Jilted by the Red Sox

For more information about vacation rentals and real estate please visit www.SWFloridaRentals-Team.com  Contact Christina Felgenhauer Phone: 1-239-699-1462 or email us swfloridarentals@gmail.com

With news Saturday that the Boston Red Sox signed a deal with Lee County, Sarasota once again became the bridesmaid — not the bride — of spring training.

It was a big disappointment to thousands of Sarasotans who eagerly wooed the team. And coming after the Cincinnati Reds — the city’s current stadium partner — “broke up” with us to move to Arizona, the community is now a two-time loser, baseball-wise.

Sarasota could be tempted to crawl off and nurse its wounded ego. Civic energy is drained after years of often bitter public debate over various proposals to perpetuate — and subsidize — the city’s baseball tradition. A respite from the battle and a little time to recharge would be welcome.

But reality won’t allow it. The clock is ticking toward the day when city taxpayers are the only ones left to shoulder the entire maintenance costs of Ed Smith Stadium. Sarasota needs to find another team or an alternative use for the facility.

There is interest in talking with the Baltimore Orioles, who need a new spring training home, but signs suggest the team is in no rush to chat with local officials. The O’s are being courted by other cities in Florida as well.

There also has been some discussion about turning the stadium property into a north-county recreational complex, to be run by the county.

In short, the situation is tenuous and unclear.

The County Commission is scheduled today to consider raising the tourist tax, a step proposed weeks ago as a means of helping the Red Sox. But with Boston now out of the picture, the situation is too cloudy to go forward with an increase.

Commissioners should shelve a tourist tax hike until they have a better sense of how the revenue would be spent. (Baseball is not the only option). Input from the local tourism industry is essential.

In the meantime, make sure the Orioles understand that Sarasota means business — and hasn’t given up hope.

Source: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081104/OPINION/811040321?Title=Jilted_by_the_Red_Sox

Fort Myers, Florida Overview

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Fort Myers is on the lower Gulf Coast of Florida, 125 miles south of Tampa. Positioned slightly inland of the coast and on the Caloosahatchee River, it was best known as the winter home of Thomas Edison. The old city by the river has undergone renovation after renovation and is worth a look. The drive out MacGregor Boulevard from downtown is unforgettable. Side roads off the Boulevard are filled with lush, tropical landscapes and wonderful old houses.Fort Myers provides Spring Training for a few Major League Baseball teams. It also has a Minor League home team. There is winter minor league hockey in Estero, 20 minutes south.

Due to its location and favorable climate,

The area is replete with boating activities. Saltwater canals, refreshed from the tidal flows into the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River from the Gulf of Mexico, are all along its river and bay shorelines. Great fishing can be experienced in the abundant back bay areas or offshore in the Gulf. These waters, with their associated tributaries and estuaries are also great for wildlife viewing and photographic expeditions. Several local islands, which can be reached only by boat, offer a day at the beach in solitary comfort.

The Intracoastal Waterway runs through the bays which border the Fort Myers shoreline and memorable vacation trips up and down the coastline are possible for even smaller boats. There is also an Intracoastal Waterway running through the Caloosahatchee River allowing travel from the East Coast at Stuart through Lake Okeechobee and past Fort Myers to the Gulf of Mexico. It also intersects with the Gulf and Atlantic Intracoastal Waterways.

The Southwest Florida International Airport is 15 minutes southeast of the city. Eco parks abound with the Orange River area, east of Fort Myers, providing manatees and other exotics.

Source:  http://www.florida-tourism.net/southwest-florida/fort-myers.htm

County officials agree to stadium plan for Red Sox; Funds from tourist tax

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Lee County commissioners on Tuesday gave their blessing to a deal that could keep the Boston Red Sox in Lee County for 50 spring trainings to come.

Team vice president for operations Mike Dee said he expects to get an answer from team owners within a week. Dee said the commissioners’ approval sets the tone for a long-term stay.

“It provides the framework for many years to come,” he said.

That framework calls for the county to finance and build a new stadium somewhere south of Daniels Parkway between U.S. 41 and the future route of County Road 951, just east of Interstate 75. The team wants a Fenway Park replica, complete with Green Monster, ready for play in December 2011 but no later than December 2012.

