Naples, Marco Island & Florida's Everglades

By Chelle Koster Walton

Based on our much larger guide to Tampa Bay & Florida's West Cost, this zeroes in on Naples & The Everglades, Marco Island & Chokoloskee Island. This easy-to-use book is packed with practical information and enticing facts that make it fun to read: A clea

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hunter Publishing
• Release date: Nov 2, 2009
• ISBN: 9781588438409

Book preview

Naples, Marco Island & Florida's

Everglades

4 th Edition

Chelle Koster Walton

HUNTER PUBLISHING, INC.

www.hunterpublishing.com

IN CANADA:

Ulysses Travel Publications

4176 Saint-Denis, Montréal, Québec, Canada H2W 2M5

tel.  [phone] ext. 2232 / fax [phone]

IN THE UK & EUROPE:

Roundhouse Group

Millstone, Limers Lane, Northam

Devon EX39 2RG, England

tel.  [phone] / fax [phone]

© Chelle Koster Walton

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

This guide focuses on recreational activities. As all such activities contain elements of risk, the publisher, author, affiliated individuals and companies disclaim responsibility for any injury, harm, or illness that may occur to anyone through, or by use of, the information in this book. Every effort was made to insure the accuracy of information in this book, but the publisher and author do not assume, and hereby disclaim, liability for any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, misleading information or potential travel problems caused by this guide, even if such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause.

About the Author

Chelle Koster Walton began her greatest life adventure when she moved to Sanibel Island sight unseen in 1981. She’s never looked back, except to wonder why she didn’t move sooner. From her favorite island, the author travels around Florida and the Caribbean researching guidebooks, of which she has published eight, and writing articles for Family Fun, National Geographic Traveler, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel, Endless Vacation, The Miami Herald, and other print and electronic media. Walton is co-founder of www.guide bookwriters.com and a member of the Society of American Travel Writers.

Introduction

The History of Adventure

The First Visitors

The 1800s

The 1900s to the Present

The People & Culture

The First Settlers

The Population Boom

Natural Makeup

Marine Life

Mangrove Estuaries

Flora & Fauna

Guidelines for Wildlife Preservation

Everglades National Park

Wildlife & Forest Preserves

Marine Preserves

State Parks & Historic Sites

Practical Information

Transportation

By Air

By Car

On The Water

Weather/What to Pack

Sights & Attractions

Adventures

On Water

Boating

Other Watersports

On Foot

On Wheels

Where to Stay

Where to Eat

Cuisine

Nightlife

Naples & The Everglades

Transportation

Festivals & Events

Information

Naples

Transportation

Information

Sights & Attractions

Adventures

Shopping

Where to Stay

Where to Eat

Nightlife

Marco Island

Transportation

Information

Sights & Attractions

Adventures

Where to Stay

Where to Eat

Everglades City & Chokoloskee Island

Getting Here

Information

Sights & Attractions

Adventures

Where to Stay

Where to Eat

Appendix

Recommended Reading

Environment

Watersports

Land Sports

Where to Stay & Eat

History

Fiction/Literature

Introduction

For the purposes of this guide, the West Coast of Florida describes a slice of coastline along the Gulf of Mexico beginning in the quiet rural setting of Citrus County, north of the Tampa Bay area, and ending in the south at Naples and the utter wilderness of the Everglades. It encompasses the coastal portions of Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hills­borough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. This region is cohesive in its types of vegetation and climate, yet it is infinitely diverse in culture and disposition.

The History of Adventure

If you’re looking for adventure, you’re in the right place. West Coast Florida, as one of the nation’s final frontiers, claims a history and heritage of rugged outdoorsmanship.

While the rest of the nation was busily traveling along paved roads and buying their supplies from general stores, in the farthest corners of Florida’s Gulf Coast – down Naples way and in the Florida Everglades – folks were still trading with the natives for victuals and dredging enough land out of the swamps to build the Tamiami Trail. The West Coast of Florida was considered a wild, exotic place then, a place for safaris and catching giant silver fish; a place where prehistoric turtles, alligators, manatees, and horseshoe crabs thrived, where trees danced, birds dive-bombed, dolphins grinned, flowers bloomed at night, and winter never came.

The First Visitors

The first white men traveled to western Florida for adventure. And they found it aplenty: half-naked natives, tricky waterways, impenetrable swamps, and enough fowl and fish to thicken seas, sky, and fire-brewed stews. In search of gold and youth, they chose to grumble, kill the natives, and curse the rest. They brought their own hogs, cows, and citrus to eat, then eventually left, discouraged by the persistent onslaughts from the resident Amerindian tribes – the Calusa in the south, the Timucua around today’s Tampa and Sarasota. Evidence of important Amerindian centers of culture has been found in Marco Island, Mound Key, Pine Island, Useppa Island, Manasota Key, Terra Ceia, Safety Harbor, and Crystal River.

Juan Ponce de León, shown below, was the first recorded European to set foot upon these shores, somewhere in Charlotte Harbor. Hernando De Soto landed at today’s Fort Myers Beach or Bradenton, depending upon whom you believe. Ensuing parties established forts, missions, and colonies at Mound Key, Fort Myers Beach, Pine Island, and other strategic spots along the coast.

Legends fill the region’s early timelines with dastardly pirates who came to prey upon ships sailing between the Caribbean and established towns in northern Florida. Much has been exaggerated, particularly the legend of Gasparilla, upon which a Tampa festival and a coastline attitude of devil-may-care thrive. The mottled backwaters of the West Coast undoubtedly harbored many a refugee from the law, but few as colorful as publicity agents have painted them.

More prevalent in the 17th through the 19th centuries were Spanish fishermen and gutsy farmers. Later, in the Charlotte Harbor area, commercial fishing developed into a thriving industry. Fishermen lived in stilt houses built on sand shoals from Placida to the Ten Thousand Islands. A handful of the historic shacks remain.

In many ways, fishing settled the West Coast.