on Fort Myers beach and Sanibel island for my wife and I had a lot of wonderful memories there. We so enjoyed going to Bowman beach and the lighthouse on Sanibel such a wonderful place, so glad so see all the rebuilding now!
wow...that's some amazing timing. It was a great visit but sobering at times. We had our honeymoon there WAY back. We didn't make our way over to Ft Myers beach but the pictures look about the same as Sanibel. Slow, steady progress.
Thanks for the virtual bike ride. I've been going to Sanibel since the 1980s and I haven't been back since Hurricane Ian. I've ridden on every one of those bike paths you showed. It's good to see that the island is rebuilding a little at a time. I'm looking forward to going back soon.
Yeah, we just passed our 2nd missed summer vacation. 😞 maybe next year. I love to bike down there. So much fun to make it the primary form of transportation for a week. I hope you get back soon! Thanks for watching.
I love history
Me too! 😊
I was looking forward to this video when you said you're in Sanibel and here it is! Nice overview of then and now mixed with history. Well done video. I remember riding those trails myself before the hurricane. Sad to see that so much is gone and like you said less greenery. I guess I'm gonna wait 2-3 more years before going back but I will be back. 😊
After your text, I decided to just dive in and finish. 😊 yeah, it was quite a change. Thanks again for the recommendation on the nature refuge. That was really beautiful.
Thank you for this update. We love Sanibel, though haven't been there in a while. We're probably going to stop by in March though. Glad to see it's rebuilding. Sad to see how much was lost. What you've done here is important and should be shared as they continue to rebuild. It's amazing documentation.
Thank you for the kind words. It’s a special place indeed. It took a beating but it will be back.
thank you for coming down and spend time with us. living here in (Florida) all my life and experiencing the devastation from many a hurricane. the first few months is pretty much cleaning up and securing stuff and people should stay away. but once the roads are clear and power is repaired we need to return to as normal as Florida can possibly be. i work over there after hurricane Charlie getting charlotte county schools up and running. just as we did for our schools after Andrew. next month you will ride thru ground zero for hurricane Andrew, you will be hard pressed to see anything suggesting a hurricane had blown thru.
I certainly appreciate all of the hard work that has gone into the recovery and clean-up. I can't imagine that incredible effort it takes.
LOVED your video bike rides in Sanibel! I went back this year hoping to find my old favorite "Beachview Cottages" on W Gulf Drive and was heartbroken to learn that they had been "washed away" by Ian (the words used by a local I met at the site). Will be returning again soon to enjoy Sanibel's many wonderful features. Your bike ride video meant a great deal to me. Thank you!
I’m happy you enjoyed the video. It’s such a special place. It’s encouraging that so much is being rebuilt but, yeah, it’s hard to see so many places gone forever.
Thanks for sharing the update!!
You bet! It’s a special place.
You always do a great job with your video editing. Looking forward to the next one.
Thank you, Bill. I subscribed to your channel--keep it up! I just watched your Pine Creek video--nice job. It's got me dreaming of warmer weather. Isn't it funny how we promise to never complain about hot summer weather during the winter, then we promise to never complain about winter weather in the hot summer. :)
great video wow, would be nice if the island would edge trim the beautiful bike trail you showed us.
There’s still so much sand in the grass. Gonna be awhile.
We were on Sanibel Island in 1974 we stayed in a nice Motel on the beach it was approximately $19.99 a night. I never had a desire to ever go back to Sanibel Island especially now with all the destruction. We have gone back to Florida many many times but it was usually to Orlando for the theme parks and to St Augustine and South Florida Fort Lauderdale and Miami and the keys and Key West
Wow…$19.99. Yeah, times change. I won’t admit what we just spent on this trip. 😳 my wife and I also went back in 1992-that place is gone now. Empty parking lot. Still, it’s such a beautiful place. So many wonderful memories.
