10 great places for families to escape the snow

Larry Bleiberg, special for USA TODAY

2:58PM EST November 8. 2012 - With winter on its way, it's time to start planning a sunny family getaway. But don't limit your escape to a familiar resort or theme park, says Jennifer Miner, one of the three founders of TheVacationGals.com blog. "The surprise of a new place on vacation is something that's so wonderful," she says. Miner and her two partners, Kara Williams and Beth Blair, share tips for seasonal getaways with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY.

Palm Springs, Calif.
This desert getaway appeals to all ages, Williams says. For adults, there are spas, golf, shopping and restaurants, while kids will love the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, the hands-on Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert, or a family hike to 49 Palms Oasis at nearby Joshua Tree National Park. 

Puerto Rico
You may not need a passport, but this Caribbean island offers an exotic international getaway close to home for families, couples or singles. There's plenty of natural appeal from kayaking in a bioluminescent bay where microscopic algae glow in the dark, to jungle hiking in El Yunque National Forest, Williams says. Or soak in history wandering the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan. Visit on a Sunday and watch kite fliers at Fort San Felipe del Morro, a stone citadel. 

Lake Charles, La.
Celebrate Mardi Gras family-style at this southwestern Louisiana city, where the parades and festivities play up tradition more than titillation. There's also opportunity for beaches, biking, and exploring marshland along the 180-mile Creole Nature Trail All-American Road, says Blair. "The food is so good, and the scenery is just pretty with Spanish moss and big oak trees and swamp land." 

Island of Hawaii
It's volcanoes that draw Miner to the Big Island of Hawaii. "You can go and see the lava flowing into the ocean and the island getting bigger." One of her favorite excursions is hiking through Thurston Lava Tube at Volcanoes National Park. "For kids who have a little bit of Indiana Jones in them, it's an incredible place." And for beaches, the island's Kohala coast can't be beat. 

Carlsbad, Calif.
This northern San Diego County town attracts families to its Legoland theme park, but for Miner the appeal goes further. "This is a beachy community," she says. "It has a nice small-town feel." You can watch surfers tackle the waves, and even sign up for surfing school to try it yourself. 

Atlanta
Lots of folks switch planes in Atlanta, but Williams says it's a great place to spend some time. Family favorites include the massive Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca Cola Museum, which has a giant tasting room where visitors can try scores of the company's beverages sold around the world. Tip: Watch out for Beverly, the bitter Italian soda that's so bad, it's good. For an active outing, Stone Mountain offers hikes, a tram ride and even a ropes course. Although the city occasionally gets snow, it quickly disappears. 

Turks and Caicos
This Caribbean nation with powder-white sand keeps sun lovers happy, but there's also enough variety to break up beach days, says Blair. Activities include a conch farm a former cotton plantation and humpback whale watching. But the common denominator is a laid-back pace. "You go with the flow and relax," she says. 

Sanibel Island, Fla.
You'll get a beach vacation, but so much more at this Gulf Coast Island near Fort Myers. The island's location makes it one of the best places to find seashells in the country. "Who wouldn't love shelling on the beach and wading in the mellow, mellow waters?" Williams says. Biking's easy on the flat island, and so is kayaking at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. 

Tucson
You get a feel for Mexico and the Wild West in this laid-back Arizona city, says Blair, a former resident. She suggests starting with a visit to Old Tucson Studios, which celebrates the movies filmed here with sets, cowboy gunfights and stunt shows. Another day, visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a combination zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden. "It's an environment that's so unique and so different," she says. 

Los Angeles
The West Coast megalopolis is already on many vacation lists, but city resident Miner says LA is more than Hollywood and beaches. One of her favorite stops: La Brea Tar Pits, where saber- tooth cats and mammoths emerge from archaeological digs while city traffic zooms by. "It brings home the fact that our time is just on a dot on the planet," she says. Other favorites: Universal Studios theme park and sprawling Griffith Park. 

