Southwest Getaways 2008 - (Page 21) Waterfront Towns: Still Fish-Crazy After All These Years Places to Go: Cortez; Matlacha; Everglades City/Chokoloskee and Goodland Things to See: Before international airports and interstates, coastal Southwest Florida was a loose string of fishing villages, where people set their schedules by the tides. Although now often cheek-by-jowl with communities of beach vacationers and retirees, some of these places still have their barnacles intact, even if a little artistic embellishment has been added. One of a few remaining active commercial fishing villages in Florida, Cortez, near Bradenton, has been the landing spot for mullet for more than 150 years. Be sure to stop for refreshments at the rustic Star Fish Company, a commercial fish house and restaurant overlooking Sarasota Bay. At Matlacha Pass, fishermen still cast their lines all day and night from the “fishingest bridge in Florida,” and Bert’s Bar & Grille, a popular soldiers’ watering hole during World War II, still draws lively crowds. The village near Cape Coral is also home to a colorful arts scene where local artists sell The historic Matlacha their works at the Lovegrove Gallery & Gardens, Traders Island Cottages are Hitching Post and WildChild cozy places where you Art Gallery. Most days, Goodland is a sleepy town without much going on. But on weekends, your backyard. this tiny fishing village just east of Marco Island awakens at Stan’s Idle Hour Seafood Restaurant, host of Goodland’s Mullet Festival, and home of the “Buzzard Lope” dance. can drop a line from Top: Smallwood Store, Chokoloskee. Photo by William S. Speer. Deep in the swamp, Everglades City and Chokoloskee Island retain the mystique of Old Florida. The Museum of the Everglades in Everglades City and the Historic Ted Smallwood Store Museum on Chokoloskee Island make you admire the pioneers who forged these wilds, and boating there gives you a sense of why they stayed. Place to Stay: The historic Matlacha Island Cottages are Middle: WildChild Art Gallery, Matlacha. Bottom: Star Fish Company, Cortez. When you go: Bert’s Bar & Grille, 239-282-3232, www.bertsbar.us Everglades Area Chamber of Commerce, 239-695-3172, www.evergladeschamber.com Greater Pine Island Chamber of Commerce, 239-283-0888, www.pineislandchamber.org Lovegrove Gallery & Gardens, 239-282-1244, www.leomalovegrove.com Matlacha Island Cottages, www.IslandCottages.com Sea Hagg, 941-795-5756, www.seahagg.com Star Fish Company, 941-794-1243, www.starfishcompany.com Traders Hitching Post, 239-283-4040 WildChild Art Gallery, 239-283-6006, www.wildchildartgallery.com cozy old Florida fishing cottages where you can drop a line from your backyard. Do Drop In: The Sea Hagg on Cortez Road overflows with old fishing nets, glass floats, vintage lures, antique navigational tools – just about everything nautical except smelly dead fish (they do have some stink-free glass ones, however). —Chelle Koster Walton Southwest Getaways 21 http://www.bertsbar.us http://www.evergladeschamber.com http://www.pineislandchamber.org http://www.leomalovegrove.com http://www.IslandCottages.com http://www.seahagg.com http://www.starshcompany.com http://www.wildchildartgallery.com
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