Hi Brian, we first found you when we were looking for you tube videos on the Erie Canal ride in upstate NY. We are doing that ride this July and are really looking forward to it. Several years ago we had a home in Sanibel behind Jerry’s market in the gumbo Limbo neighborhood. We would ride the bike paths almost daily and were members of the Sanibel bike club. Our favorite ride was down Periwinkle to San Cap Highway through Ding Darling and on to the Chapel by the Sea in Captiva. We actually returned to the island for a day visit Jan 2023 and were saddened by the destruction but encouraged by the rebuilding efforts. Our daughter had her wedding at Casa Ybel in 2015 so like you and Mrs. Ride Along we sure have a lot of memories. We are happy you are encouraging people to return to Sanibel, they will appreciate the business. We booked 2 weeks for 01/25 ourselves a few weeks ago. We really love watching your channel and appreciate the history lessons too. One thing that remains a mystery is how it took you so long to discover the joy of riding through ding Darling. better late than never lol!
Awesome. You’re going to love the Erie Canal. Such a fantastic ride.
Always nice to meet people for whom Sanibel is so near and dear. We just love it there. As a family we have always joked about the “depression bridge” as we drive across the causeway on our way back home each year. Yeah, it’s rebuilding for sure (as you’ve seen). We are hopeful we may be back this July as our place might be reopening. Fingers crossed.
lol…I can’t believe it either with regards to ding darling. I guess we found other places to ride over the years. We also like to run on the beaches. I was under the false impression that DD was just walking paths. Silly me. Such a beautiful place.
Stay safe and keep on adventuring! Best wishes on the Erie Canal. Thanks for watching!
Still rebuilding! Did you make it to Cayo Costa State Park? Matlacha? Homes and businesses in Matlacha are still in the water as of April 2024. Sanibel is gorgeous, but if you could shed some light over there??? Still rebuilding the one road in and out to Pine Island.
Yeah, it’s all going to take a long time. Years.
Love your video, great job. I enjoyed the history you added too 👍🏻 I have lived in Florida for 54 years now. About 25-30 years ago I lived in Ft Myers for 11 yrs. I delivered for Airborne Express (now DHL) the best part about it was, that my route was Sanibel and Captiva. I would put my bike in my van and on my lunch breaks I would ride my bike around. The nicest people lived there. I am still just devastated at how bad the destruction was and with living there, I cry when I see how bad Ft Myers beach was hit, I spent a lot of time there too. Lots of memories, those were my
partying years, not so much anymore 😜 not sure how I will handle it going back. I know it will be very sad. Looking forward to more of your videos. Great job 👍🏻🥰👍🏻
Thank you! That sounds like an awesome job. Yeah, it was sort of depressing to visit but it will grow back and they are already rebuilding quite a bit. Hurricanes are nasty business.
We were there yesterday… although our last visit was over 5 years ago and we watched the devastation on tv news reports we were impressed and happy to see the strides being made to redevelop this beautiful island. We will never forget our time here!
People can be so resilient. Beautiful stuff. Glad you had a great time.
Great up-to-date video on Sanibel. We used to go down there in the 60's from Orlando when a ferry took us across from Ft. Myers. Stayed at the Blue Dolphin Inn and is where I stayed at again back in 2010 when I was last there. They are rebuilding with a planned swank condo-ee looking thing and the romance of the small separate former cottages nestled amidst the luxuriant tropical growth will be gone. In general, it looks like Captiva and Andy Rosse Lane was mostly spared and was not nearly as devastated as Sanibel. It was especially crushing to me to see everything destroyed and know it will take many years to recover! Thanks again for the great update!
Yeah, it was quite sobering to see the differences but it’s a very dedicated community. They will rebuild and the natural wildlife will be back. Just takes time.
I lived on Sanibel for a long time, lost it to Ian. I miss the bike path, there is no other like it anywhere. Rode 22-26 miles daily. Thanks so much for sharing your ride, I loved tagging along with you.
Sorry to hear that. Sanibel is a special place. Will you ever get back?
The old Sanibel was disappearing even before Ian, and the lack of respect for mother earth/nature even on Sanibel was disturbing. The water quality is ruined. So I am onto new adventures. In a way for me, Ian booted me out when I needed to leave. Life is surely a mystery, isn't it?@@RideAlongAdventures
@@purpleturtle7477 understood and agreed. I just spent a week in the Everglades and Keys. On the positive side, I’m happy to see efforts to restore the natural beauty like raising highway 41, building new coral reefs, etc. hopefully it’s not too little too late. Florida is so beautiful-we should cherish it.
