Food

Weeks before our trip to Sanibel Island, I learned that there were secret lunch plans in the works. My niece Isabella told us that there was a special place she was taking us for lunch, but she wouldn’t tell us where. It turns out that on their last trip to Sanibel, when she was not yet three, she enjoyed the whimsical Captiva restaurant, The Bubble Room.

After a morning at the pool for Isabella and a morning of boating for us, our group reunited for lunch. On the way to the restaurant, we were told we were going to a very boring place with no desserts and only alligator soup on the menu.

She fooled us!

The Bubble Room is a great place for a family lunch. There is a LOT going on, from the second you pull into the parking lot. The restaurant sits on one side of the lot, and The Bubble Room Emporium gift shop sits across the way.

The outside of The Bubble Room is splashed with a rainbow of color on every surface, with music blaring from speakers. It provides quite the welcome.

Inside, the walls are decked out with photos of classic Hollywood stars. There’s barely an empty surface at The Bubble Room.

There’s even stuff inside the tables!

Due to the fairly extreme heat in Sanibel and Captiva, we were thirsty, and I cooled off  and refreshed with a deliciously fruity rum cocktail, a Captiva Cooler.

We were also starving and ready for some quick food. Our peppy and sweet waitress recommended Carolina Moons, a Bubble Room favorite made up of homemade potato chips, cheese, and bacon.

For lunch, I decided to have a bowl of gumbo. Spicy, rich, full of seafood and okra, and served with crunchy toast, the gumbo was exactly what I was hoping for and more. It really let me enjoy some of the flavors of the South and made me want to try to do some more regional cooking.

The Bubble Room is famous for its desserts, slices of cake the size of my head, in a variety of different flavors and types. While our waitress explained each cake to us, my one-and-a-half  year old nephew gazed at the tray lovingly. It was adorable.

We were full and ready for some beach time, so we brought home a giant piece of cheesecake and one of The Bubble Room’s signature orange crunch cake,  yellow cake with orange icing and an almond and brown sugar crunch. We dug into those much later in the day after dinner at Gramma Dot’s.

While waiting, my niece gave us a tour of the restaurant. One of her favorites is this festive Christmas room, a little creepy if you ask me!

There’s a lot going on, and touring each room of The Bubble Room made the short wait for our food go by quickly. The food was great, and the restaurant definitely provided a memorable place for a family meal. I have a feeling we will be back.

One of the places I have fond memories of visiting is Four Seas Ice Cream in Centerville, MA. Eating ice cream on hot summer nights, running into Kennedys, and taking walks down to Craigville Beach define those Cape Cod summer nights.

Do you have a favorite family vacation spot or memory?