Foo - Going to Ft.Myers-Sanibel, Florida

in June. It will be my first time in Florida so I'm super excited. Anyone ever been there before?? Can you offer up any suggested places to see or things to do. I'm going with BF and his mother for 4-days. She owes property out there and I guess we are right on the beach. I will be doing lots of playing on the beach.

That sounds so nice. I know that there are a lot of BF members from Florida so hopefully they'll be able to come up with some good things. Have a great time!

Thanks Lex. I'm SOO excited. We just booked our tickets to fly out there lastnight. Its going to be a change of pace for us cause starting April 8th bf has a bike race every month until September!!!!!!!

Funny.

I'm going to FL for the first time in my life next week. I'm staying in Sarasota, Long Boat Key on the beach. We're staying for a week.

I was down in Sanibel back in January. Sunny and in the 70's every day I was there.

One of the great things about Sanibel is the amazing lack of touristy stuff to do. It's not a 'party island,' and it's not Disney, but more of a place where more mature adults can just chill out and wander the beaches looking for shells.

There are bike paths along all the main roads, and traffic will stop for you, by law. Ride around on a beach cruiser and you'll fit right in. I did a nice 24 mile ride, but can tell you that pedalling a heavy Caloi cruiser into the wind for the final 12 miles is a *workout.*

Go out to Ding Darling nature preserve and get up close with some gators and the occassional croc. Paddle through the mangrove channels off of Tarpon Bay.

Sanibel's not that big, but it is a very relaxing place to be.

Thanks CyLowe97, The place that we are staying at has beach cruisers so we are definitely doing that.

Telenick, WAY COOL. Have a great time and I bet you can't wait to get out of that snow up in leadville.

By the way, you're never far from the beach on either side of Sanibel or Captiva.

Do you know where you're staying? We had a place down at the lighthouse end of the island called Shell Island Beach Club. They had cruisers to lend out for folks staying there.

I've been to Ft. Myers/Sanibel a time or two. I can't recommend much that I can think of other than Sanibel itself. Quite nice.

There is some well known restaurant on Sanibel called "The bubble room" or something like that.....I wasn't too impressed. So I'd suggest not wasting your time.

We are staying at the Caribe Beach Resort. They do have beach cruisers already.
Thanks KingTermite for the info.
I do understand its a retirement place and that its mellow there which is great for us.

At the Ft. Myers airport, I remember thinking to myself, "Wow, there's a lot of fat people in Florida. Why don't they exercise? It's always warm here." At Sanibel, I've seen people fish, windsurf, picnic, swim, and maybe even snorkel. There's also a boat trips if you wanna see other parts of Fla.

You've got to get ON the water!!!

Rent a kayak, go fishing, take a tour...

See if you can get up to the South Seas Plantation on Captiva for a day, eat lunch, and try to bum/charter a ride over to Cabbage Key. Supposedly that's what inspired Jimmy Buffet to write 'Cheeseburger in Paradise'.

Boca Grande is nice as well. Tarpon fishing in the pass is AMAZING, but that may be the tail end of the season...

http://www.bocagrandechamber.com/members/visitors.php?searchby=1
http://www.cabbagekey.com/default.htm
http://www.cabbagekey.com/gettinghere.htm
http://www.captivacruises.com/

http://www.cabbagekey.com/new_images-6-01/aerial_marina.jpg

I live in Tampa but have spent a week on vacation at Ft. Myers Beach. The beach itself was okay. It is nice and wide but had lots of sea debris (seaweed and stuff). I took my hybrid and rode on the beach road. Not too bad, but kind of busy and not very wide. In June, due to the onshore breeze, expect rain. I got caught several times. They are usually small and over quickly. It will be hot and muggy. Drink lots of water. Sanibel and Captiva Islands are worth a look. I think they have a bike path. Ding Darling is cool too. You can ride a bike through there as well but you need fat tires. We saw all sorts of wildlife including Manatees when we went. Don’t forget to play “goofy golf” while you’re on the beach. :)

I hope you enjoy the warmth that Florida stole from NH :(

Sanibel is a nice place. It has a bike lane/path that runs the length of the island. In Aug 04 Hurricane Charley split the island in two and did a lot of damage to both Sanibel and Captiva. Last time I was down there, about a year ago, there was still lots of damage. Not a vacation destination at that time. I'm sure there's been progress in getting things in shape but it wouldn't hurt to ask about how things look now.

tom, that's a good thing to check out. I was in Sanibel just two months ago and pretty much everything seemed to be open. The time-share that we were in (it's my in-law's time share) was out of commission back in 2005, but was ready to go in 2006. They had reports on the property manager's website indicating when they were back up and open.

The devistation is evident mainly in seeing tons of trees down on the gulf side of the island.

Yes, Its my bf's mother time-share that we will be going to. She actually has two there and the other one was destroyed last year. So we won't be going to that one.
I'm not really worried about down trees and such cause it will be my first time there and I really won't know what to expect.
It will be great however.
Thanks everyone for the helpful hints and suggestions.

Snowy.

Good for you snowy!! We have a family house near Fort Myers, Fort Myers is a tourist trap.. Sanibel Island is much prettier and out of the way.. the best place for shelling!!! I would suggest you go to the Bubble room in Sinabel Island, the food is really good and the place is so neat, but what they are really known for is thier deserts.. omg.. to die for! and the portion is HUGE.. hope you have a sweet tooth!

I hope you enjoy the warmth that Florida stole from NH :(
huh? I went running today a nice 6 miler and it was 58 degrees!!! it's suppose to stay this warm for a while.. 50's is not bad for NH in march!

Welcome! Bring your sunscreen!

huh? I went running today a nice 6 miler and it was 58 degrees!!! it's suppose to stay this warm for a while.. 50's is not bad for NH in march!
58? Where was this?

Last week it was all in the 30's, that was crap.

58? Where was this?

Last week it was all in the 30's, that was crap.
where was it? In New Hampshire of course! and are you talking about last week or now?? lol.. cause it's been in the 50's all week and will stay this way all through next week too!! pretty nice to me for March! picky, picky!!!:)