Very intense video, sir. When I was in Florida in December, I so wanted to go down there, but I didn't feel comfortable. Just watching the difference in the 2 visits you showed, broke my heart. I think I will wait until they have rebuilt a little more. Oh, and by the way, I feel your loss with your Bengals, I am a Dallas Cowboys fan, the frustration is real...
Cannot wait to see your Keys adventure with Thomas!!
Thanks, Amy. Yeah, it was shocking in places. The first few days were hard to stomach. Sort of depressing. BUT…it will come back. Slowly.
I started packing today for the Keys!!!
Great videos. We've been visiting Sanibel since 1996. Like you and your family we enjoy going in the summer months. This winter I started watching all your Sanibel videos while riding my exercise bike. Which makes me forget about the WI winter weather.
oh, rock on! SOMEBODY watched those older Sanibel videos!!!!!!! :) LOL. Yeah, it's such a beautiful place...a slice of heaven. It's amazing to me just how wonderful it is to go and just how hard it is to leave. Those drives across the causeway are extremely elated in one direction and depressing in the other.
Thanks for watching. Winter will be gone some time soon. Even in WI.
Love the Florida videos, Great storytelling. Bryan. I have a friend in Cape Coral, he was worried for the first time when the hurricane came through. Beach Cruisers are great ! Looking forward to the next adventure.
Thanks! You cannot ride a beach cruiser and be sad. 😊 it feels comically slow but it also forces you to look around more. Glad your friend was ok.
@RideAlongAdventures We have one of my Dad's schwinn beach cruisers in the basement. Boy I want to ride it, but it's not for riding it's an original US made collectible.
Thanks Bryan... Very interesting. The area has recovered quite a bit over the past year and a half.
I'm about half way through viewing this video and wanted to stop and relay my impressions.
Although the current view seems allot more barren... it's still winter and the vegetation is not as flush as in summer.
Secondly, in viewing the 'before' footage, I noticed that the island was looking overgrown... esthetically too flush.
This is a constant problem for Florida because it's annual growing season is so long.
Keeping the local vegetation cut back is necessary. Otherwise, it starts looking very rural and unkept.
This past hurricane reminds me of a forest fire burn. It takes about ten years for growth to return and twenty years to raise up trees of any height.
In the mean time, the landscape is cleared out of brush that over grows everything. It's almost like total landscaping where everything is cleared out except for the larger trees.
Architecturally, this area will be far more attractive in about three or four years time. You will be able to see allot more than before. It will have filled in more, but without the overgrown look.
Indeed, it will lose allot of it's old island charm, since not all the old cottages will be rebuilt. No doubt it will look somewhat more upscale.
But overall it will probably look a bit more attractive. Even so, the taller trees that were badly thrashed will take more time to regain their form again.
Gord
Thanks, Gordon. Yeah, it was super lush in 2022 which provides all the more contrast. The biggest change to the scenery is just all of the dead, gray stuff that will eventually rot and get overtaken by new growth. The refuge in particular was really shocking. One business owner joked that Sanibel doesn't have any secrets now...meaning, there was a lot of growth to "hide behind" :) In all the years, I've ridden up to Captiva, I don't think I've seen even a fraction of what I saw this trip.
Hey, i thought you'd also be interested in how far the tech has come since 2022. Some of the before shots were with my Insta360 at 1080 and the others did not have the updated stabilization. Quite a contrast.
@@RideAlongAdventures Thanks again, Bryan. Yes, I could see the difference between the two. Updating equipment really improves the viewing for sure.
Gord
That was very ‘Captivating!’ What a contrast, it was like The Wizard of Oz in reverse, when the film went from black and white to color, in this case from color to black and white. That storm was supposed to hit us further North by Tampa, and moved Southerly at the last minute. Will look forward to your A1A trip this month. As always, thank you for sharing.
