We were expecting Wally Cox and got Jimmy Buffet. Within minutes, he had us wading waist-deep into the gulf water, shoulder to shoulder, pulling huge nets behind us. What we hauled out was enough to send the parents scrambling back to the Jeep for a beer, but the kids were enchanted. They squealed and giggled as the teacher sifted through our buckets, showing the difference between a mollusk and a bivalve.
Florida's gulf coast is a world away from the theme parks of Orlando and Art Deco glitz of Miami Beach. Romantic and sleepy, with bathtub-calm water and bougainvillea growing wild, the Fort Myers area often is described as Old Florida. Sanibel Harbour has Victorian-laced elegance, double-decked verandas, wicker rockers and octagonal porches, but what makes it truly special is that this old Florida resort is built on the edge of the even-older Florida--the Everglades.
The resort takes advantage of its location, running shuttles across a causeway to the famed shelling beaches of Sanibel Island, offering sunset catamaran cruises and fishing expeditions. The staff can arrange wilderness tours by boat or swamp buggy, treks full of heady adventure. The kids on our tour played gator poker, vying to see who could count the most alligators. Sporting opportunities exist on the property as well. The resort has a kayak trail, a fleet of sailboats and waverunners to rent, a state-of-the-art tennis facility, four pools and a fishing pier built over a sunken barge. Even five-year-olds were pulling up pompano.
The Kids' Klub, for children ages five to 12, runs between 10 A.M. and 4 P.M. daily year-round, with each day's activities built around a theme, such as Shipwrecked Day, which culminates in survival course training, or Davis Cup day, which includes a tennis lesson. While my kids built sand castles, I headed for the spa. The choices were beyond belief. Should I have a seaweed wrap or a reflexology massage? What is fango mud, anyway? After a four-layer facial, a salt glow scrub and a steep in a peppermint-soaked sheet, I stumbled back to my room too blissed-out to move, even when the kids ran in poking me with homemade swords and screaming "Avast!" in my ear.
Sanibel Harbour has it all--the wildlife and the good life, quiet family time and access to other kids, swamps in the morning and Jacuzzis in the afternoon. No wonder Leigh can't get this place off her mind.
OPEN:
Year-round
BEST TIME TO GO:
Spring
BEST ACTIVITY FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY:
Kayaking through the mangrove trees of the 80-acre resort property. The kayaks can be rented for one hour, the trail is designed for beginners, and you'll see herons, pelicans and egrets aplenty.
BEST WAY TO RELAX:
Book an hour on the BETAR bed at the spa, a unique apparatus that "promotes relaxation by diffusing essential oil of lavender into the air and mixing specially chosen music to create illusions of floating on a bed of sound." Kids? What kids?
BEST DAY-TRIP:
Take the shelling cruise to Sanibel Island and look for conch and other wonders of the sea.
BEST PARENTS' NIGHT OUT:
On Friday and Saturday nights, the Kids' Klub provides pizza and movies, freeing parents to dine at the four-diamond Chez le Bear. Afterward, check out the sunset over the water, a rare sight for East Coast romantics.
BEST PACKAGE:
The two-bedroom, two-bath condos are perfect for families because they come with a full kitchen, allowing you to fix simple meals and snacks.For current information on rates and packages, call 800-767-7777.
Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated July 2005.
