Beyond the Glam in South BeachSouth Beach has been a hot and hyped destination for more than a decade, and sometimes it's hard to separate the glam from the good.
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Florida
CAPTIVA ISLAND, Fla. -- On Aug. 13, 2004, a Friday, Chris van der Baars sat in Fort Myers watching coverage of Hurricane Charley on television. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The storm, originally expected to hit the coast farther north in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, was passing near the islands of Sanibel and Captiva. To be precise, it was crossing directly over the 330-acre South Seas Resort on the northern tip of Captiva, where van der Baars is the general manager. As he watched, Charley did a little loop backward over the island before heading north again.
Two days earlier, van der Baars had evacuated 1,500 guests and staff from the resort.
''It's a simple decision. You think of the worst consequence and then try to avoid it," he said.
The worst, indeed. In only three hours, Charley had strengthened from a Category 2 storm, with 110-mile-per-hour winds, into a 150-mile-per-hour Category 4 monster, becoming the strongest hurricane to strike Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The resort, which in high winter season could accommodate 3,500 guests, was nearly destroyed.
''The street was 15 to 20 feet deep with trees and debris. There wasn't a single building untouched. We had to put in new walls, floors, plumbing, electric, you name it. Only the concrete structures remained," said van der Baars, who slept in his office without power for eight months in the wake of the storm.
Foliage was also heavily damaged. It cost more than $1 million to prune and pull out twisted mangrove roots by hand. Van der Baars estimates that repairs at the resort, which has yet to reopen, have topped $140 million.
''If there's a silver lining to all of this, it's that we had planned to begin a renovation in September 2004. The hurricane speeded this up, since we couldn't do it in parts. We have 400,000 guests a year come through here. South Seas Resort is a huge engine for the larger community," he said.
Van der Baars is not just bragging about the role his resort plays on Captiva and Sanibel, neighboring subtropical barrier islands just off the west coast of Florida. Over a recent three-day visit, local residents and business owners consistently mentioned South Seas as they described the physical and economic devastation Hurricane Charley left behind. They also had their own tales of survival.
On one sunny day, the tables and benches in front of the Mucky Duck restaurant and bar were filled with visitors lunching on fish and chips, oyster po'boys, and English pub food. The Gulf of Mexico sparkled beyond the beach where people were gathering the plentiful shells that have made these islands famous. On the horizon, barges were dredging sand to replenish the shoreline. It was hard to imagine the power of the storm in such an idyllic scene.
''It was like a bomb went off out here," said Victor Mayeron, owner of the Mucky Duck. ''The patio was covered by 18 inches of sand. Our outdoor bar was up in a tree. The music stand totally disappeared."
The storm pulled off part of the roof, allowing water inside, which caused the ceiling tiles to collapse. All the tables and chairs were ruined and the wood floor warped. Still, Mayeron counts himself lucky, as the restaurant reopened nine weeks later.
''There was absolutely no business out here. I felt the sooner we got open the better. Everything we lost is just stuff," he said. ''We've been so fortunate. You can't replace human life -- that's the tragedy -- the rest can be fixed."
One of the noticeable differences is the absence of the canopy of mainly Australian pines that lined Periwinkle Way and Captiva Drive, the main thoroughfares. Some of the islands' lush feel and a certain sense of privacy are gone.
Plans to restore the canopy differ between the islands, in part because, in 1974, the city of Sanibel incorporated, breaking off from Lee County to form its own government. According to Steve Greenstein, the executive director of the Sanibel and Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce, the roadway replanting on Captiva is the responsibility of the individual residential owners, who can plant according to their own taste and design of their properties.
On Sanibel, three civic organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, have formed the Periwinkle Partnership. This group has implemented a master plan to restore the canopy on Sanibel using all native plants, and to add amenities like drinking fountains, rest areas, and bike racks.
''We anticipate the first plantings to take place this summer. There will be no irrigation system, so we're waiting for the rainy season," said Greenstein.
At the J.N. ''Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel, most vegetation is growing again, according to lead Park Ranger Kevin Godsea.
''What visitors will notice is that the back half-mile of the trail was devastated and is not coming back. That part was an ancient red mangrove forest, which can't restore itself naturally like sea grapes, Gumbo Limbo trees, or even black and white mangroves. On Shell Mound Trail, we lost what was the largest red mangrove tree in the nation," said Godsea.
Refuge biologists are still assessing the disruption to the lives of wading birds, like egrets, herons, and cormorants, that nest in communities called rookeries. The loss of canopy on some of the hundreds of tiny islands that dot the refuge exposed the wildlife to heat and predators.
''We were lucky that the storm hit in August when it wouldn't disrupt the fall migration patterns, though the sea turtles that usually hatch then were hurt," Godsea said.
The migrating patterns of humans are easier to track. At the Bubble Room, the decorative and colorful 1930s and '40s memorabilia in the dining rooms complements the ottoman-sized cakes in a glass display case. Jim George, the general manager, spouts statistics by rote.
''We were closed for 98 days after the storm. The first year we did 65 percent of the previous year's business. This year we're running at 82 percent, which isn't bad. According to our credit card records, Massachusetts makes up the major percentage of our guest base. We're not happy that sales are down, but we'll make it."
With more than $200,000 in damage, and a shortage of manpower and materials in the state, George and his staff quickly learned how to hammer, caulk, and paint. When he did reopen, many of his bartenders, cooks, and waitpersons had taken full-time jobs in the construction industry, leaving him understaffed.
''It would be nice if all the restaurant people who work up in Cape Cod in the summer would come down here in the winter," George said with a smile.
Early this month it was announced that
One business that benefited from South Seas being closed is the 'Tween Waters Inn on Captiva. Built in the 1920s as a fishing camp, the inn sits on a narrow 13-acre strip of land between Pine Island Sound and the Gulf. Though it's only a few miles down the road from South Seas, the damage to the 'Tween Waters was comparatively light. With 350 guest beds, 'Tween Waters managed to reopen three weeks after the storm.
''We had about $1.5 million in damage," said Jeff Shuff, the general manager. ''The roof of the marina came off and we lost our entire inventory. And our docks were damaged, though only one of our 19 cottages, and a handful of our motel rooms were hurt."
Not all businesses fared as well. According to Greenstein, about 25 businesses closed their doors permanently as a result of the storm. He estimates the islands suffered as much as $1 billion in damage from Hurricane Charley.
Gaye Levine and her partner purchased their Captiva restaurant, Redfish Blufish, 10 days before the hurricane struck. ''Our business plan was predicated on South Seas being open. The impact has been severe from a business standpoint. After we finally opened, we were picked as having one of the 10 best chefs in South Florida, yet we literally have to take it day by day," Levine said.
''How long will it be before tourism gets back to normal here? I frame this in terms of Hurricane Andrew [in 1992], which I lived through," Levine said. ''That took three to four years. Look at New Orleans. That will take five to 10 years. It's a disaster. That's the key word. You gotta do what you have to to survive. I may have to save my business by moving off the island."
Not everyone thinks it will take so long to recover from Charley.
Charles Ball, a housepainter known to everyone as Barefoot Charlie, was enjoying a grilled panini, barefoot, at the popular Sanibel Bean coffee shop on Periwinkle Way.
''Sanibel is almost running at full blast," Ball said. ''And in my eyes, it's just as beautiful as it always was."
Contact Necee Regis, a freelance writer who lives in Boston and Miami Beach, at neceeregis@yahoo.com. 
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
Beyond the Glam in South BeachSouth Beach has been a hot and hyped destination for more than a decade, and sometimes it's hard to separate the glam from the good.