The county has until the end of the year to come up with a preliminary budget, then until Jan. 15 to have financing. An architect must be signed on by Feb. 1, then a site of at least 80 acres nailed down somewhere in the target area by June.

The cost will be borne by as much as a 20 percent portion of the 5 percent tourist tax. The county expects the tax, paid on lodgings of six months or less, to generate just more than $22 million next year.

The deal would be for 30 years, with two potential 10-year renewals. Lease payments would rise from the $300,000 the team pays now to $500,000, and they would rise 3 percent every five years thereafter.

Currently a full third of the tax goes to beach and shoreline projects. A 53.6 percent share goes for advertising and Visitor and Convention Bureau operations. The remaining 13.4 percent goes to make the existing $900,000 payments on Hammond Stadium, the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins, and to fund not-for-profit attractions.

Commissioner Frank Mann said something will have to give.

“To increase the percentage committed to baseball it has to come from somewhere,” he said. “Where’s it coming from?”

If there is an unexpected storm and beach renourishment needs are more than anticipated there may be no money, Mann said.

“That full 20 percent will be committed,” he said. “Marketing money is the last available money.”

Commissioner Bob Janes said he could support the deal based on assurances the money for beach and shoreline projects would not be reduced.

“I’ll jump up and down on any attempt to take money from the beach programs we have,” he said.

Janes approved the reallocation of tourist tax revenue but missed the vote approving the deal framework. He said he would have supported the deal, but was giving Red Ribbon awards at a lunch hosted by the Lee County Coalition for a Drug Free Southwest Florida.

Commissioner Tammy Hall said commissioners and members of the Tourist Development Council will decide how to change the percentages later.

“There was a question whether the 33 percent would stay with beaches and shores and not go to marketing,” she said. “People in the industry want to look at overall numbers.”

Hall said the county can promote tourism, fund beach projects and still build a new stadium.

Only Commissioner Brian Bigelow voted against the deal. calling it a sweetheart deal for the Sox.

“It feels like it’s too good for them,” he said, quoting a Saturday Night Live skit. “‘Baseball’s been very, very good to them’ and not so good to us.”

Bigelow said there is no assurance the county can find another team to play in the City of Palms Park, the Red Sox’s existing spring home, or even that the team will agree to share it while their new stadium is under construction.

Dee said the team might agree to share “under the right considerations.”

“We’re very supportive of your effort to land another team,” he said.

Dee said there would be logistical issues with sharing the stadium, everything from practice areas and times to game schedules.

When the commission-appointed Tourist Development Council discussed the tax reallocation a week ago, they agreed to the arrangement. The vote was unanimous, but only five of the nine members were there.

Coastal hotel owners, who collect the bulk of the tax, have expressed some doubts about devoting so much of the tax to an inland stadium.

“We contribute greatly to the tourist taxes,” said Sonja Smith of the Condo Association of Sanibel Island. “Not a lot of business comes to us.”

Stadium funding does not really promote year-round tourism, Smith said, and taking money away from marketing efforts might hurt high-end coastal properties competing oversees.

A potential wild card left in the deck is Sarasota County.

Sarasota began courting the Red Sox a few months ago after the Cincinnati Reds announced they would be leaving for Arizona after next spring. County commissioners there will discuss raising their own tourist tax to fund a potential new stadium today.

“I always think there’s a chance,” said Elsie Souza, who has coordinator for the Sarasota group Citizens for Sox and who made the trek to Fort Myers on Tuesday.

John Yarbrough, the retired county parks director who has served as unpaid consultant for the county working with the team, said he expects Dee to convince the owners to agree.

“Mike is pretty darn comfortable with it,” he said. “Since he negotiated it I have to think he’s going to help sell it.”

Dee told commissioners that the 120,000 New Englanders who attended games here this year could swell to 180,000 or 190,000. The new stadium would have room for as many as 12,000 fans, up from around 8,000 at the City of Palms Park.

“New England has flocked to Southwest Florida since 1992,” Dee said.

Dee told commissioners he had planned on being in Philadelphia, where the Rays are playing the Phillies in the World Series. Yarbrough said the Sox falling short may have helped produce Tuesday’s agreement.

