What they're saying about us

More than half of all U.S. adults – 101,900,000 – say they use travel media such as newspaper travel sections, television travel shows, consumer travel magazines and Internet sources to plan their vacations, according to the Travel Industry Association. Whenever you see our destination in the news, it is evidence that the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau’s communications department has been hard at work generating millions of dollars worth of free publicity. We’re proud to report what they’re saying about us . . .

New York Daily News
“It’s easy to see why people become so enamored with this corner of Florida. The beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel Island are some of the country’s best for seashell collectors, with about 400 varieties of shells. Captiva Cruises (www.captivacruises.com) runs popular shelling and dolphin-watching trips from the island. For more information on the area, go to www.fortmyerssanibel.com.”

Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)
“Tooling around parts of this glorious island on my human transporter, I’m noticing interesting things – that is, when all my attention is not taken by this two-wheeled wonder called a Segway. Billy’s Rentals has been providing bicycles and sundry other items to vacationers here for decades, and now it’s offering guided tours for $60 on Segways that cost $5,000, a novel way to explore some of the natural wonder of this fragile barrier island near Fort Myers, Fla.”

Black Outdoorsman Magazine
On the Sandpiper Beach Resort: “The quaint accommodations and personable staff provided a pleasant atmosphere. The location’s bright yellow buildings made it stand out against the white sand and tranquil blue Gulf of Mexico waters.”

Travel Trade Gazette
“Other highlights along the coast are posh Naples and beautiful Sanibel & Captiva Islands, where dolphin spotting and shell collecting are the most strenuous pastimes.”

www.devinecaroline.com
“Today Anne Morrow Lindbergh is best remembered as the long-suffering wife of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh and the grief-stricken mother of the kidnapped Lindbergh Baby – which is a shame because she accomplished a great deal in her own right. Equally devoted to her family and her writing, Anne successfully raised the couple’s five surviving children, yet still managed to slip away to Florida’s Captiva Island and pen ‘Gift from the Sea,’ a little guide to life that stands up as well now as when it was published in 1955. Nothing beats reading her book at ’Tween Waters Inn … then scouring the Captiva coastline for the kinds of seashells that inspired it.”

St. Petersburg Times
On the Pink Shell Resort & Spa: “Aquagene Spa offers a range of services, including poolside massages, teen manicures and pedicures. Aquateen spa sampler ($130) for ages 11 to 15 includes facial, manicure, pedicure; Romantic Rendezvous for two ($375) includes sugar scrub, couple’s massage, champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Standard room rates start at $179.”

www.orlandosentinel.com
“Edison’s phonographs and many of his inventions – Edison was granted 1,093 patents in his lifetime – including 15 Electroliers, can be seen at his house and laboratory in Fort Myers, next to the house of his friend Henry Ford. Together, they are the Edison and Ford Winter Estates museum complex. The laboratory visitors see it as it was when Edison died, as well as details of his family life – right down to the telephone his wife, Mina Edison, used on her writing desk, her stationary, paperclips and the mounted tarpon his son Charles caught in the river when he was 14. Charles joked it was the only time he beat his father at something.”

The Tampa Tribune
“But when was the last time you said, ‘Grab the sunscreen and round up the kids, sweetheart. We’re going to the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge’? Never heard of Ding Darling? Ding Darling (is) 6,000 acres of some of the most biologically prolific acreage on the planet. Only the rain forests of the Amazon and New Guinea eclipse Florida’s mangrove-lined shallow bays for sheer biological density. First stop is the refuge education center, with its first-rate interactive exhibit of the mangrove forests, foundation for all that live in and around the island.”

The Complete Florida Beach Guide
On Bonita Beach Dog Park: “This scene reminds us of the big fun dog party in the Dr. Seuss book, ‘Go, Dog, Go.’ You’ll see dogs of every shape, size, color and temperament, from pampered poodles to tough-guy rottweilers. It’s an off-leash park past the signs, but everyone must be on his or her best behavior. At high tide, you and Fido may have to wade to the beach as it becomes more of a sandbar. Please clean up, and have proof of license and immunization.”

A Brief Guide to Florida’s Monuments and Memorials
Regarding the Sgt. Clayton Memorial: “The African American soldier stands before a wall within a gate. The gate symbolically leads to freedom from slavery, and the bronze life-size solider memorializes African Americans who served during the Civil War. This memorial to the Second Regiment of U.S. colored Troops (USCT) is known as the Sgt. Clayton Memorial. Sculptor D.J. Wilkins says he chose the name because it took a ‘ton of clay’ to sculpt the statue, notes The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel Web site. In 2000, 135 years after the Battle of Fort Myers, sculptor D.J. Wilkins’ statue of Sgt. Clayton was installed in Centennial Park as a tribute to the gallantry of the U.S. Colored Troops.”

Kalamazoo Gazette
“A long T-shaped pier juts out into the Gulf of Mexico from the northwest shore of Fort Myers Beach on Estero Island. Just steps away from the ‘other Times Square’ – the Island’s hub for entertainment, shopping and eateries – the pier lures Michigan-based escapees. Some fish. Others wrestle with double-decker ice cream cones. Many, like my husband and me, prefer to people-watch while strolling along the pier.”

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