Vice President Pence arrives in SWFL for weekend vacation on Sanibel

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Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Southwest FLorida for a planned vacation to Sanibel this weekend.

Pence arrived at Southwest Florida International Airport at 4:05 p.m. Friday and is expected to depart Sunday.

A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) for VIP movement is issued for an area of Sanibel Island from 2:45 p.m. Friday to 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

The vice president has visited Sanibel around this time for the last two years.

In those two years, Pence has visited Maryann Banta’s salon. She has a signed thank-you note from Pence hanging on her wall.

“He said he would come see me whenever he’s here,” Banta said.

He made headlines in 2017 after meeting a shark hunter on the beach who caught a 500-pound fish.

But not everyone on Sanibel is happy to hear Pence is planning to visit. Allan Sylester, a Sanibel Island resident, said he expects more congestion beyond the normal bumper-to-bumper traffic.
“Then you get the vice president in town,” Sylester said. “It’s going to triple that.”

To time out the congestion, the City of Sanibel traffic app has the latest road closure information.

Flights will likely be impacted. Get the latest arrival and departure info from RSW here.

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