Summer Highlights

1. Go fish

If chartering a fishing boat for $350 for a half-day isn’t in your budget, try casting off with a party boat like Captain Tony’s Fishing Adventures or Getaway Marina, both on Fort Myers Beach. Each has a 90-foot vessel that goes miles out into the Gulf. The school of possibilities includes snapper, grouper, mackerel and more. Costs are the same: $57 for adults, $35 for adults not fishing and $35 for kids ages 14 and younger. Captain Tony’s lets kids younger than four fish for free. Captain Tony’s, (239) 415-0515, www.capttonys.com; Getaway Marina, (800) 641-3088, www.getawaymarina.com.

2. Summer at the winter estates

So many inventions, so much to explore, so little time. The sprawling Edison and Ford Winter Estates complex in Fort Myers includes nine historic buildings, 20 acres of lush tropical gardens and a 15,000-square-foot museum with scads of inventions. Sure, Edison invented the light bulb, but did you know about the cement mixer and electrical torpedo? (239) 334-7419,
www.efwefla.org.

3. Give the dog his day

Pause from your busy schedule to frolic with Fido. Dog paddle with your pooch at Dog Beach, just south of Lovers Key. If you prefer terra firma, try these off-leash dog parks: Barkingham Dog Park in Buckingham, Waggin’ Tails Dog Park in Cape Coral or K-9 Corral at Estero Community Park.

4. It’s bargain city

Now’s the time to pick up your heart’s desire as bargains abound at area shops and malls. Search for that special something or let serendipity be your guide. Sample destinations: Fifth Avenue South, Waterside Shops and Mercato in Naples, Coconut Point and Miromar Outlets in Estero, Gulf Coast Town Center and Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers, and Periwinkle Place on Sanibel.

5. Move it

Your various body parts, that is. Bike the paths around Sanibel Island with your honey on a bicycle built for two, rented from one of numerous vendors. Tour Old Naples, Marco Island or the Everglades with Naples Bicycle Tours. Or pedal your own way to get a dose of sunshine and lose those love handles. Naples tours, 455-4611,
www.naplesbicycletours.com.

6. Blooming beau-tanical

The Naples Botanical Garden is a beautiful work in progress and already has so much to give. An interactive Children’s Garden with a butterfly house; a Brazilian Garden with its giant waterfall and grassy amphitheater; a Caribbean Garden of diverse landscapes tracing the natural and cultural history of the islands. Wander, learn, fall under nature’s spell. (239) 643-7275, www.naplesgarden.org.

7. Rock to a little
razzmajazz

Jazz, free and sunset are three-party harmony. The silver anniversary of the free SummerJazz Concert Series at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club features Late Night Brass July 24, the Mike MacArthur Band Aug. 28, and Denise Moore and Then Some Sept. 18. Bring your ears, your chairs and your blankets to the rolling green lawns of the resort by the glistening Gulf. Call 261-2222, www.naplesbeachhotel.com.

8. Speed across the
River of Grass

If you haven’t seen the Everglades by airboat, then you haven’t seen the Everglades. Skimming across the sawgrass is sheer exhilaration. Finding gators and endangered birds among mangrove nooks and crannies is sheer delight. More than a half-dozen tours are in the Everglades City area, including Everglades Private Airboat Tours, (800) 368-0065, www.epat.cc; or Captain Doug’s Airboat Tours, 200 Collier Ave., Everglades City, (239) 695-4400, www.captaindougs.com.

9. Parasail over paradise

Fly through the air with the greatest of ease at about 250 feet above the Gulf of Mexico with a colorful parachute billowing behind you. It’s oddly quiet up there, and the view is spectacular. You feel like you’re barely moving even though the boat is speeding through swells below. Go with a friend or make it a threesome. Offered at various sites including Naples, Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach. Mid Island Water Sports Inc. at the Holiday Inn Beach Resort, Fort Myers Beach, (239) 765-0965; www.midislandwatersports.com. Bonita Jet Ski & Parasail, (239) 825-7559, www.bonitajetski.com.

10. Talk to the animals

The Naples Zoo keeps you coming back for more, with changing exhibits geared to bring you close to exotic, endangered and native animals in their natural habitats. View rare Malaysian tigers, Florida black bears, leopards and spotted ocelots separated by nothing more than a (thick) pane of glass. Shows, such as snake sunbathing and a primate boat cruise, spotlight some of the more than 200 wild animals residing here. (239) 262-5409, www.napleszoo.org.

11. A sultry beach sunset

The Southwest Florida summer is hot. Really hot. But if you wait for the cool of the day to settle in at sunset, you can dig your toes into sugary white sand and witness a sunset nonpareil. Take your love to a favorite beach, sip a glass of wine and enjoy the fiery sky as the day dies. Good choices: the Sanibel Causeway beaches, or at Lowdermilk Park in the heart of Naples, (239) 213-3029, www.naplesgov.com (under the Parks and Recreation Department).

12. Discover the mysterious Koreshans

How can you not want to learn about a place where turn-of-the-20th-century inhabitants believed the earth was hollow and they lived inside? Members of the Koreshan Unity once owned all of Estero Island. They thought their leader, Cyrus Teed, would resurrect. Instead, a 1921 hurricane washed his coffin out of his Fort Myers Beach grave into the sea. Find out more at the Koreshan State Historic Site, Estero. 992-0311, www.floridastateparks.org/koreshan.

13. Tippecanoe and kayak, too