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To make your Sanibel Island or Captiva Island, Florida vacation and escape the snow ... call Reservation Central at 1-800-290-6920 or visit www.rescen.com

Taste of the Islands on Sanibel something to CROW about

The 2012 Taste of the Islands takes place Sunday. / Special to news-press.com
Written by Annabelle Tometich

For 31 years, Taste of the Islands has brought together some of the best restaurants on Sanibel and Captiva – and this Sunday the event is at it again.

A celebration of the many independent restaurants that dot these Gulf-front islands, Taste of the Islands brings together 20 locally operated eateries, all with one mission: raising money to benefit CROW, the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife.

From 12:30-5 p.m. Sunday, Taste of the Islands will serve up food, live music from local bands Rocker and Stolen Fruit, kids activities, a server competition and a new, silent auction at the Sanibel Community Park at 2231 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel.

“We draw from the best local independent eateries in all of Florida,” event chair Melissa Congress said in a press release, “and that is what makes the event so special.”

Admission is $5 with children 10-and-under free. Food and beverage tickets will be for sale at various tents throughout the park.

Participating restaurants include: Bailey’s Sanibel Catering & Takeout, Blue Giraffe, Bubble Room, Chip’s Sanibel Steakhouse, Cip’s Place, Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille, George and Wendy’s Sanibel Seafood Grille, Gramma Dot’s, Island BBQ, The Jacaranda, Matzaluna the Fun Italian Restaurant, Old Captiva House at ’Tween Waters Inn, Over Easy Cafe, Pinocchio’s Original Italian Ice Cream, Sanibel Deli & Coffee Factory, Sanibel Oasis Cafe (formerly East End Deli), Sanibel Fish House, Sea Star Cafe, Timbers Restaurant and Fish Market, and Traders Cafe.

For more on Taste of the Islands visit tastesanibelcaptiva.com.


If you go

The 31st annual Taste of the Islands

• What: Dishes from 20 Sanibel and Captiva restaurants, live music, competitions, a silent auction and more — all to benefit CROW, the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife.
• When: 12:30-5 p.m. Sunday
• Where: Sanibel Community Park, 2231 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel
• Admission: $5, children 10 and under free
• Parking: Guests must park in designated lots. There is free trolley service to and from these lots, unless noted — Bank of the Islands (Casa Ybel Road and Periwinkle Way); on Dunlop Road: BIG Arts, City Hall and Sanibel Public Library; Dunlop Road West Side (park and walk); Herb Strauss Schoolhouse Theater (park and walk); Sanibel Congregational Church, St. Michael’s and All Angels Episcopal Church (park and walk); The Village Shops (park and walk)
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To book your next Sanibel Island or Captiva Island vacation to experience the Taste of the Islands or for any time, please visit www.ResCen.com or call Reservation Central at 1-800-290-6920 | 239-472-1010

Guinness confirms Sanibel Stoop record

Guinness confirms Sanibel Stoop record

November 2, 2012
 Special to the Reporter (sancapnews@breezenewspapers.com) , Island Reporter, Captiva Current, Sanibel-Captiva Islander 

The message was delivered in a letter to the Sanibel Community House last week confirming that the assembly of islanders and visitors doing the Sanibel Stoop at Bowman's Beach in February had been accepted as an official record.

"We are pleased to welcome you to the very select club of Guinness World Records title holders."

The record attempt was staged by the Sanibel Community Association (SCA), which operates the Sanibel Community House, as part of the celebration surrounding the 75th anniversary of the Sanibel Shell Show & Fair.

The Community House has been the longtime home of the Shell Show and Fair, which was first hosted in the 1920s by Hallie "Granny" Matthews in the lobby of the Matthews hotel on the beach. Over the years, the Shell Show & Fair has grown to become one of the world's most prominent events in the shell collecting world.

The official tally of "stoopers" registered and confirmed for the event was 478, although more than an additional 300 unregistered participants were also observed to be on hand. The record set was for the category of "Largest Treasure Hunt Game." To be counted officially a participant had to identify themselves, sign in, and participate in a treasure hunt for shells on the beach.

