Week at Lover's Key, Ft. Meyer's Beach, Florida

A relaxing, quiet escape out to Ft. Meyer's Beach with nature at your fingertips will make any week in Florida special. Our stay at the Lover's Key Resort introduced us to the area, long white sandy beaches, glorious sunsets, fanciful birds wandering the shore and harassing fisherman for a piece of their catch. Often we avoid the beach when we visit local relatives because crossing over the bridge can take quite some time, but staying local avoids that difficulty. We found that even though it was a longer route, often it was quicker to leave by way of Bonita Springs.

Interesting things to do at Lover's Key State Park include fishing, photography, sunbathing, kayaking, hiking, birdwatching, beach combing, shell collecting, bicycling, swimming, and snorkeling. We found opportunities for close-ups of ospreys and other birds. We also found some really interesting marine life including a ragged sea hare. Robins were a delight, they flocked the area in hordes, sipped at the runoff from sprinklers and dined on the abundant figs. We took three different hikes in the park, one at Black Island that traveled in a loop, one up the beach on Estero Bay and another along Lover's Key. Facilities for children include several playgrounds and snack shops.

Some other outings in the area included our first visit to the Koreshan State Historic Site thinking we'd find birds, but the buildings and history were much more intriguing. We found a rare gopher turtle with the help of the local park volunteer. Golf is available at many places. The Edison & Ford Winter Estates were fun to visit but undergoing renovation. I loved the movie on Edison's life, it was really first rate, and his lab was lots of fun to see. The Ding Darling National Wildlife Reserve and Six Mile Cypress are close day trips. Audubon's Cork Screw Swamp is a longer drive but well worth the trouble to go.

Good local restaurants nearby ranging from fresh seafood, chain restaurants, fast food and the usual tourist snacks. Lots of available places to stay. Local entertainment includes night life, a visit to the Barbara Mann Center for the Arts, the Greyhound Dog Races, and live plays at the Broadway Palms.

And lots of shopping available.

Quick Tips:

Nature lovers might find the following links useful:

http://www.loverskeybeach.com/articles/State_park/state_park.cfm
http://www.audubonofflorida.org/specialplaces.html
http://www.fws.gov/dingdarling/
http://www.floridastateparks.org/koreshan/

Consider bringing the Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide to Southeastern and Caribbean Seashores to introduce you to wildlife of interest along the beach.

Snorkel gear, boogie boards, and surf boards are available for rent, as are kayaks, canoes, and motor launches.

This area is a terrific place to find beach clothing and swimsuits.

Shopping buys include shells, local books, art work, and kites.

The local Publix is a good source for your shopping goods. The Lover's Key Resort has kitchenettes which include refrigerators.

The best place to get internet access was at Starbuck's.

Best Way To Get Around:

Ft. Meyer's airport usually has rental cars and agencies usually stay open to handle arrivals as late as 1am

On Lover's Key, plan to drive and park then walk anywhere you want on the many available trails. At nearby Ft. Meyer's beach, bicycles get around much easier than cars. If visiting for the day, parking is available at the shopping center before the bridge and the city runs frequent shuttles to the beach.

We visited Lover's Key Beach Club and Resort somewhat off-season, three weeks before spring break, so prices were reasonable, approx. $225 per night. The bathroom was huge, with a full-sized shower, jacuzzi tub, and standalone sink bar and a separate room for the toilet. The king-size bed was very comfortable. The kitchen was large, with all the necessities to have a six-person lunch party, ample refrigerator space, soap for the dishwasher, and entirely spotless. The maid did the dishes we left. The sliding glass door opened on a full-sized balcony complete with four-chair table.

We loved the staff, they answered all of our many questions. The outdoor pool was warm enough to swim, although a couple cold days made it less welcome, but it quickly sprang back to usable when the sun came out. It had ample space to swim. The outdoor jacuzzi was really nice, too. There was a very tiny beach close to the pool for children. There was also more beach for miles around, if you were willing to walk.

Our only difficulty was with the internet service, I like ready access 24-hours a day. The internet supplied in the rooms was pricey and didn't work well for anything but reading e-mail. The lobby had a pay-by-the-hour PC with internet access which was wonderful. We hope the staff convinces management to go wireless.

The restaurant was very busy, but we never dined there since we were out and about much of our visit.

Overall, we felt incredibly pampered and had a wonderful stay.

We were looking for someplace new when we drove past Big Al's Sports Bar. My husband always likes a good beer with his lunch, so we stopped. I ordered a side of chips and salsa while we waited, very tasty tricolor chips that were lightly salted. The salsa was adequate, not too spicy. They serve drinks in big icy mugs, very nice. While we waited for our meal to appear, we watched TV on many different screens playing silenced sports programs, although the TVs in the front of the restaurant were rather noisy and, in the bar, a rousing game was on. My lunch, fajitas, had enough garlic and spice and lots of helpings of the add-ons. My husband's club sandwich was huge and served with plenty of fries. The service was quick, non-intrusive, and delivered exactly as we asked for it. The place was crowded and quite popular; you get a good meal for your money.

Lover's Key State Park has a bit of everything: huge long sandy white beaches, relatively empty, with shells to collect, plenty of places to sunbathe, and lots of birds and sea life to delve into.

They have a loop hiking trail that many of the locals use as a jogging trail. It passes through forest, following along the inner reaches of Black Island. Bicycling is allowed. There's also a boardwalk that crosses the inner bay and allows people onto the beach. A tram tour is available, as is a boat ramp, concession stand, playgrounds, and wildlife observation areas. Parking cost $1 a day on the end, and in the middle at the ranger station $5. Parking is available in all three areas. The park closes at sunset.

A multi-use state park that was gifted to the state by a utopian community interested in science and culture. The park contains camping and picnic areas and a trail that follows the Estero River. We visited on the weekend and campers were quite noisy and having a good time. Kayak rental for traveling down the river is also available. There were many people traversing the river during our visit.

On the other end of the park, the buildings constructed by the community are retained with all their furnishings and gardens. We quite enjoyed our walk along the river and through the gardens. It was quite peaceful and we saw some wildlife, although the birds were mostly hidden in the brush. The local volunteer was very helpful and pointed out various tree types and the gopher tortoises. The latter was fun to see even if they didn't move very fast.


The park is not devoted to promoting the religious beliefs of the former community. Rather, it preserves an area with native ecology. The camping area is really well done, and the playground very popular with the youngsters. For wildlife viewers, I'd recommend a mid-week visit. A day use fee is required.

The Edison & Ford Winter Estates is an unusual sort of museum, consisting of the two homes, associated properties including their gardens, and Edison's laboratory. Associated with the laboratory is a huge collection of his various inventions and a truly first rate movie about his life. I was quite enthralled.

The property sits along the Caloosahatchee river. The original pier is still standing, but no longer usable. The many signs along the property explained the various uses. The pier made the property, everything built on the land was brought in by boat and carried ashore.

The gardens were in the process of being restored, with the lily pond and the Moonlight garden already completed. I'd heard lots about the orchid garden from my husband, but those were being redeveloped, proof-positive that your fees were being well-used to maintain the property.

The laboratory required about a five-minute wait to collect a crowd. The volunteer guide was quite informative and helpful, showing us through the various rooms and explaining Edison's work on an artificial rubber.

Both houses are models for life in the tropics with good porches and screened rooms. Overall, they looked cozy and pleasant and you could imagine swimming in the pool or taking a dip in the river, smelling orchids in bloom, while watching egrets walk along shore. It makes for a good four-hour visit that's well worth the price of admission.