“Over the last week or so the Sox have been very engaged,” he said.

Source: http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=22315

 

Fort Myers Beach Overview

For more information about vacation rentals and real estate please visit www.SWFloridaRentals-Team.com  Contact Christina Felgenhauer Phone: 1-239-699-1462 or email us swfloridarentals@gmail.com

 

 

Fort Myers Beach Overview

 

Most vacationers get their first glimpse of Fort Myers Beach’s beauty from the top of the Matanzas Pass Bridge. To the left, shrimp boats cluster around docks in the historic working waterfront area, designated by the state due to its 50-plus years in the commercial fishing industry.

On the right: marinas, a casino boat, Coast Guard station and rookery dot Matanzas Pass before surging into the Gulf of Mexico. The sight that transforms visitors into residents lies straight ahead.

Boomerang-shaped Estero Island cups the glittering Gulf of Mexico, which flowers with pastel hotels, palm trees and Times Square with its teal, gold and Mediterranean blue-tiled sidewalks, upscale sushi bars, neighborly watering holes, and funky souvenir shops.

In the afternoon, sun worshippers flock to Lynn Hall Memorial Park armed with beach towels, sunscreen, beach chairs and swim fins to enjoy everything from refreshing dips in the waves to stolen siestas under hot pink, yellow and orange umbrellas.

As neon lights flicker on in bars and restaurants, a quick drive or hike to the northernmost point of Estero Island — Bowditch Point Regional Preserve — offers the best spot for watching the colorful sunsets.

Nightlife at Fort Myers Beach is vibrant, with places to dance, sing karaoke, or listen to live bands seven nights (and days) a week.

Source:  http://www.flguide.com/fmb/index.asp

Families enjoy Cape Coral’s Oktoberfest

For more information about vacation rentals and real estate please visit www.SWFloridaRentals-Team.com  Contact Christina Felgenhauer Phone: 1-239-699-1462 or email us swfloridarentals@gmail.com

 

Families enjoy Cape Coral’s Oktoberfest

People regardless of heritage have the opportunity to be a bit German at the 23rd annual Oktoberfest being celebrated this weekend and next in Cape Coral.“Every year we try to make it a little bit better. I see all the cars out there and it’s looking pretty good,” said Klaus Kohl, advisor for the event put on by the German-American Social Club of Cape Coral.

The event has music, singing, dancing, food, beverages, and games and rides for children.

“We’re stressing that this is an event for the whole family,” Kohl said.

An estimated 35,000 will be attending the two-weekend event, organizers said.

After Oktoberfest, the board of directors will vote on charities that will receive some of the proceeds, said Kohl’s wife, Teresa Kohl, co-chairman of the event.

Last year, more than $15,000 was raised for charities. Some organization that have received money from past Oktoberfests include the American Red Cross, Hope Hospice and Make A Wish Foundation, she said.

All this is made possible by the six days from Friday through today and next Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the club’s 25 acres on Pine Island Road.

 

 

During Oktoberfest, Southwest Florida residents can sample German food, listen to traditional music played by the Maselheimer Musicians from Germany, while sipping lots of beer.About 700 barrels of beer — Budweiser and Warsteiner, a German brew — will be consumed, Klaus Kohl said.

“The beer’s cold all the way to the bottom of the glass,” said Walt Irizarry, 26, of San Carlos Park, who was attending his fourth Octoberfest.

But the festival is for the younger set as well.

“Mom, look how high I’m going,” said Cody Jones, 7, of south Fort Myers, as he tried out the bungee jump.

“We come here every year. I love it,” said his mother, Ramona Jones.

 

 

 Source:  http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200881018032

 

 

Cape Coral, Florida – Visitor Information

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Cape Coral is the largest city in Lee county with a population, in 2006, of more than 150,000. It is the second largest in Florida in size with a land mass of 114 square miles. It has over 400 miles of canals with thousands of homes on canals, some with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico by way of the mile-wide Caloosahatchee River or Charlotte Harbor. The city’s Western border is a “no-build” ecological buffer zone with miles of pine forest, mangroves and tidal flats along Charlotte Harbor and area bays. The Northwestern  portion has been incorporated in the Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park and this buffer zone now opens up miles of hiking trails for the avid explorer.

