I swear SIRI is listening. Am I right? She definitely reads my texts and notes because shortly thereafter declaring my business intention I discovered an island on Realtor.com.

This property on Cayo Costa in Florida just kept showing up so much that I convinced my husband to take a 36 hour trip south to check it out. I enlisted Britney, my dear friend and realtor, to connect me with Mark Meuller, a local agent, and after an 8+ hour drive, plus a ferry ride, then another 20 minute boat ride we landed on this idyllic island. It was absolutely divine. However, I quickly realized a house without electricity, yet powered by a life size wall of batteries and gas generators, was way beyond my pay grade. Living off the grid as romantic as it sounds, was just not for me. 

Disenchanted, we climbed back on the boat to make a ferry back to the mainland. Lucky for us, Mark actually lived on the island where the ferry docked so he gave us a quick tour of North Captiva Island. In that 30 minutes we were smitten. Again. An island in the states that felt like miles away from civilization, yet had water and internet, but no cars—just acres of preserves and sandy roads —sign us up. 

And that’s what we did. We signed a few contracts along the way (Covid created a crazy market out there too) and eventually in January 2021 bought a piece of land to start STAY127. 

One dream and 27 years later. ✧