Might be heading to Fort Myers

[Paul_Heery]

Folks,

I could use a recommendation for a place to stay in Fort Myers area around Christmas. I have a lot of PTO to use up before the end of the year and if I don't I lose it.

We are thinking about flying into Fort Myers on December 19. Then renting a car and heading to a hotel/resort in the area where we can just hang out on a beach during the day & go out to decent restaurants for dinner.

Any recommendations for places to stay & places to eat?

[not sharp]

Don't know stay or eat, Must see T Edison and H Ford estates.

[Paul_Heery]

Originally Posted by not sharp

Don't know stay or eat, Must see T Edison and H Ford estates.

We already had that on our to-do list. Since we will be there for the holiday season, they have the estates well lit up for the Edison & Ford Holiday Nights - Edison & Ford Winter Estates

[cjannelli]

Google motels etc on Sanibel and Captiva islands.
Chris

[Baz]

Myers....check.

Meyer...he's that new coach at Ohio University.

Lived in the area (Ft. Myers) for several years back in the 90's.

Too bad you will not be there during Oktoberfest! German American Social Club puts on a fantastic venue.

Sorry I can't point to a specific facility to stay at - there are a LOT of them though. Maybe check with the Chamber of Commerce and AAA or maybe someone here can add some input.

BTW, Summerlin Road is the main drag going to Estero Island (Ft. Myers Beach), Sanibel Island, and Captiva Island.

Good luck and have fun!

[911SauCy]

The wife and I have dropped some heavy $ bar hopping around Ft Myers beach area...but always stayed with G-Ma.

So I have no valuable information to add here.

[Paul_Heery]

Does G-Ma have any small household chores that need to be taken care of? Maybe we can barter?

[id10t]

I'll take hte chance to point out that S Florida is very different from us up here in N Florida. Get in your rental car and head north, check out Silver Springs in Ocala, the Rainbow River in/near Dunnellon, Crystal River, etc. Or come just a little further north to Alachua County where I am

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

Does G-Ma have any small household chores that need to be taken care of? Maybe we can barter?

She has a boyfriend for that

[911michael]

We've stayed twice at the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa. It was nice, especially with a room on the water side.

[95avblm3]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

Folks,

I could use a recommendation for a place to stay in Fort Myers area around Christmas. I have a lot of PTO to use up before the end of the year and if I don't I lose it.

We are thinking about flying into Fort Myers on December 19. Then renting a car and heading to a hotel/resort in the area where we can just hang out on a beach during the day & go out to decent restaurants for dinner.

Any recommendations for places to stay & places to eat?

It's been a few years since I was last down there, but vacationed on sanibel every year from the early '90s into the '00s. So... Stay on Sanibel. If you like old Florida, there is a place called the Island Inn on West Gulf Drive. It is a combination of hotel rooms and cottages. Some of the cottages are old-school FL and pretty cool. I've never been there in the Winter, so not sure how bad the blue-hairs are (no offense to any blue-hairs reading this) but in the summer it is quaint, with beautiful beaches and a pool.

Or...

South Seas Plantation on Captiva I've heard is very nice and under went significant reconstruction after Hurricane Charley in 2004. Never stayed there myself, though.

For restaurants, I recommend the Mucky Duck on Captiva, the Green Flash (also on Captiva), Jensen's (again on Captiva) for the crab races more than the food. On Sanibel, you have to go to Doc Ford's, owned by author Randy Wayne White and named for his main character. There is a great German restaurant in Ft Myer's beach (with good beer), the name of which I can't remember right now.

If you're real adventurous, and I recommend you should be, rent a boat or take the ferry from Pine Island and make your way to Cabbage Key for a Cheeseburger in Paradise. It is only accessible by boat but is well worth the trip. The times I've been, I've arrived by kayak from Cayo Costa State Park, just to the North, so I don't have information on the ferry, but I imagine if you Google Cabbage Key, you will find transportation. BTW, you can also stay on Cabbage Key. This would be a neat experience of you are happy just reading a book on the beach for a week... because unless you have a boat, you are kind of a captive audience there.

For the car guy in you, visit The Revs Institute in Naples... (I think this was formerly known as the Collier Museum and wasn't open to the public). I believe it is now open to the public. It is worth investigating.

Finally, I mentioned Randy Wayne White, the author, above. If you want some fantastic fiction set on Sanibel Island, I recommend any of White's Doc Ford novels. They are fun, quick reads.

Hope this helps.

We are only a couple hours north if you wind up in Tampa.

[Paul_Heery]

Thanks everyone for your input. It has helped significantly in planning our trip. Our plans have changed a bit, mainly based on the economics and the flexibility that we have. Here is what we are now planning to do.

We have arranged for our cat sitter to stay at our place to take care of the kitties while we are out, as well as keep an eye on things.

We will fly into Fort Myers on December 16, not the 19th. Moving it up by three days saved a considerable amount of money. We are flying on JetBlue where they have more legroom so I won't need to bring my Knee Defenders.

We are going to stay at the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa for 5 nights. I know it is not on the island or actually on the beach. But, I have a ton of Marriot points so it is free. We booked a waterfront room, thanks 911michael. This should serve as a good base for our time in the area.

When we arrive at the airport, we will be picking up a convertible rental car from Alamo. The reservation says that it will be a Mustang Convertible or Similar. With my luck, we will get a Chrysler 200. I booked this through Costco and got a rate for a week that was about $400 cheaper than other places.

From there, we are going to drive to the West Palm Beach area to spend a few days with my MIL then fly home via JetBlue.