Pine Island, Florida…

We are finally getting settled in here in North Fort Myers and I have even become reacquainted with the toilet pedal in order to flush – why is there no handle in an RV toilet? We are slowly getting used to being back in an RV park and not in a neighborhood in a sticks and bricks house…. We are glad to be back in our home even though we miss the house with the pool in Key West.

Weather here has been grand and as a result we headed out in the CRV towards the ocean and found a new place to explore called Pine Island. There is no real reason for one to drive there since they pretty much deter visitors from coming to the island since there is no beach access or anywhere you can park to just check things out. We haven't seen so many “no trespassing” and “no parking” signs since we left the Florida Keys!

Nonetheless Pine Island has something to offer the visitor who is willing to drive around and take in the sights that you are allowed to trespass on… Not really sure what they are hiding here on this island but it has its own beauty and points of interest. At the north end of the island is Bocilla Island Seaport.

You are not really allowed to park anywhere there but there is a restaurant with parking that we borrowed for a short walk around the north end of the island… It reminded us a bit of the Keys with the water’s shallowness and its blue/green hues. Throw in a few no trespassing signs and a few no parking signs and we almost felt like we hadn’t even left the keys.

Nonetheless our walk on the north end was very rewarding as we watched the fishermen try their best to catch a wily sheepshead fish or the brown pelicans taking their best shot at spearing an  unsuspecting fish There were also other tourists checking out the area, vacationers looking for their best sunning spots and locals checking us out and wondering what we were up to…

 

 

 

 

 

 

SO if in the area you might enjoy the drive to the north end of the island… the south end has less to offer, other than some interesting dining spots and one intriguing bar and grill.  There is also a Florida Preserve stretching from north to south that may offer an interesting hiking/biking opportunity through the “real Florida”. We feel like you may only need to go to Pine Island once as perhaps that is enough. There is however, a small town when you first enter Pine Island called Matlacha. While driving through it, it looks like a place that has promise for shopping for a few knickknacks and there might even be a hidden gem eatery there…