Getting into your "Child" on the Island of Sanibel

Remember the old term "getting into your child"?

It was used to signify getting down to the pure impulses and joys in your life.

The kind of impulses and joys most easily experienced when on vacation.

And there are so many ways to get into your child on the Island of Sanibel.

We'd like to share some of our favorites with you and ask that you comment with your own particular preferences.

First and most obvious, there is the question of where is it easiest to experience childhood on the Island? And the answer is evident. The beach is the place to shed adult inhibitions. Loose that business attire and get nearly naked: when it's only that skimpy bathing suit that separates you from the world, you are a free person, a child like person.

Run, don't walk, into the welcoming turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Bob around in the calm, clear, warm and salty sea and you are virtually weightless, carefree and one with nature. You may find no one around you, or perhaps a school of dolphin passing by, or maybe one lone pelican who will keep one eye on you as it plunges and fishes.

If you are with your own children, teach them the art of sand castle building. Or if you are by yourself, with your spouse or with a friend, rekindle those skills as you dig into the sands with your hands. Or just sit in a beach chair and dig into the sands with your feet. There is nothing more fundamental in pleasure than digging down beneath the warm grains until you feel the damp, cool, coarse sand below.

But the beach is not the only place to experience the special quality of childhood.

You can get almost the same amount of joyful discovery, child like discovery by exploring the Island by bike, parasailing the blue skies, boating out to the smaller islands, or kayaking through the mangroves.

If you feel shackled by the responsibilities of adulthood, there is no better place than Sanibel to lose your chains and roam unencumbered.

Do you have a favorite route to a younger feeling when vacationing on the Island?