The temperate climate encourages tourism and attracts golfers, as well as fishing, boating and tennis enthusiasts. Visitors enjoy the community spirit identified in some of the community activities. The Holiday Boat-a-Long around Christmas boasts a parade of decorated and well-lit watercraft cruising area canals. An annual Jazz Festival sees thousands of residents gather at one of the local parks and each year the Arts Festival brings visitors and tourists from far and wide for a variety of arts and crafts.

Visitors enjoy the local Eco Park which offers canoe and kayak rentals for exploring the mangroves, walking trails including a boardwalk and a chance to observe some local wildlife. Bottlenose dolphin are often seen in area waters and manatees inhabit the shallow coastal waters and rivers, living off the rich and abundant plant life. The burrowing owl is an area favorite and an endangered species. They are about the size of a barn own and are often found in vacant lots. Many species of wading birds can be seen along the shorelines thrilling visitors and residents alike. The bald eagle readily makes homes in the more remote tall pines during its annual Florida winter migration.

This growing community boasts a number of activities and attractions. Sun Splash Waterpark is a family favorite. Access to some of the finest Gulf Coast beaches is a 30-45 minute drive from the Cape and the city’s parks department is continually refining and active in the development of new recreation areas.

Source: http://www.florida-tourism.net/southwest-florida/cape-coral.htm

Cape Coral Overview

For more information about vacation rentals and real estate please visit www.SWFloridaRentals-Team.com  Contact Christina Felgenhauer Phone: 1-239-699-1462 or email us swfloridarentals@gmail.com

 

Cape Coral Overview

 

Welcome to “Paradise” — the largest “small town” between Tampa and Miami!

 

In 2005, it was named the second fastest growing city in the US by a national news magazine. Shortly after, it was billed by a business magazine as the best place in the country for finding a job.

 

Formerly overshadowed by the more cosmopolitan Fort Myers across the bridge, Cape Coral has indeed come into its own. With a wide sandy beach, swaying palms, friendly folks and city-sponsored activities, “the Cape” has a small-town feel despite its quick growth.

 

With more canals than Venice, Italy, this boaters’ paradise is quickly becoming a permanent home for people hailing from all points in the US — and further abroad. The city welcomes about 10,000 newcomers each year as the secret of Cape Coral slips out.

 

Born of a dream of the Rosen brothers of Baltimore, land in Cape Coral was originally parceled out by mail. Those interested in purchasing their own piece of paradise could pay off their land bit by bit.

 

Upon retiring — or upon tiring of the Northern weather — people from all walks of life moved to their property in the Cape and began building

 

The Rosen brothers and their staff embarked on a campaign to bring people to the area, resulting in a city philosophy in which the city gives back to its residents in the form of well-maintained parks and free recreational activities.

 

In the ’60s and ’70s, residents could visit the Rose Garden and see the porpoise show, “oooh” and “ah” over Waltzing Waters, or stroll quietly through the gardens.

 

In 2005, the city celebrated its 35th birthday; many Cape pioneers were in the area long before that, braving mosquitos, dirt roads, and no air conditioning. Pioneers are proud of their contributions to the town that was a dream.

 

Today, visitors and residents alike can take advantage of the many parks in the area, such as Jaycee Park, Rotary Park, Four Freedoms Park, and the Cape Coral Yacht Club. The Yacht Club, which dead-ends off Coronado, is accessible by car or boat, and with the days upon days of sunshine that Cape Coral offers, everything is accessible by bicycle or walking.

 

The Yacht Club is one of the city’s landmarks, offering visitors 634 feet of beach, a covered picnic area, playground, and a 93-slip yacht basin. It also has a heated pool, racquetball courts, and horseshoe pits.

 

The William Austen Youth Center and Eagle Skate Park, at 315 SW 2nd Avenue, has a state-of-the-art park for all ages. Dedicated in 2006, the skate park offer youths ramps, jumps and banisters — anything a skate-boarder, in-line skater, or bicycler could want.

 

For more fun in the sun, Sun Splash Family Waterpark, on Santa Barbara Boulevard, is a city-owned facility that offers giant water slides and pools for visitors.