Sanibel Island, Florida shell covered beaches

Official participants at the event received a commemorative event T-shirt sponsored by Congress Jewelers,. Now that the record is official, the Community House has plans to create a new T-shirt proclaiming Sanibel's championship status.

A diverse group of island organizations and individuals supported and assisted the effort, which was captured by news cameras and succeeded in attracting significant national media attention. The Lee County Visitors & Convention Bureau promoted the event and provided a helicopter for filming.

"We wanted to do something special to call attention to the 75th anniversary of the Shell Show & Fair, and to reinforce Sanibel's position as a special place for shelling," said Marge Meek, Sanibel Community Association president. "The Guinness Record attempt captured the idea that hunting for shells can be a lot of fun, and there's no better place than Sanibel to do that."

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To visit the record setting Sanibel Island, Florida beaches in the Gulf of Mexico, call Reservation Central at 1-800-290-6920 / 239-472-1010 or visit us on-line at www.ResCen.com

The New York Times - A Florida Island Draws an Array of Seashells and Their Hunters

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: August 7, 2012 - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/us/florida-island-draws-seashells-and-their-hunters.html

SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. — The tide is low. The sun crawls toward the ocean for a final dip. The time is here: The hunt is on.

Hundreds take to the beach near the lighthouse on this hammock-shaped island, hunching over the sand as they dig, lift, inspect and move on. The position is so common it has a name: the Sanibel Stoop. The beachcombers wave and chitchat but, with their competitive instincts primed, they steer clear of one another’s turf, keeping a sharp eye out for dots or spirals or telltale lumps in the sand.

“We take our shelling very seriously,” said Clark Rambo, who is known as Super Sheller Clark, a moniker used, sometimes admiringly, sometimes grudgingly, by his wife, Pam. “Every day on the beach is a treasure hunt, and that’s what makes it so competitive.”

Stretched out as far as the eye can see are shells — large, tiny, cone-shaped, scalloped, spiraled, white, orange, pink. Sanibel Island, and its neighbor, Captiva Island, just off the state’s southwest coast, are where hunters come for a seashell bonanza. There is no other place like it in the country, and very few places like it in the world. On some days, depending on the wind, shells pour onto the beach in piles, seducing even the most jaded beachgoers.

This has been particularly true in the weeks since Tropical Storm Debby, the late June storm that caused flooding and beach erosion along some pockets of Florida’s west coast but proved a boon to seashell hunters.

Sanibel’s largess is in its geometry: It is a 12-mile barrier island with a distinctive curve. The coastline runs west to east rather than north to south. When storms blow in from the northwest, the waves and currents funnel more than 300 shallow-water species of shells right onto the beach. Other parts of the world, like the South Pacific, may draw more species, but the shells are not nearly as easy to find. They require boat trips and dives.

“There are days here when you have layers of shells four feet thick,” said José H. Leal, the director of the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum here. “It’s one of the best places in the world for shelling, for sure.”

Seashells have proved resilient, too. At a time when fish stocks are down and coral reefs are dying, Mr. Leal said seashells — made by mollusks mostly from the calcium carbonate in seawater — continue to thrive.

For some, searching for seashells is a hobby; for others, it is a calling and an obsession that sometimes reaches back generations, with collections passed down like heirlooms. Here, there are shell clubs, shell stores, shell guides, shell excursions, shell crafts and the shell museum.

Inside his shell-festooned house, Mr. Rambo holds dear a black-and-white photo of his room as a boy. The image shows his twin bed, spread with seashells mostly scooped from the Jersey Shore. Mrs. Rambo, an artist, also grew up collecting shells, a shared passion that helped cement the couple’s relationship 18 years ago, despite Mr. Rambo’s being injured during a date.

It happened during a day of shelling on Sanibel early in the courtship; she pushed him (playfully) as he stood, his feet dug into the wet sand.

“My leg did a spiral twist,” he said. “Sounded like a shotgun.”

