Rest Easy Being Green

There’s never been a better time to stay on Florida’s coasts, which offer top-notch resorts, quaint inns and environmentally friendly digs. In fact, The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel has recently added 18 eco-conscious accommodations to the Florida Green Lodging Program, including the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort (earning its spot with the prestigious Three Palm Certification status). Also in Fort Myers, SunStream Hotels & Resort unveils Esterra Spa & Salon. The European-styled sanctuary has an extensive menu of services. Try something from the “Wellness Through Water” treatments, and give a spa package from the Pampered Princess offerings to your stressed-out ‘tween.

Just up the coast in Bradenton Beach, the SeaSide Inn Beach Resort anticipates a complete update in 2009. Visitors will enjoy Wi-Fi everywhere on the property, six new studio spaces and a fresh look throughout.

Surf and Stay packages at two popular resorts on the Space Coast may inspire you to hang ten. Radisson Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral not only boasts renovated luxury suites but includes in its package a two-hour surf lesson for two, free board rental and transport to the Cocoa Beach Surf Company school. After a day on the waves, hit the resort’s remodeled poolside deck and Tiki Bar. Four Points by Sheraton Cocoa Beach’s package gives guests free breakfast and a 15 percent discount at the Cocoa Beach Surf Company.

If you’d prefer quiet contemplation of the Atlantic, head to Amelia Island’s Elizabeth Pointe Lodge. This 1890s shingle-style bed-and-breakfast was ranked the second-best hotel in the U.S. by the Condé Nast Traveler Readers Choice awards.

If you’d prefer quiet contemplation of the Atlantic, head to Amelia Island’s Elizabeth Pointe Lodge. This 1890s shingle-style bed-and-breakfast was ranked the second-best hotel in the U.S. by the Condé Nast Traveler Readers Choice awards. The fuss is all about the luxuriously appointed suites, walking on the well-kept beach and sitting by the fireplace. Not to be outdone, Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island was also high on the list and is planning to add an expansive ballroom in fall 2009.

 
Explore Florida’s Outdoors

Make no mistake, water and sand are the main events in Florida. But be sure to wade inland enough to enjoy some of the coastal towns’ other remarkable offerings, such as Robinson Preserve in northwest Bradenton. Nearly 500 acres provide kayak and canoe trails along with boardwalk, bridge and shell trails (be sure to duck into the mangrove forests). Mote Marine Laboratory’s 2009 Turtle Walks take place in the summer, presented with Hilton Longboat Key Beachfront Resort and Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota.

Get around the beach more easily: Gulfport Trolley System takes you from the downtown area to St. Pete Beach and beyond. (Check out Gulfport’s new Industrial Arts Center while you’re there.)

Paddlers can take advantage of Great Calusa Blueway, which now has a third phase, giving The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel a whopping 190 miles of water trails. The paths were devised using GPS coordinates, so try out “geocaching” (treasure-hunting using GPS). Explore the estuaries, preserves, bayous and rivers that stem from the Caloosahatchee River.

Starting in January 2009, visitors can see exhibits about wildlife rescue and treatment at Sanibel Island’s Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW). Elsewhere on the island, the new Cultural Heritage Center of the Islands showcases the area’s early settlers through historic photographs. Sanibel has also scored a spot on Condé Nast Traveler’s 21st Annual Readers’ Choice list as a Top 10 North American island.

If you’re looking for an excuse to revisit Pine Island, plan a biking excursion to evaluate 17 miles of paths that take you through palm tree farms and mango groves. Farther north, Daytona Beach welcomes Breakers Oceanfront Park and Ora Street Park to its shores, both on the beachfront. At Breakers you’ll find a volleyball court and a fountain play area for  the kids. Bring your walking shoes to Ora, where there’s a beach trail.

 
Regional Tastes

Florida’s menus are ever-changing and always updated to reflect the trends and tastes of the culinary landscape, as well as the regional palate. On Anna Maria Island, stop by Matt & Dom’s Pastry Café, which opened last year and already is a hit with the locals. Here you can get everything from petit fours to wedding cakes and smoothies. Also in the Gulf Islands, the Gulf Drive Café will welcome a new tiki bar and grill and a wedding pavilion to its grounds in 2009.

Head to Cocoa Beach’s Shark Pit Bar and Grill for a real event meal: The restaurant has a 5,600-gallon shark tank (watch a live fish feeding Saturday mornings), a water wall, more than a dozen flat-screen televisions and surf boards everywhere.