The Inn has opened … but where has our Picnic Basket gone?
The Picnic Basket is gone. It was not taken by a wayward bear named Yogi, but instead has disappeared because of a complaint to Lee County by a Boca Grande resident.
The basis of the complaint made in September was that it was parked on “undeveloped land,” which is specifically mentioned in Lee County code as being against regulation. The inspector who came out also cited the fact that the food trailer had tables and chairs set up, as well as shade umbrellas.
It appears that a complaint was filed by the same person earlier in the year as well, not too long after the Picnic Basket opened. They are linked together on the Lee County Code Enforcement page.
The little trailer that was wrapped to look as though it was a basket was run by The Gasparilla Inn & Club and had been there since the beginning of February. It featured Buddy Brew coffee, as well as donuts, pastries, scones, coffee cake and more. It was a very popular little spot, truth be told, as it was the closest thing the island had left to the Inn Bakery that was taken out after Hurricane Ian deposited our cell phone tower on top of it.
Will the Picnic Basket be back? Gasparilla Inn General Manager Jon Reecher doesn’t know yet. He said finding a place for it where it would be allowed under Lee County code is very difficult, as is the fact that the code states the trailer would have to be removed when vending is not taking place.
While Reecher (as well as the rest of us) seemed a bit dejected about the loss of the Picnic Basket, he was optimistic about The Inn’s opening, which took place on Wednesday, Oct. 4. He said everything was running smoothly, the Inn Golf Course is in excellent shape and they had 60 golfers out that day, testing the course.
As an interesting side note to this story, while perusing the code complaints called in for the 33921 zip code since January 1 of this year, there were 79 complaints about sea turtle lighting issues (not that the turtles weren’t well enough lit, that homes on the beach had too many lights on). There were also several complaints about missing soffit and facia on homes … and some of those complaints were just a few months after Hurricane Ian.