Now Mrs. Rambo is a sought-after figure on the island — a shell-ebrity, if you will — because of her popular Web site, www.iloveshelling.com. It is routine for her to be stopped to listen to a fan rattle off a list of finds (tulips, conchs, whelks, murex) or to answer a question about where to go and when. (The answer is Lighthouse Beach and Blind Pass, which lies between Sanibel and Captiva at low tide, when the wind is westerly, preferably after a storm.)

On a recent evening, shell hunters hungrily swept the beach with their eyes. They picked up shells and peered inside them.

“Is anybody home in there?” Mrs. Rambo asked. If a mollusk was inside, she placed the shell back on the sand. That is the rule in these parts — no live shelling. Before a 1994 law, people hauled boxes of shells away and began depleting the shoreline.

In front of the lighthouse, a teenage boy picked up a starfish and showed it off. A woman from North Carolina dug a hole. She recognized Mrs. Rambo. “I’ve probably found 15 bittersweets,” Denise Kisko, 56, told her, referring to a scallop-shaped shell. She glanced at a 13-year-old girl who was snooping in her spot. “Don’t you find anything in my pile,” she said, kidding, sort of.

Competition is stiff. The morning last October that Mrs. Rambo found a precious, elusive junonia, a species of sea snail known for its brown spots, she had told friends to meet her at Blind Pass at sunrise. Hoping to beat the competition, she got there before sunrise, with a light on her hat, to hunt solo. She spotted the junonia in a little trench. It was her eureka moment.

“I started screaming,” she said. “I was a shellunatic.”

Never mind that her husband has found four junonia over his lifetime, a remarkable feat he loves to sprinkle into conversations. After he posted a photo of his fourth junonia online, it proved too much for the shell crowd.

“They started booing him on the Web site,” Mrs. Rambo said, with a laugh.

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Make your next vacation on Sanibel Island to experience the world renowned shell covered beaches. Call Reservation Central at 1-800-290-6920 / 239-405-7848 or visit http://www.rescen.com

Sanibel Island is featured on Fox News Travel - 31 best beach vacations

The 31 best beach vacations
Published August 09, 2012 / Coastal Living - http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/08/09/31-best-beach-vacations/


We’ve never found a beach we didn’t love, so to help us narrow down the list, we asked Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, better known as Dr. Beach, to lend us his expertise. Every year, he picks America’s top 10 beaches after considering factors such as sand softness, water temperature, pollution, and views. Dr. Beach is currently the director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research, but when he isn’t working, he retreats to his favorite seashore, Cape Florida State Park.

Sanibel Island, Florida: Absolutely the best shell-gathering anywhere; try quiet Bowman’s Beach (1-800-290-6920 or http://www.rescen.com/sanibelcaptiva)

Also featured is nearby
Fort Myers Beach, Florida: 
Also promoted as “world’s safest” because it lacks rip currents, this white-sand beach slopes very gradually; you can walk a long way out into the warm, green-blue Gulf of Mexico (1-800-290-6920 or http://www.rescen.com/ftmyersbeach)

To visit Sanibel Island, Florida or Fort Myers Beach, Florida for your next vacation, contact Reservation Central at 1-800-290-6920, local: 239-405-7848 or http://www.rescen.com

Captiva and Sanibel islands still hold special charm

By FRANK SARGEANT | Tbo.com
Published: July 22, 2012


There may be somewhere in Florida where there are more snook per square foot than at Captiva Island, but if so I've not visited there. Captiva was where I learned to catch snook, back in the days when the most effective tactic known was drifting Redfish Pass with a live pinfish just off bottom — and that method did produce some monsters in its day.

These days, the sardine age has arrived, and most guides and expert anglers depend on finding snook shallow along the edge of the vast flats of Pine Island Sound or along the strikingly beautiful beaches here and getting them into a biting mood by chumming with scaled sardines, a flat-sided, silvery baitfish that seems to be snook candy.

One morning on a recent visit, I strolled out on the fishing dock at South Seas Island Resort and was greeted by not dozens but hundreds of fish, stacked like cordwood under the span and all around it. And as if on signal, when a big school of glass minnows rode the incoming tide past the dock, all those fish went bonkers; the water turned white, and snook were doing headstands in the air all over the shoreline.

