Quote:
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?
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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.