Swiss American Club

After a pleasant cruise through the Pine Island Sound, we arrived on Cabbage Key, the first stop. The main house on this island, which is now the inn and restaurant, was built in 1938 by Mary Roberts Rinehart, a playwright and novelist.
The wallpaper at Cabbage Key inn is quite interesting. It is made up of autographed dollar bills that are taped to the wall and ceilings.
It is also said that Jimmy Buffet was inspired to write the song “Cheeseburger in Paradise” while visiting the rustic fisherman’s pub type setting

Soon after, our ship headed towards our destination. Useppa Island, near the north end of the Sound, is sort of a “forbidden island” for all but those who buy membership in the club. There are only members and guests allowed ashore. It is one of Florida’s premier hideaways, with quaint 1920’s cottages, half-million-dollar homes and perhaps the nation’s largest banyan tree. It was originally the domain of Barron Collier, one of Florida’s founding fathers, but today is home to CEO’s of the industry, movie stars and others who simply “want to be alone”.

Its elevation is 30 feet, making an obvious landmark, along with Cabbage Key. At various times it has been the domain of Calusa Indians, a hideaway for pirates, and a fort for sportsmen. Useppa was the sport fishing Mecca for the rich and famous.
The legend has it that in the late 1700’s, a Spanish pirate named Jose Gaspar, kidnapped and imprisoned a Spanish princess named Joseffa whose heart he
captured. Therefore the island came to be known as “Joseffa Island” and was later changed into Useppa.

We arrived at the dock by 11.30 am and headed through the storybook setting with picturesque white cottages, pink pathways and lush vegetation towards the Collier Inn. The famous dining room of the 100-year-old building has been redesigned into “Old Florida”-style and we entered the newly decorated premises which were partially reconstructed after damage from Hurricane Charley in 2004.

The island buffet, an appropriate meal for the occasion, was the place where everybody helped themselves to a great variety of excellent food.

Our former president, Peter Moser, talked about Useppa’s interesting history and afterwards introduced our President, Rosmarie Strother, for her official speech. She recognized the founding members and pointed out some highlights of the Club’s past.

There was a touching moment when Peter Schmid discovered that Leon Braunschweig, sitting at the same table, was his schoolmate 50 years ago.
Needless to say, they had lot’s to talk about.

Who ever finished the lunch was welcome to stroll around this picturesque island and explore this beautiful place. After a 2 ½ hour stay on the island, our ship picked us up at 2 o’clock to sail back to the main land.
To great joy of our members, we were accompanied by dolphins which swam alongside of the vessel and even jumped above the white waves that the boat left behind.

After a fun and sunny day, we reached the McCarthy’s Marina by 3.30 pm and are convinced that everybody was happy and full of good memories of this unique event.

Sunday, November 9, 2008 had finally arrived. It was the day when the Swiss Club wanted to celebrate its 10 years of existence by inviting the members on a leisurely boat trip to Useppa Island.

We met at McCarthy’s Marina in Captiva where the “Lady Chadwick” was ready to board by 9.45 am. 51 members and some guests filled the upper deck while some stayed in the main cabin. The full service cocktail bar was soon consulted and while sipping on a “Bloody Mary” or on a cool beer, we listened to the informative comments of one of the crew members who gave some very interesting stories on two unique island destinations.

The Sound that stretches between Pine Island and the Barrier islands of Cayo Costa, North Captiva and Sanibel, is unique, a broad shallow area that has no fresh water rivers feeding into it to darken the water. But it gets a tremendous tidal flushing from the numerous passes, plus the giant mouth of Boca Grande on the north and San Carlos on the south.