[85vette]

I was there in 2005 just after hurricane Charley hit with 143 mph winds. Not much to see but destruction. Average home price back then was $700,000.00 on the island. The homes with shingle roofs were hit pretty hard, complete roofs missing. The metal roofs stayed on but were bent at the eves. The old Spanish tile roofs fared well other than losing the ridge caps on some. Worst destruction I ever saw from a storm. Chain link fences were literally blown over. I saw a two story brick office building with a wall missing, yet all the office furniture was still there. All the Australian Pines on the island were blown down. The first vehicle on the island after the storm was a front end loader that had to push all the trees out of the road so emergency vehicles could enter. We stayed at a round Holiday Inn about 14 miles from Sanibel. All the A/C window units on one side of the hotel were blown into the rooms and they were flooded from the rain blowing in.

The beaches were beautiful even then. I don't think there is much beach traffic and I don't recall if they had any "public" beach access and Captiva(on the north end) is even more exclusive. Definitely the "high rent" district.