Cheeseburger in Paradise

February 21, 2023

TRAVEL DAY 3 - Venice to Cabbage Key

February 18, 2023

4.54 Hours/37.2 Miles

After three nights in Venice, we awoke to the pop, pop, pop of Pistol Shrimp. The tide was dead low and the keel was intermittently scraping the bottom. The sailboat 2 slips down was laying hard to it's port side. I made a pot of coffee, checked email and started to prepare for the days travel.

Sunrise Venice, FL

Though we've been by Cabbage Key before, we have never stopped. We pulled out of the slip at 9:24 am and slid up to the fuel dock to grab a small amount of dinghy fuel, a couple bags of ice and pump out. The wind was stiff out of the North but pushed us perfect to the dock.

Cabbage Key is a small island north and west of Fort Myers and only reachable by boat. Built on an old Calusa Indian mound and one of the highest points around. It was reportedly the inspiration for Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and I wanted one!

I had read up on the island to get an idea of what to expect as far as docking and approach. It can be a tough place to dock mostly because of the wind, also this being a Saturday, meant it would most likely be busy. Slips aren't available until 3 pm because of the boaters and fisherman that show up for lunch. I had also read warnings about the dockmaster. He was apparently a little surly. That would prove an understatement. At about 2:30 we dropped anchor outside the basin and radioed Cabbage Key to let them know we were there and standing by. The reply "Slips aren't ready until 3", we replied we knew, just wanted him to know we were here and ready when he was. Not five minutes later, another boat called saying they were there and standing by..."Come on in Captain, we'll get you tied up". What the heck? We could hear the further exchanges via VHF radio and see the boat make repeated attempts to get into the slip. After quite a few sharp directives from the dockmaster he called out "Ma'am, this isn't working, move on back out and we'll try later". I waited until 3:05 pm until calling on channel 11 "Cabbage Key Marina, Pau Hana standing by, where do you want us?" "Is that you out there with the dinghy? I just put someone in your slip, you're going to have to wait." Again, what in the heck? We waited another 15 minutes and then he called us to come on in. We saw crusty dockmaster waiving his arms indicating our slip. Of course by this time the wind had picked up and we set up for our approach for a stern in starboard side tie. I nearly had a perfect landing when my dinghy caught the outside piling and my bow caught the wind and began to push me towards the next slip and three very expensive 300 HP outboards. I aborted, spun around and tried again, this time I planted the stern in, the bow made it's way toward the million dollars worth of Mercurys but I laid onto the bow thruster hard and powered forward and reverse until we were back far enough to get the lines on the dock and into the Dock Nazi's hands. With one line on he said "I need to get this other boat" and disappeared down the dock. He returned and shouted, "Sir, you need to get that boat registered, now", I thought he was talking to the big sport fisherman he was line handling for, then he said it again, a little more sternly. We finished up our tie and walked to the office to "register" and pay.

Cabbage Key Slip

New "Beefy" Docks post Hurricane Ian

They are serious about water conservation in Cabbage Key

We made our way to the restaurant, ordered a drink and our Cheeseburger. While we waited we went to the infamous dollar dining room to place our dollar. There is supposedly $70,000 dollars there and when the dollars fall, they are collected in a basket and given to charity.

Dollar Bill Dining Room

Pau Hana Makes the Room

The cheeseburger was awesome. This place ain't cheap, at $3/foot with no water or electric (the docks are brand new and had been wiped out by Hurricane Ian) and $90+ for 2 burgers, 2 drinks and 1 piece of Key Lime pie. All in all, still worth the stop and the money to visit an "Old Florida" icon.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

After dinner we walked the trail around the island and hike up the only remaining wooden water tower in the area. We got some great pictures then headed back to the boat. The wind blew steady all night but with the front hatch open it made for a very comfortable night's sleep. In the morning the wind was still up but not so bad we couldn't continue on our way south.