Cabbage Key

This is a 100-acre ancient Calusa Indian shell mound. Accessible only by boat, the island centers around a white clapboard inn built by mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart and her son in 1938. Today, the inn offers rustic guest rooms and cottages, plus a restaurant wallpapered entirely in autographed $1 bills. According to legend, a local fisherman tacked the first one to the wall so he would be guaranteed a cold beer on his next visit. Subsequent visitors followed suit, and today an estimated $20,000 covers the walls. The inn’s famous clientele, past and present, includes Ernest Hemingway, Walter Cronkite and Julia Roberts. Music fans will be interested to know it was the inn’s delectable fare that inspired Jimmy Buffet’s song "Cheeseburger in Paradise." Daytrippers can enjoy the inn’s hospitality and climb a wooden water tower for a spectacular view of Pine Island Sound.