My mom recently took me on a trip to Gasparilla Island, a beautiful place on the southwest Gulf Coast of Florida, complete with a lighthouse.
It's Over There 🌊
The destination for this trip was not far from my mom's home. Looking at the water in the above pic, there is a bridge on the horizon, and that bridge leads to Gasparilla Island and the Gulf of Mexico. I got in the car with my mom and it took us roughly 15 minutes to reach the bridge.
Along the way I noticed lots of damage from Hurricane Ian, which made landfall around 9 months ago. Roof tiles missing, downed trees, and lots of broken windows were common sites. Things haven't been repaired because it's the USA, insurance, bureaucracy, etc.
Troll Bridge 🧌
As we reached the bridge you saw in the first photo we were stopped by a toll booth, paid the fee and continued onward to the island. My mom was piloting a red Jeep whose hood can be seen in some of the shots from this trip. As we reached the middle of the bridge we were crossing from Placida Harbor into the Gulf of Mexico, and the water's clarity changed immediately.
The weather was nice and I think it was a weekend, although I'm not 100% sure. Either way even during the weekdays there are plenty of recreational boaters to be seen.
As we reached the other side things immediately felt more tropical-er and tourist-ier, and white sand was everywhere, even along the road's edge.
Gasparilla Island 🏝️
This island is very small, and being located directly on the Gulf of Mexico, real estate here is sky-high. My mom said even the most simple and basic homes here go for $2 to $3 million USD.
Every home has a private drive and electric gate, many with their own security guard booth. Some places that look like entire resort complexes are just single family homes, really hard to believe.
There were some normal looking homes, like the one in the above pic, but because of location, this home is probably worth at least $3 million USD. Lots of famous celebrities have homes here, but I don't know who or where, so sorry for not being able to point out anything spectacular.
Many of the homes here have private drives and properties which occupy entire city blocks, but of course these city blocks are on the Gulf of Mexico, and one side of the property is a white sand beach.
The wealth here is astonishing, but I must admit it pales in comparison to displays of wealth by the Chinese in Cambodia. Things are of course much cleaner here, and the landscaping better, the public schools better, ect., but there isn't an abundance of Rolls Royce and Bentley cars like you might see in wealthy parts of Cambodia.
Tropical Library 📚
The Johann Fust Community Library was established in 1832 by a pirate named Captain Blackbeard, a feared sailor who used his stolen treasures to educate and empower local communities. Just kidding, I have no information about the history of this library, you can google that if you're truly curious, I ain't no tour guide yo'.
It's Private 🔒
Some properties have very tempting walkways to take you directly from the sidewalk to the beach, but if you look carefully there is always a NO TRESPASSING or PRIVATE DRIVE sign.
Occasionally there would be a public access road going all the way to the beach with smaller private homes lining the roadside. I wanted a peek at the ocean so we began looking for a suitable road with some parking spots left.
The style of homes ranged from Victorian to Spanish, and old to new, but everything here is immaculate no matter the age.
Banyan Trees 🌳
There are many more near my mom's home, but in this part of Florida banyan trees are common, perhaps even more common than in Cambodia, and I found that to be very strange.
Let's Bail ✌️
After realizing how crowded it was we decided to head back because I didn't even come with swimming trunks or a towel. I did make a plan to return and go swimming at Boca Grande before I left Florida though.
After deciding to head back I took a few more shots of the luxurious homes there. It is impressive, but I was still getting used to American time and my sleep cycle was out of sync.
While trying not to fall asleep in the car, we turned around to head back over the bridge. One last thing I wanted to see was the lighthouse, so I had my mom pull over so I could ask if there was admission fee.
Lighthouse ⛯
Well, after finding out it was $15 to venture to the top of this bad boy, I decided only to offer you this photo. It's a lighthouse, it's old and original, and not used anymore, but other than that I can offer nothing. Google Gasparilla Island lighthouse and you'll find everything you need to know if you're curious. For me, the $15 fee and the sleepies attacking me was enough to take a raincheck on this adventure. To be continued...
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