Stingray Fish At Fort Myers Beach

Tropicalia Treasures: Dress, arm and decorate any seaworthy occasion

Hours: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily.

What’s in store: The Ship Store sells beach and boating supplies, fishing gear and clothing/accessories for water-related leisure, adventure and sports activities. Styles are nautical, aquatic, tropical, pirate, beach baby and athletic. Most are branded Salty Sam’s. Specialties include toys, games, plush items (stingray-covered purple chenille bedspread fabric, $8.95, or with tooth-fairy-keeper mouth, $14.95), jewelry, art and home decor, all of which reflect the marina’s attractions, restaurants and programs.

Claim to fame: The Ship Store commands a strategic position at Salty Sam’s Waterfront Adventures, the resort-style full-service marina on Estero Bay. The store is the communications center and outfitter for everything that happens here, whether it’s for Parrot Key, the Caribbean grill; Big Game Waterfront Grill, the sports bar; on board or under way on a rental, charter or excursion boat (Key West Express is one); or aboard Pieces of Eight, the resident pirate galleon whose well-dressed crew is rumored to be reggae partying today at 4 p.m. The Ship Store can dress, arm and decorate any Salty occasion.

Just in the nick of time, Salty’s stocking three potions that look promising for summer survival: Reef Safe “Back Country,” a waterproof, 30+ SPF sunscreen that has UVA and UVB protection, is nontoxic to sea life and contains citronella oil insect repellent; Reef Safe Back Country “Expedition,” which is the same thing but without sunscreen (8.45-ounce spray bottle, $9.95 each); and No No-See-Ums repellent spray (4-ounce spray bottle, $9.95 each), that repels no-see-ums, mosquitoes and black flies, its Sanibel makers say. The 23-inch-long mermaid couldn’t tell the time of day or which way the wind is blowing. She just looks lovely, topping a 24-inch-tall weathervane-inspired resin and metal sculpture ($74). “I just love her,” says Ship Store manager Christy Bousley, an expert at telling captains and wannabe boaters where to go — in only the best way! — when they call Salty Sam’s. For our photo, we arranged four Optari tote bags like flower petals, lying them down.

The Song In My Head: Air Waves & Stingrays

The first two weeks of my internship I lived with Jeff Taylor, the station manager and morning show co-host, and his family. It was kind of strange at first...living with my boss, but the more I got to know him and his family, the more normal it felt. They are such wonderful people and I am very grateful for their hospitality. For the remainder of my internship, I am living with Jeff's sister and brother-in-law who also live in Cape Coral. They pretty much live in a palace. The first few days here, I'll be honest, I wasn't very comfortable. They live in a ritzy part of the Cape and I'm not used to having soooo much nice stuff. I feel like I'm living in a fancy hotel. But the more I get to know these people, the more I realize how humble they are. Sure, they like to have a spacious house with lots of nice things, but they are incredibly welcoming. They love to have guests and take people out for dinner and just share what God has blessed them with, which I think is pretty awesome. The goal of this internship is to learn everything I can about how WAY-FM runs things because ultimately, I would really like to work at one of their stations someday. I love the mission of WAY-FM! I work nearly 40 hours a week which is providing me with an awesome amount of experience! The only downside is that I'm not getting paid. :( I've gotten to do all sorts of things so far: production, write scripts, set up appointments, web data entry, web graphic design, voice afternoon traffic, automate daily logs, pledge drive, remotes. Notice that I didn't mention getting coffee for anyone. This is how all internships should be. Outside of work, Joy and I are having the best time ever! She has introduced me to a lot of people and we've been exploring what Southwest FL has to offer. Her main group of friends is referred to as the Naked Animals, as named by Jeff Taylor. These people are part of a weekly Bible study group. Jeff felt the need to name Joy's friend groups to keep them all straight. Hence, the Naked Animals. And now we have Animal Crackers every time we hang out. They're an interesting group of people, but there's never a dull moment with them around! For example, we had a Cinco de Mustache party a couple weeks ago and we all wore fake mustaches. It was awesome! And that's just one example of their randomness. I've been going to McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers with Joy. It's definitely the biggest church I've ever been to, but I like it enough.

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