Cheeseburgers in Paradise....

Last Wednesday morning found us at Fisherman’s Village Marina boarding The Island Star, part of the King Fisher Fleet, for an excursion to Cabbage Key for lunch.

King Fisher Fleet was originally founded over 30 years ago as a one-boat fishing guide service by Capt. Bob Allen and his wife Helen. The fleet has grown to include multiple fishing boats and excursion boats and employs approximately two dozen staff including boat captains, fishing guides, tour boat mates and booking agents.

Fisherman's Village Marina

Fisherman's Village Marina

 

Great Blue Heron at marina

Snowy Egret at marina

The Island Star

Looking forward

Looking aft

During the cruise we were entertained by our captain and crew relating interesting historical facts about the Charlotte Harbor area, watching the passing boats and the dolphins that occasionally swam next to us.

Passing sailboat

Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins

Passing boat

Osprey enjoying lunch atop a navigational marker

Getting passed again

Cabbage Key is a 100-acre island in Pine Island Sound, not far from Captiva and Sanibel Islands. There are no paved roads, and is accessible only by boat or plane. The island is largely comprised of a Calusa Indian shell mound and sits 38 feet above sea level. Calusa Indians did not farm like the other Indian tribes in Florida. Instead, they fished for food on the coast, bays, rivers, and waterways. They learned to catch shellfish like conchs, crabs, clams, lobsters, and oysters. The Calusa did not make many pottery items. Instead they used shells for tools, utensils, jewelry, fishing / hunting spears and ornaments for their shrines.  Shell debris was discarded into huge heaps.

Someone's living the good life at Cabbage Key

 The Cabbage Key Inn was built to be a private home by Alan and Grace Rinehart. Alan was the son of Mary Roberts Rinehart, the once famous and best-selling mystery writer. They bought the island in 1929 for $2500 and spent another $125,000 creating their winter estate. The main building was constructed in the 1930s. It became an inn and opened to the public  in 1944 when the island was purchased by an artist, Larry Stults, and his wife, Jan. They ran it until 1969 when Bob and JoAnn Beck took the helm. Current owners Rob and Phyllis Wells live on the island and have run it for three decades.

The original house (now the inn and restaurant) has six fireplaces, five porches and a 25,000 gallon water storage tank to capture rainwater. Over the years cottages were added, one as a playhouse for the kids, one for the caretaker and a few for friends. Some of the cottages now can be rented by the public for overnight stays and others house the restaurant staff.

View of Inn from the dock

View of small beach below Inn

One of the rental cottages on Cabbage Key

Yellow Crowned Night Heron on Cabbage Key

Turks Hat Hibiscus on Cabbage Key

In the main dining room there are thousands of dollar bills. Legend says it started with a local fisherman who taped a signed dollar bill to the wall as pre-payment for his next cold beverage. An estimated 70,000 autographed bills now paper the walls and ceiling of the restaurant. Some of the bills are firmly affixed, while others dangle and sway in the breeze from the ceiling fans. Any bills that fall are donated to charity. Of course patrons are constantly replacing the fallen ones with their own signed bills.

Ceiling in main dining room

Another picture of main dining room

Legend has it Cabbage Key inspired Jimmy Buffett’s famous song, “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” and, indeed, the singer’s own signed bill hangs proudly behind the restaurant bar. In the late 70s, Buffett’s sister lived on Boca Grande, a nearby island.  An avid pilot, Buffet arrived via seaplane and pulled right up to the small section of beach near the boat slips below the restaurant. While Buffett’s publicist won’t confirm or deny if Buffet penned his famous song on Cabbage Key, Buffet did dedicate the song to the staff of the restaurant at a 1978 concert (the year the song was released) at the Lee County Civic Center. Could be that’s where the legend of the song being inspired by the island and its cheeseburgers was born.

We thought it only fitting to dine on cheeseburgers before returning to Fisherman’s Village Marina.