 

For those seeking riverfront dining, the Cape Harbour community provides Rumrunners Restaurant, which is accessible by both car and boat. Visitors also can enjoy lunch or dinner at the waterfront shops and promenades at The Marina at Cape Harbour.

 

Seldom is seen the spot in Florida that neglects the golfer, and Cape Coral is no exception. Golf enthusiasts will find five courses that boast some of the finest greens and fairways in Lee County.

 

The city continues to expand with population, its circumference continues to expand with the development of formerly distant areas such as Pine Island Road. Restaurants such as Carrabba’s and the Shrimp Shack have hit the Cape via Pine Island Road.

 

As most residents will tell you, it’s the large-scale activities that give the Cape its strong community.

 

Source: http://www.flguide.com/cape/index.asp

 

Sanibel Island – The Sunset Grill

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According to popular consensus, breakfast on Sanibel Island is a locked topic.  The jury is in.  You’ve got three options to choose from, a trio of Cafe’s.  The Lighthouse Cafe, the Sanibel Cafe, and the Over Easy Cafe.Today I’m going to buck the trend, defy convention, shock my readers, and head to a breakfast spot on Sanibel which exists outside the holy trinity of bacon and eggs.

  Today I drive to Santiva, the small community where Sanibel meets Captiva, and take my sunrise chances at the Sunset Grill.  Today I drive to Santiva, the small community where Sanibel meets Captiva, and take my sunrise chances at the Sunset Grill.

 

 

It’s a blue-sky midmorning on a Sanibel Saturday in doldrum September.  The causeway is bustling with unseasonable activity as I make my way towards the Island.  Sailboats glide across the water.  Fishing poles are held expectantly.  And all along the shoreline are the omnipresent shell collectors canvassing the area for some of the treasures brought in by our recent tropical storms.The ride to Santiva is one of my favorite wastes of time, slow-going and desolately scenic.

  Car wheels spin at around thirty-five miles per hour as Periwinkle Way becomes Tarpon Bay Road, which in turn becomes San-Cap Road.  There’s always some rental-car-driving tourist tailgating me and itching to pass.  I pay them no mind.  They’ll do what they do, and they’ll never understand how we live here anyway.  There’s way too much to see, you miss it all if you drive too fast.  Hell, I wish I could get out and bike to my destination, or even walk…slow it down as much as possible.  Sea grapes.  Flowering sea grasses.  Railroad vines.  Slash pines.  Mop-topped cabbage palms and peeling-skin gumbo limbo trees.   Car wheels spin at around thirty-five miles per hour as Periwinkle Way becomes Tarpon Bay Road, which in turn becomes San-Cap Road.  There’s always some rental-car-driving tourist tailgating me and itching to pass.  I pay them no mind.  They’ll do what they do, and they’ll never understand how we live here anyway.  There’s way too much to see, you miss it all if you drive too fast.  Hell, I wish I could get out and bike to my destination, or even walk…slow it down as much as possible.  Sea grapes.  Flowering sea grasses.  Railroad vines.  Slash pines.  Mop-topped cabbage palms and peeling-skin gumbo limbo trees. 

 

They all gently scent the air and rustle in the ocean air.The good thing about breakfast joints on Sanibel Island, is that I can drive as slow as I want, almost all of them serve breakfast until three pm.

  Unlike the out-of-towners, these restaurant owners do understand how we live here.  Thank god someone does.  Late to bed and late to rise, unless we decide otherwise.   Unlike the out-of-towners, these restaurant owners do understand how we live here.  Thank god someone does.  Late to bed and late to rise, unless we decide otherwise. 

 

I navigate a bend in the road, and all at once I’m back in civilization.

  Santiva emerges from the tropical vegetation and sand-strewn road like a mirage, right before you get there you’ll know you’ve arrived.  It’s something unspoken and precognitive.  A shimmer in the air.  It happens at special places.   Santiva emerges from the tropical vegetation and sand-strewn road like a mirage, right before you get there you’ll know you’ve arrived.  It’s something unspoken and precognitive.  A shimmer in the air.  It happens at special places. 

