Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sleeping & Eating
In addition to downtown Sarasota and Siesta Village,
St Armands Circle
on Lido Key is
an evening social hub, with a proliferation of stylish shops and restaurants.
Hotel Ranola
BOUTIQUE HOTEL$$$
( 941-951-0111;
www.hotelranola.com
; 118 Indian Pl; r $109-149, ste $209; )
The nine
rooms feel like a designer's brownstone apartment: free-spirited and effortlessly artful,
but with real working kitchens. It's urban funk, walkable to downtown Sarasota.
Sunsets on the Key
APARTMENT$$$
$$$
( 941-312-9797;
www.sunsetsonthekey.com
;
5203 Avenida Navarre; apt in-season $230-340, off-
season $149-209; )
In Siesta Village, eight well-kept, rigorously clean condo
apartments are run like a hotel.
Broken Egg
BREAKFAST$
(
www.thebrokenegg.com
;
140 Avenida Messina; mains $7-14; 7:30am-2:30pm; )
This diner-
style breakfast institution on Siesta Key, known for huge pancakes and cheddary home
fries, is a social hub each morning.
Owen's Fish Camp
SOUTHERN$$$
( 941-951-6936;
www.owensfishcamp.com
;
516 Burns Lane; mains $9-22; from 4pm)
This
ironically hip swamp-shack downtown serves upscale versions of Florida-style Southern
cuisine with an emphasis on seafood.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Fort Myers
Workaday, sprawling Fort Myers is overshadowed by the region's pretty beaches and up-
scale, sophisticated towns. However, a recent facelift has spruced up the historic river-
front district (along 1st St between Broadway and Lee St) into an attractive, brick-lined
collection of restaurants and bars. Visit
www.fortmyers.org
for information.
Fort Myers' main claim to fame is the
Edison & Ford Winter Estates
(
239-334-7419;
www.edisonfordwinterestates.org
; 2350 McGregor Blvd; adult/child $20/11;
9am-5:30pm)
. Famous inventor Thomas Edison built a winter home and lab here in 1885,
and automaker Henry Ford became his neighbor in 1916. The excellent museum focuses
