Biking South Florida's Gulf Islands: Road Scholar Program

We biked about 90 miles during our four days on the road, exploring Naples and then venturing north to Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, Captiva, and Pine Islands. The first day, we visited Amy's Big Momma's Bicycles to get fitted to an appropriate bike.  Amy and her staff were patient and efficient as they catered to the needs and wishes of 25 different people.  Then we biked 32 miles as we toured a number of the lovely neighborhoods of Naples, as well as along most of the gulf shore of the town, the Historic District, the Naples Pier, the affluent Port Royal section, and also ate lunch on 5th Street.

The next day we headed north against a persistent wind as we biked 20 miles to Fort Myers Beach, first biking through Pelican Bay area, Vanderbilt Beach, Bonita Beach, and then having a deluxe box lunch at Lovers Key State Park's beach pavilion.  All of us then biked the 3 mile Black Island mountain bike trail seen here...

Our private bus then took us to our Hampton Inn motel for the night.

I should mention that all evening meals and most lunches were at local restaurants, giving us an opportunity to experience many different types of eateries and the opportunity to sample a wide variety of foods, and all the restaurants provided excellent meals.

 Day 3 found us biking the Sanibel Causeway and through Key State Park to Sanibel Island. A visit to the historic lighthouse was followed by a  walk on the beach with Pam, an incredibly knowledgeable Florida master naturalist, who picked up flora and fauna from the sand and gave us insights as to all that was present at our feet. Here's a map of Sanibel and Captiva (click to enlarge)...

22 miles was our total distance today and here we are biking to lunch at the amazing Island Cow Restaurant...

...followed by a ride to the Bailey Matthews Shell Museum for a guided tour of the main floor exhibits and then a behind-the-scenes peak at their work areas and stored shells...

Next was a ride through the "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge and then on to Captiva Island for our night at the posh South Seas Island Resort.

Our final day began with a private boat transfer across the sound to Pine Island for lunch, after which we biked 13 miles to the Randell Research Center for Marilyn's naturalist presentation on the native Calusa Tribe that reigned over this area for over fifteen hundred years.  An hour or so in the quaint artisan community of Matlacha was followed by a final bus ride back to Naples which brought our journey full circle, and the next morning our program ended.

Here are our 24 intrepid Road Scholar bikers and leader...

Sitting:  Julie (our trip leader), Ken, Nancy, Chuck R., and Chris

Standing:  Mary, Bev, Anne, Jack, Edward, Dick P., Susan, Sandy, Wanda, Russ, Karen, Kay, Ted, Barbara, Dick S., Chuck M., Margaret, Bobbe, Louise, and Deby




Here's a brief video I made recounting our exploits on this program...

Additional photos from the week (downloadable).

For ideas on other active, outdoor Road Scholar offerings, here are the 32 programs I've participated in.