 

Santiva and Blind Pass are one of those special places.It is right here, somewhere between the Lazy Flamingo and the Castaways beach cottages, where you’ll find the Sunset Grill.

 

 

 

The building is colorful, but modest.  The parking lot is empty.  The front porch, with an obstructed view of the ocean, is empty.  The inside of the restaurant, comfortable with a recently renovated wine and wood interior, is also empty.  No taking a number and waiting for an open table like at the other breakfast hotspots.  Granted, it’s a strange late morning hour, somewhere between breakfast and lunch…but still, I’m more than pleased to have this little corner of paradise to myself for the time being.

My dining guest and I choose the best table on the rustic covered porch and a server appears within a minute.  We’re offered breakfast and lunch menus, and our drink order is taken.

 

Although the sun is hot, the porch is shaded, and the Gulf of Mexico breeze flirts through our hair and keeps us cool as we peruse the menus.  Eggs, check.  Bacon, check.  Sausage, check.  Buttermilk pancakes, check.  All the standard breakfast items are present and accounted for.  In addition, there are a slew of Sunset Grill Specialties.  Eggs Blind Pass.  Eggs Santiva.  Eggs Captiva.  Biscuits and Gravy.  Bagel and Smoked Salmon.  Sunset Egg Sandwich.  And a delicious sounding Banana Nut French Toast.My guest opts for the Eggs Blind Pass, while I commit to the Eggs Captiva.

  

 

We sit at a table, on an alfresco porch, on a barrier island jutting out into the salty Gulf, sipping spicy bloody marys, completely draped in just another perfect South Florida crystal morning, waiting for our breakfast plates to arrive, as waves crash in the audible distance.

  Life is good.  If it gets any better than this, I don’t even want to know about it.   Life is good.  If it gets any better than this, I don’t even want to know about it. 

 

Let me be content.Then the server places our meals before us, and my morning gets even better.

  Two beautiful breakfasts now grace our tabletop, along with a side of crispy bacon.  Sun.  Sand.  Surf.  Drinks.  Food.   Two beautiful breakfasts now grace our tabletop, along with a side of crispy bacon.  Sun.  Sand.  Surf.  Drinks.  Food. 

 

Priceless.The Eggs Blind Pass my guest is enjoying consists of a toasted English muffin with Canadian Bacon, tomatoes, and two poached eggs topped with Sunset Grill’s signature Keylime Sauce.

  My Eggs Captiva are two homemade crab cakes and two poached eggs served on a toasted English muffin also with the Keylime Sauce.  When you’re on the islands, you’ve always got to go with the keylime.  My Eggs Captiva are two homemade crab cakes and two poached eggs served on a toasted English muffin also with the Keylime Sauce.  When you’re on the islands, you’ve always got to go with the keylime.

 

 

 

Let’s be honest…for the most part, a poached egg is pretty much a poached egg.  An English muffin is an English muffin.  And Canadian bacon is Canadian bacon.  The two crabcakes on my Eggs Captiva held their own, and definitely paired nicely in their flavor profile with the rest of the dish.  What I’m trying to say here is: Breakfast is Breakfast.  I suppose that’s why you don’t often read many breakfast reviews.  But the Keylime sauce they topped our two Sunset Grill Breakfast Specialties with made this meal more than just an average breakfast.  The tasteful, subtle, gently acidic, creamy and tropical sauce did the work and turned what might have been a breakfast-breakfast into an Island-breakfast that was unique and unforgettable.

 

As we ate our meals a spattering of other smiling customers began to arrive and occupy the porch with us.  Everyone was quiet.  Everyone was happy.

 

After paying our check, we leave our car parked where it is, and cross the road to the sandy beach.  We leave our shoes by the beach entrance and walk barefoot down to the shell-strewn shoreline.  The warm ocean waves lap at our feet as birds soar overhead.  Out on the sandbar several women search in vain for an elusive junonia.  Up by Blind Pass the huge shell piles have recently reappeared, and adults and children alike while away vacation hours, future memories, digging and sorting and comparing, looking for something wonderful to bring back home with them.I’ve already found mine in the moments of this perfect breakfast outing at Santiva’s Sunset Grill.