@@thegreatexaggerator9077 great way to put it! A lot of gray throughout the foliage.
Unfortunately, the barrier islands in the Gulf lose that part of old Florida, that make them special when a storm hits. Glad that you got at least one warm day, and great seeing the RAA family out there with you. You should think about snow birding now that you are retired, so you have good winter content for the channel. Stay warm 🥶
ah man, i'd love to someday. My younger son keeps talking about how much he'd like to move down there so maybe there will be extra reasons to move, or at least visit more often. I think we texted one another on the 38 degree morning--that was crazy! I wore a coat on the beach.
thanks for sharing.. the weather down here has been crazy, so typical Florida.
yeah, those were some wild swings! 38 in the morning, 72 in the afternoon. Regardless, it was beautiful. :)
Great video, kind of a gut punch as well. I used to live in Miami, and we used to go to the island for getaways, so sad to see the devastation, but happy to see the rebuilds. Thank you.
Yeah, it was sad. I’d ride around a corner where there were two trees and now one was gone and I started wondering, I wonder if the remaining tree misses his buddy.
It will grow back but it’s going to take some time.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for your great video. We miss visiting due to the hurricane. We are looking to come back in 2025. Miss it. Your video brought back wonderful memories.
Glad to hear it. It’s such a special place.
Well done. We visited 2 months after Charlie. That was bad. Ian was plain old mean! Pure evil! We, too, have been visiting every year since 1989. We'll be back in October.
Such a beautiful place. Glad to see it coming back. Hope you enjoy it!!
Very nice video. We had been going to Sanibel for over 2 decades to the same place. Now it's gone 😪 We would love to go back, but it's difficult to find a cottage close to the beach. Where did you stay?
The Seahorse Cottages. They are tucked in behind the former location of the Lighthouse Cafe. Nice, quiet little place. Sorry to hear about the other location. It was startling to see how many places are now gone.
You did a very nice job on the video. You showed much more of the damage than anybody else has. I was not going to watch the video because of how long it was but I did get caught up in it and with your history stories. I'm surprised that there are as many trees Still Standing as I'm seeing. They should plant a couple hundred thousand crepe myrtles and probably a couple hundred thousand more palm trees. Will probably take up to 10 years to get it to the point where it doesn't look like there was ever a hurricane. But then I will be gone forever. My days of Florida was mostly in the 1990s and the first 15 years of the 2000s. Now I'm old and will never be in Florida ever again. It's a great state and I stick up for it all the time there are so many Florida haters out there on TH-cam. Great job I see your love for Sanibel and it's nice to have that feeling about something. Remember health is everything. 👍🏻🙏🏻✌🏻
Thanks for watching. Yeah, it will grow back and they are working incredibly hard to replant and renovate.
i managed the mobile gas station and auto shop next to huxters market. you look familiar. Fort Myers Beach Matlacha and Pine Island took the brunt of it also and will never be back to the way it used to be
Small world. Well, I’ve certainly gassed up there many times over the years.
Sanibel is a special place. Sad to see the devastation but they are also strong people.
Thanks. Great tour. I now know how it looks. Keep it up. The Bob Ross of touring
Turn down your background music.
"Bob Ross of touring"--I'll wear that one with pride! :)
Nice job syncing the before and after, and yes, you need a building code! Great ride. Have you done Cape Cod?
Thank you because, believe it or not, that took a crazy amount of time. The usual landmarks weren’t there (as you could see). In a few cases, I zoomed onto a street sign then matched it up with the “before” street sign. Especially on middle gulf drive…wow. Anyway, again, thank you.
I rode bikes on Cape Cod like 40 years ago so I don’t remember it hardly at all. Any suggestions? Is there camping there?
@@RideAlongAdventures I am in the exploration stage, but they boast 114 miles of bike trail. There is a 25 mile rail-trail with a lot of road riding. Mass.gov has a nice map with parking, restrooms etc. I counted at least 25 camping possibilities. I’m trying to talk Mrs Fork into this trip, but we’ll see.
