“Delightful” is the current word of choice.

Useppa Island is a private resort enclave. If you don’t own a home out there, you can buy a membership to the Useppa Island Club, which entitles you to be ON the island, berth in their small but deluxe marina, have lunch at the Collier Club, walk the islands botanical garden trails, but I’m just not sure if you’re welcome to play croquet with the residents, where you must wear all white to play on this golf-green-caliber field.

Folks buy houses here, but most are only actually on the island for a only week or a month at a time. Everyone was very friendly, and seemed like there was a wonderful comeraderie here. You only get to Useppa by boat. That’s one more notch of special. It felt more like a Bahamian island than anything else, with perhaps a bit of a retro-Great-Gatsby Old Florida kind of flashback here and there. Wonderfully curious blend. No cars, only golf carts with which to sneak up on hikers, except for one fire engine and one emergency medical vehicle, of course. 

We had heard about Useppa from other friends and neighbors, but was wonderful to experience it for ourselves.

Friends and neighbors, Jerry and Donna Reilly, invited us to lunch. We got there on their gorgeous thirty-nine foot Grand Banks East Bay fast trawler. While “Little Sarah” (their last boat was a fifty-two foot GB Europa) is capable of thirty-plus fuel-guzzling knots, we were comfortably loafing along at only twenty-three knots (less than 1,900 RPM on big twin diesels) bathed in air-conditioned comfort deep within this completely automated quick-to-plane ship. Another new experience for Kay and me. Quite the sumptuous ride.

 

We found Jerry to be a very knowledgeable boatman with a formidable suite of automation at his command,

And we found Donna to be a gracious hostess:

Kay and I enjoyed being passengers who focused mostly on staying out of the way – a real treat.

What IS all that nonsense going on back there and out there behind the boat? Hmmm… our magic carpet, no doubt. Talk about one smooth ride, even in a light chop on the harbor:

And just like that, we had crossed Charlotte Harbor, south on the ICW, and into the channel at Useppa. Now THIS is a lunch boat!

And this is Useppa:

Our first ever sighting of a salmon-colored motor yacht – striking!

On the “Pink Path” en route to lunch from the marina:

Some of the privately owned waterfront cottages, each of which has its own name, of course (Banyan, Lookout, etc.):

Some have their own private beach out front (waterside). Oh yeah…

The lush botanical richness and diversity of this place is almost startling. This is a close-up of a night-blooming Iris. It looks like snakes made of cactus that wrap around, and indeed, engulf many of the palm trees. They bloom only at night (we believe these were a couple of last night’s blooms now partially retired). Tonight, there will be an entire new crop of blooms!

It appears that you could graft any species of plant to just about any other species in this place, and they would not only grow and develop a strong symbiotic relationshup, but lusciously flourish together! That’s probably overstating the reality of it, but that’s truly what appears to be happening here. Jerry and I must have hiked a good two miles and seemingly, never saw the same thing twice

Turtles, turtles everywhere!

The biggest banyan tree (at least the most dramatic) we had ever seen (notice that its root system spans the pathway:

 

Our hosts, Donna and Jerry:

We had a very nice lunch in the shade by the pool, while being entertained by live tropical steel drum music

Boys and girls enjoying a round of croquet, when not reposing in a comfortable rattan sofa under the courtside pavilion (roughin’ it!):

Enough, already. You get the idea. Nice place. Isolated. Exclusive. Expensive (I guess). We never saw the bill for lunch. Next one’s on us, Donna and Jerry! Thanks for a memorable afternoon.

Lator, ‘gators…