 

 

 

Source: http://www.capecoralnews.net/content/view/81/50/

Cape Coral Visitors

The following is a post by a recent Cape Coral visitor.

Most of the people we met while down here were not originally from Florida. Interestingly enough, they were from everywhere but Florida. Cape Coral (and Sanibel) seems to be primarily filled with people from the Northeast who have either moved here full-time or now own a second home here (snow birds). That said, I cannot recommend any hotel accommodations in this journal because we stayed with family. Although Sanibel is the real attraction here, Cape Coral is a nice town with lots of new buildings and a much cheaper option for lodging if you are looking for a weekend getaway.

We found the best way to get into Cape Coral was by flying into Fort Meyers (RSW). What a beautiful and super-clean airport! (Although once you exit the terminal, there is construction everywhere you look.) The only airlines we found that flew direct from New York were JetBlue and Delta. Florida in general is a place where you must rent a car, and these towns are no different. Normally, considering it’s Florida, one would think that the rental would be cheap (like Orlando). Not the case. Book this in advance and hope for the best. We paid $180 for three days in the off-season for an economy car!

If the library is something that interests you, the Cape Coral-Lee County library should not be missed. It is located at 921 SW 39th Terrace in Cape Coral. This library is about two years old and absolutely beautiful. They have an area with at least 50 brand-new computers, all set up with Internet and printer access. The Internet access is free once you’ve provided an ID, and the printer costs $.10 per printout. The library is spacious and packed with just about anything you could need, and there is plenty of parking as well.

Sanibel is best-known for its shelling. Once you cross the “bridge,” there is a visitors center with bathrooms and an information booth, as well as charts listing the shells found in the area. You will see people with shopping bags who came to the beach solely for this reason. In fact, on the day we went, the beach was packed, but there were no chairs or towels set up. According to the visitors office, the best times to shell are early morning, at low tide, and after a storm. We found the best shells to be closer to the lighthouse toward the end of the beach. The beach offers parking, but it will cost you. Make sure to pay for a parking ticket, or you will be towed. If you are interested in learning more about shells, there is also a museum called Sanibel’s Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, and it’s open six days a week. For those people who love shelling but don’t have the time or patience to shell, there is a store called The Shell Factory, and they have a HUGE selection of shells, each more beautiful than the last. They are located off Tamiami Trail in North Fort Meyers. Expect to pay up for the really nice ones, obviously. If you should find a live shell (a fish still inside) and choose to keep it, make sure you pull the fish out and wash the shell thoroughly. If you don’t, you will regret it, because the dead fish smells like rotten eggs. It’s a perfect day or afternoon spent just shelling, lying out, relaxing, or taking a walk.

Source: http://www.igougo.com/story-s1224635-Cape_Coral-Notes_and_Thoughts_-_Cape_Coral_and_Sanibel_Florida.html

Villa Melissa – Ferienhaus in Yacht Club Area Cape Coral Florida

Villa Melissa - 4 Zimmer 2 Baeder, grosser Pool, direkter Zugang zum Golf von Mexico in Cape Coral, Florida

http://www.swfloridarentals-team.com/VillaMelissa.htm

Diese wunderschöne klimatisierte helle Villa befindet sich in der beliebent Yacht Club Area in Cape Coral, Florida nicht weit entfernt von Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel und Captiva. Die Villa verfügt über 4 Schlafzimmer, 2 Bäder, eine sehr moderne Küche mit angrenzender Frühstücksecke und offenem Wohnzimmer. Der grosse Pool ist solar beheizt. Das Haus liegt an einem Kanal mit Bootsdock und hat direkten Zugang zum Golf von Mexico (15 Minuten). Villa Melissa ist voll ausgestattet. Es sind unter anderem alle Küchengeräte und -utensilien sowie TV, DVD-Player, Stereoanlage, Grill, Waschmaschine, Trockner und High-Speed Internet vorhanden. Es wird Ihnen an nichts fehlen. Genießen Sie einen unvergesslichen Urlaub, egal ob Sie einen relaxten Tag am Pool, einen Shoppingtripp zu einer der vielen Malls in naher Umgebung, einen Ausflug nach Disneyland oder in die Everglades planen.

http://www.swfloridarentals-team.com/VillaMelissa.htm