Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DON'T MISS
HISTORIC SPANISH POINT
There were never any Spaniards at
Historic Spanish Point
( 941-966-5214;
www.historicspanishpoint.org
;
337 N Tamiami Trail , Osprey; adult/child 5-12yr $12/5; 9am-5pm
Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun). Instead the name derives from a friendly Spanish trader who
tipped off settlers John and Eliza Webb about the idyllic location when they were search-
ing for land to farm in 1867. He did them a big favor, as the site is one of the prettiest in
Sarasota County. The narrow peninsula stretches out into Little Sarasota Bay. It's an un-
dulating landscape of prehistoric shell middens covered in tropical foliage.
Not surprisingly the Webbs were very happy here. Eventually they accumulated the en-
tire 30-acre peninsula, which they planted with citrus they shipped to market in Cedar
Key and Key West. Wander the 1-mile trail (tours via electric cart are also available)
around the site and you can see the wooden packing-house, Mary's Chapel, the Webb-
family cemetery and Frank Guptill's beautiful wooden homestead, which he built for his
wife Lizzie Webb Guptill.
The Webbs farmed the land for more than 40 years before it was purchased by Bertha
Palmer in 1910. Luckily for Spanish Point, wealthy Bertha, widow of Potter Palmer, a
prominent Chicago real-estate developer and cofounder of Marshall Field and Company,
treasured the beauty of the place when she selected it as the anchor of her 350-acre
winter estate. She left intact the shell middens as well as the Webb homestead, outbuild-
ings and chapel while developing her gardens in keeping with the tropical landscape. Now
pergolas, classic Greek columns, lawns and flower gardens punctuate the wild foliage.
To cap it all, between 1959 and 1962 the Smithsonian Institution partially excavated one
of the shell middens. You can enter the mound and see what the layers of shell deposits
and prehistoric paraphernalia look like from the inside. It's the only such site in Florida
and is quite fascinating. Viewed altogether, the Point offers a unique narrative of Florida's
prehistoric and pioneering history.
Myakka River State Park
Florida's oldest resident - the 200-million-year-old American alligator - is the star of this
sota; car/bike $6/2; 8am-sunset)
. Between 500 and 1000 alligators make their home in
Myakka's slow-moving river and its shallow, lily-filled lakes. You can get up close and
