Southwest Florida
The southwest coast of Florida features one eccentric beach enclave after another. Roaming through the region's coastal villages and small barrier islands, wayside wanderers will find pirate hideouts, unusual pioneer settlements and famous winter retreats. Many of the area's most unique, off-the-beaten-path locales are best reached by boat and best navigated on foot or by bicycle.In Fort Myers, visitors biking or driving down McGregor Boulevard will soon discover how the town came to be known as the "City of Palms." Originally a cattle trail, the scenic boulevard is now lined by nearly 1,800 royal palms, some planted by the city's famed winter resident Thomas Edison. Edison's mark can be seen elsewhere in the picturesque city. Beyond his famed winter estate, travelers can explore the Edison Park subdivision and find the Thomas Edison Congregational Church as well as an assortment of Mediterranean revival, neoclassical and Greek revival homes dating back to the turn of the century.
Sparkling off the Lee County coast, Sanibel and Captiva Islands are among the best known islands in the region, popular for their excellent shelling and captivating beaches. But visitors will also find picturesque paths and historical gems tucked along Sanibel's main thoroughfare -- Periwinkle Way. On this lush island, where all the buildings must be lower than the tallest palm, the sites are best seen by cycling along Periwinkle Way's canopy of whispering pines and expansive banyans.
Visit the Sanibel Historical Village and Museum, which showcases the island's history with special touches such as a pioneer-vintage island residence and 1920s-versions of a general store, post office and tea room. Or stop by the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum for a dazzling display of shells that wash up on the island. At the east end of Periwinkle Way, travelers can get an up-close look at one of the region's most photographed landmarks, the Sanibel Lighthouse, which dates back to 1884 when the entire island was a wildlife refuge. Its two adjacent stilt houses are typical of Florida architecture at the turn of the century.
Next, island hop to a string of colorful communities with histories as retreats for the rich and famous. Situated at Milemarker 60 in the Intracoastal Waterway, Cabbage Key is actually a 100-acre ancient Calusa Indian shell mound. Accessible only by boat, the island centers around a white clapboard inn built by mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart and her son in 1938. Today, the inn offers rustic guest rooms and cottages, plus a restaurant wallpapered entirely in autographed $1 bills. According to legend, a local fisherman tacked the first one to the wall so he would be guaranteed a cold beer on his next visit. Subsequent visitors followed suit, and today an estimated $20,000 covers the walls. The inn's famous clientele, past and present, includes Ernest Hemingway, Walter Cronkite and Julia Roberts. Music fans will be interested to know it was the inn's delectable fare that inspired Jimmy Buffet's song "Cheeseburger in Paradise." Daytrippers can enjoy the inn's hospitality and climb a wooden water tower for a spectacular view of Pine Island Sound.
Tucked amid the Ten Thousand Islands strung along the southernmost reaches of the Gulf of Mexico, visitors will find Marco Island. Although today a popular beach vacation destination, the island still retains remnants from its days as a turn-of-the-century Indian trading post. Visitors can dine at Olde Marco Inn, a quaint gathering place for islanders since 1883, or stop by Smallwood's Store, a 1906 general-store-turned-museum that displays old patent medicines, ledgers and hand tools, plus pelts and hides once swapped for supplies. For more ancient and mysterious sights, visit the remains of the Marco Island witch's watchtower, remnants of the Caxambas clam colony, ancient Indian burial mounds or the Cushing Archaeological Site, where 3,500-year-old Native American artifacts have been unearthed. On the mainland, Everglades City, known as "the town where time stood still," breathes the legacy of Indians, poachers and gun-runners. The town's historical centerpiece is the Rod and Gun Club, a grand Southern lodge built in 1840 by fur traders. Now a 17-room inn with an eccentric eatery, the club offers visitors a wide veranda where they can sit in the same surroundings that once hosted millionaires and dignitaries such as President Roosevelt.
