Mucky Duck Sunsets

One of the highlights of the trip for me each year is watching the sunset and dining at The Mucky Duck on Captiva Island.  The restaurant was established in 1976 by two Englishmen, who had purchased a beach house and found they could reactivate a beer and wine license for a mere $100.  The rest is history, as The Mucky Duck has settled into being one of the most beloved spots on Sanibel-Captiva.

As I mentioned in my Happy Halloween post, driving over to Captiva from our condo's position on the very end of Sanibel Island takes at least 30 minutes.  On Tuesday evening, the crew took my word that The Mucky Duck was worth the longer drive in the car again.  We arrived around 5:30pm to ensure that we'd be able to find a parking spot at the pretty small Mucky Duck parking lot.  We were in luck.

Around the back of the restaurant is an outside bar, complete with a few available draft beers, bottled beers and pre-mixed margaritas.  There are also picnic tables, brightly painted lounge chairs, a ring toss game and live music.  The guys took an immediate interest in ring toss, while Daisy, Karen and I opted for a seat at a table with our margaritas.

The best part of The Mucky Duck is that the beach is right behind those palm trees and reeds seen in the above pictures.  There are such beautiful surroundings all around you, which makes passing the time before sunset all too easy.  We chose to order many-a-refill and enjoy the live music.  Before we knew it, we were drawn to the sandy beach itself to get a better view of the sky starting to fill with brilliant pink and orange colors.

Mike

Dave, Me, Daisy, Adam

The guys

Me and the beau

Getting closer to setting...

Group shot

Gorgeous right?

Daisy

Last bit of sun

After that amazing sunset experience, we put our name in for dinner inside.  We barely had a wait this night and were all happy to be sat right away.  We had 10 in total when you counted my aunt, uncle and cousins, so we split the tables up 6 and 4.  The waitresses had some fun with us and gave us "tables by the window" by putting this free-standing "window" in between us.

If you sit outside at one of the picnic tables, you can order appetizers from the indoor bar and eat the food outside.  However, inside you have a full dinner selection, highlighted by many entrees from the sea as well as the land.  For an appetizer, Dave and I split an order of Jalopeno Poppers (4 for $7).  These are a favorite of Dave's.  For dinner, Dave and I got the best of two worlds by splitting the Surf & Turf ($38).  The dish included a 8oz. filet and 4 BBQ shrimp wrapped with bacon.  The shrimp were just delicious, with the BBQ marinade in perfect harmony with the fresh shrimp.  The steak was cooked well and I enjoyed the seasoning.  

My cousin Karen always orders the Scallops Au Gratin (Scallops baked in Marsala wine and garlic butter, topped with Monterey Jack cheese - $25) so I feel confident in recommending this dish to readers as well.  I'm sure Daisy will have lots to share about her own meal so I will leave that to her, but the rest of the crew ordered fish & chips and pub burgers and seem very well satisfied.

One sunset proved not enough for us on this trip and we found ourselves heading back to The Mucky Duck for drinks on Friday evening (our last night on the island).  There was a cold snap on Friday, only reaching the mid-70s during the day, which also brought about gusty winds and a choppy ocean.  Here are a few picture highlights from this night.

Do yourself a favor and head over to this spot if you get the chance to spend any time on Sanibel/Captiva.  You wont regret it! :)