These were not the giants I found later in a swash hole along the beach — most were 3 to 4 pounds — but it's a great sign that the future of snooking is bright here despite the 2010 freeze.

Of course, if you're not looking for snook you can always take a kayak or a flats boat and ease along the beach, where plenty of rolling tarpon will greet you from May through September — they particularly like to hang around the break line where the darker water from the sound meets the clear water of the Gulf — and so do Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jacks and blues among other species.

On the inside, places like Rock Channel are famed as trout holes, and Pine Island trout are often big, lanky yellowmouths. There are also lots of potholes around the many mangrove islands here, all of them likely stops for snook — and for redfish as summer turns to fall.

In short, it's gamefish central, and the islands — Captiva on the north, Sanibel on the south, and Blind Pass dividing them — are one of Florida's greatest treasures.

Ding Daring National Wildlife Refuge, on the Sanibel end, offers a look at Florida the way it used to be, with gators, deer and an amazing variety of birds including roseate spoonbills, which look sort of like miniature pink flamingoes.

Of course, you don't need to go to the refuge to see every variety of shorebird Florida has to offer — the abundant fish populations and healthy supply of crustaceans and other beach critters provide a continuing feast for the waders; they are perhaps more abundant and less wild here than anywhere in the state, making it a bird-watchers paradise.

If you're a beach person, the beaches here are some of the prettiest in the state, with a very gentle shelf that makes them great for kids — and for those nervous about some of the larger sea critters in deeper water. They also have the unique distinction of being near the top world-wide for those who love to collect sea shells — some 400 varieties have been found here, along with the occasional fossil manatee bone or horse tooth. In many places, the stacks of shells are 2 feet deep.

There are also world-class resorts on both islands. Perhaps the crown jewel is South Seas Island Resort, which has just undergone a $140 million makeover. The resort covers the entire northern tip of Captiva, stretching some 2 miles up to Redfish Pass.

On the west side is the beach, on the east side Pine Island Sound, and in between every imaginable sort of accommodation from 5,000-square-foot beach houses to one-bedroom condos, every one of them an easy walk to the beach. The resort was devastated by Hurricane Charley and was out of business for more than a year. But the restoration gave the new owners a chance for refocus as well as rebuild.

"We went from being a luxury resort mostly for couples to a family-friendly place where kids will want to come year after year," marketing manager Daniel Smock said. "We've got mini golf, kayaks, a swimming attraction with slides, nature trails, day care and a lot more, and many added activities that are supervised, allowing parents to drop off their kids and spend a little time on their own, as well."

Oh, yeah — kids eat free in summer. That's a big mistake if my grandkids show up, but that's the deal.

And that dock with all the snook? It's right out front where the pass meets the sound, and you don't need a license to fish there because it's covered by a dock permit. Take plenty of tackle.

For details on South Seas Island Resort, visit 

http://www.rescen.com/sanibelcaptiva/southseas.html

For more information on the area, visit

http://www.rescen.com

Weather Channel voted Sanibel Island Best Shelling Beach

Weather Channel Facebook friends voted Sanibel Island as their best shelling beach.

What better place to search for shells than an island actually made of shells. That’s exactly what Sanibel Island, Florida is.

Located less an hour from Fort Myers, Sanibel and its neighbor Captiva Island, consistently rank among the best in the world for shelling. Sanibel’s unique geography which twists out into the sea then curves back towards Florida’s coast, acts as a shovel. It scoops all the seashells that the Gulf brings in from the Caribbean.

At some times of the year, shellers will crowd the beaches during low tide hunched over and staring at the sand in what’s been dubbed the ‘Sanibel Stoop.’ You’ll find conch, junonia, lightning whelk, and cockle shells including over 60 varieties of shells.

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Choose Reservation Central to make your visit to the Best Shelling Beach
Call our local office at 1-800-290-6920 or visit http://www.ResCen.com