@@RideAlongAdventures I am exploring a Cape Cod ride. They say there's 144 miles of bike paths most of which is road riding. There's a 25 mile rail trail path, and looks like plenty of camping possibilities. I've never been there, but I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like. The topography is much different than I imagined. Take care
@@forkintherode8236 very cool. Hey, if you don’t mind, let me know what you find. I’d be interested in riding up there.
@@RideAlongAdventures 👍 I will be happy to
I like Florida
Beautiful state!!
I have some questions. Is the bike path behind Rabbit Road open for use? Are restrooms along the way open, like at Lighthouse Beach, Tarpon Bay Road Beach parking lot, Gulfside City Park, and Ding Darling's visitor center as well as the restrooms along the Ding Darling Road at the halfway point? These are my important "pit stops" and need to know if they are there for me as I am hoping to return there soon. ... Sanibel was my "happy place" for decades. I was there vacationing from SE Florida a few days before Ian hit. I evacuated myself to drive home late at night, on a spur of the moment decision, before the official evacuation, crying as I crossed the bridge, seeing the lighthouse blink in the distance, knowing I would not be back for awhile. I think the island has come a very long way in a short time, although much still to do. Thank you for this video!
The rabbit road path was open when I was there. I believe the Lighthouse Beach area has reopened although I can’t speak to the bathrooms. The lighthouse is being refurbished currently. All of the restrooms were closed in January except for the Ding Darling visitor center which I used. However, that was January. A lot has changed since then. This website seems to indicate that a lot more is open now: www.mysanibel.com/government/public-works/useful-links/beach-parks/facilities-currently-closed
It’s a special place. It looks like our timeshare will remain closed for a second year this July. 😔
@@RideAlongAdventures Thank you!
@@RideAlongAdventures Yes, it sure is a special place. I have been going there for 40 years. So sad what Ian did 🥺
Is there a bike trail up near Steubenville?
You talking about Ohio? According to google maps, there looks to be two trails on the map. There is the panhandle trail that connects Weirton and the Montour Trail around Pittsburgh. Then, there is another trail, the Brooke Pioneer Trail. See both here: www.google.com/maps/place/Steubenville,+OH/@40.2945084,-80.6105287,44550m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x88342e35ba7bde57:0xb63188e06ab7af29!8m2!3d40.3697905!4d-80.6339638!16zL20vMHl6MzA!5m1!1e3?entry=ttu
Yes, Ohio and thank you.@@RideAlongAdventures
Very nice video. I've never been to that part of Florida, and I suspect I'd much prefer it to the east coast. I had to laugh at 35:30, it was reminiscent of "The Look" Lance Armstrong famously gave Jan Ullrich before destroying him on Alpe d' Huez in the Tour de France. Unfortunately, you were Ullrich in this case! Lance was also referred to in the peloton as "the boss". My advice, get a tandem like I did and avoid further humiliation....🤣
Tailwinds, Joe S
th-cam.com/video/MdMdJAdzpYQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=W3Ll1MuzrM-qfb1y
lol. I recall “the look” quite well. Actually I watched it live. Back in the day when I would wake up early to watch every single day of the tour from start to finish and hours of post ride analysis with Phil Liggett ("He's dancing on his pedals in a most immodest way!!”). Oh those were the days…before it all came crashing down. 😕
Anyway, I hope she doesn’t read this. lol a tandem wouldn’t work because she’d want to be in front.
Eh, sure it would. As the back-seater, AKA "stoker", she would get to relax, take in the scenery, snap pictures, store anything she bloody well wants in your jersey pockets, chat on the phone, criticize your driving, and generally be the brains of the operation, while you do all the traffic-watching, pothole-avoiding, Florida iguana-dodging, and the other various tasks required to get wherever you're going.
My favorite Liggett-ism is "He's reached into the suitcase of courage!" @@RideAlongAdventures
Thank you for the advise‼️Sounds great to me‼️
- Mrs :) Ride Along Adventures
To bad your after video isn’t bright blue sunny skies as your before video
Exactly. It was a rather gloomy week in more ways than one. July is just so bright and sunny. I hope to get back this summer if things open up. Then, maybe the comparisons will be better. Regardless, thanks for watching.