| Bailey-Matthews
Shell Museum
The
Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel Island
is the only museum in the United States devoted
exclusively to shells. The museum occupies a 25,000-square-foot
facility and holds 2 million shells, representing
one-third of the world's 100,000 species of living
mollusks. Location: 3075 Sanibel-Captiva Road.
Admission: Adults, $5; children 8 to 16, $3. Information:
(941) 395-2233.
Caribbean
Gardens
Caribbean
Gardens, the Zoo in Naples, features a botanical
garden that was first planted in 1919 as well
as a zoological park that offers a look at a variety
of exotic animals. Lions, leopards, alligators,
gazelles, gray kangaroos, muntjacs, zebras and
binturongs are exhibited throughout the 52-acre
tropical setting. A multimedia exhibit, Safari
Canyon, features a combination of live animal
presentations, custom graphics and wildlife film
from conservation groups, including the World
Wildlife Fund. The Primate Expedition Cruise,
a boat ride around nine islands where monkeys,
lemurs and apes live out in the open, and the
15,000-square-foot Tiger Forest are also provided,
along with additional zoo keeper lectures. There
is a cafe, picnic area, and gift shop on site.
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, with last
ticket sold at 4:30 p.m. Location: 1590 Goodlette-Frank
Road, Naples. Admission: Adults 16 and up, $14.95;
children 4 to 15, $9.95; under 4 free. Information:
262-5409 or see Web site on Internet: http://www.caribbeangardens.com
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Collier
County Museum
This historical park offers a natural history
gallery, archaeological laboratory, native fish
and animal gallery, and restored swamp buggy and
steam locomotive, along with a boardwalk trail
through native Florida flora, an orchid house
and a gift shop. Admission is free. Museum hours:
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Location:
3301 U.S. 41 E. (County Government Center). Information:
774-8476.
Collier-Seminole
State Park
Collier-Seminole
State Park, a 4,760-acre wilderness preserve,
offers a .9-mile interpretive boardwalk/nature
trail, RV and tent camping, a 5.5-mile mountain-bike
trail, a 6.5-mile hiking trail, canoe rentals,
a 131/2-mile aquatic trail, playground, picnic
area, pontoon boat tours and historical displays,
including a huge "walking" dredge, a National
Historic Engineering Landmark. Location: 17 miles
south of Naples on U.S. 41 East. Admission: $3.25
per car, up to eight people, $1 per person over
eight people. Information: 394-3397.
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The
Conservancy
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida operates
two nature centers in Collier County to help educate
residents and visitors about the area's natural
resources. The centers offer numerous exhibits
and activities.
The Naples Nature Center includes the Conservancy
Museum of Natural History, Wildlife Rehabilitation
Center, a butterfly garden and short trails featuring
a broad variety of native Florida trees and plants
on the 14-acre site. The museum provides hands-on
exhibits, special programs, daily presentations
about water, turtles and snakes and daily guided
tours of the nature trails.
The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center has a behind-the-scenes
hospital for injured native wild animals. Permanent
residents - including owls, hawks, pelicans and
a bald eagle - are outside for public viewing.
Canoe and kayak rentals are offered, plus narrated
boat tours of the upper reaches of the Gordon
River. Boat tours are free, available on a first-come,
first-served basis.
The Conservancy Naples Nature Center is at 14th
Avenue North, off Goodlette-Frank Road. Hours
are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. Admission is $6 for adults; $2 for children
3-12. Children under 3 and Conservancy members
admitted free. Call 262-0304, ext. 333.
Briggs Nature Center, six miles north of Marco
Island, features an interpretive center and a
half-mile boardwalk through a variety of plant
communities. A butterfly garden includes more
than 20 different species of native plants designed
to attract 27 species of native butterflies.
The Conservancy's Briggs Nature Center is off
State Road 951 in the 12,700-acre Rookery Bay
National Estuarine Research Reserve. Hours are
Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Admission is $3 for adults; $1 for children 3-12.
Children under 3 and Conservancy members admitted
free. Call: 775-8569.
Yearly family memberships to The Conservancy of
Southwest Florida begin at $35 and include admission
to nature centers, education publications and
discounts on purchases, programs and rentals.
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CREW
Marsh Trail System
The CREW Marsh Trail System, which offers five
miles of hiking through pine flatwoods, sawgrass
marsh and an oak/cabbage palm hammock, is located
at the edge of the 6,825-acre Corkscrew Marsh
on Corkscrew Road in northern Collier County.
The trails are free and open to the public seven
days a week, sunrise to sunset. Guided tours or
group outings may be arranged by calling the Corkscrew
Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW) office from
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at (941)
332-7771. The CREW Trust, formed in 1989, assists
with wetlands acquisition, management and public
use activities in Lee and Collier counties. Location:
From Interstate 75, take exit 19 and travel east
for approximately 18 miles. Entrance is on right.
From State Road 82, travel east to County Road
850 (Corkscrew Road) and turn right. Entrance
is approximately 1.5 miles on left.
Corkscrew
Swamp Sanctuary
The National Audubon Society's internationally
recognized 11,000-acre preserve, located in the
heart of the least-disturbed watershed in Florida,
features the largest remaining subtropical old
growth bald cypress forest in the world. A 21/4-mile
boardwalk/nature trail winds through several habitats,
including 500-year-old cypress trees, ferns, air
plants and wildflowers. The sanctuary is home
to hundreds of alligators, whitetail deer, river
otter, various turtles, Florida black bear and
almost 200 species of birds, including egrets,
ibis, herons and wood storks. There is also a
one-mile trail with interpretive panels and handicapped
access. Location: Exit 17 off I-75, 15 miles east
on Immokalee Road to Sanctuary Road, then follow
signs. Admission: Adults $8, National Audubon
Society members, $5, full-time college students,
$5.50, children 6 to 18, $3.50, under 6, free.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily during the summer
season. Information: 348-9151.
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Delnor-Wiggins
Pass State Recreation Area
A 166-acre tract located on the south side of
Wiggins Pass in North Naples, Delnor-Wiggins Pass
State Recreation Area features shaded picnic areas,
grills, a pavilion, bath house, short nature trail
and an observation deck. The beach, which was
purchased from Collier County in 1970, frequently
has ended up on the national "Best Beaches Survey"
by Stephen Leatherman, director of the University
of Maryland's Laboratory for Coastal Research.
Shelling is usually good, and while swimmers are
not allowed in the dangerous currents of Wiggins
Pass, fishing is allowed there. Swimmers may go
into the Gulf of Mexico on the south side of the
pass. Native gopher tortoises, manatees, dolphins,
osprey, and a wide variety of wading birds are
commonly seen. The park, at the western terminus
of Bluebill Avenue, is open daily from 8 a.m.
to sunset. Entrance fees are $2 for one driver
in a vehicle, $4 for more than one person, and
$1 for pedestrians and bicyclists. The address
is 11100 Gulfshore Drive. Information: 597-6196.
Edison-Ford
complex
The winter homes of inventor Thomas Alva Edison
and automobile industrialist Henry Ford sit side-by-side
on the south side of the Caloosahatchee River
in Fort Myers. The Edison site features his home,
laboratory, botanical gardens and a museum. Ford's
home has been restored to look the way it did
when he purchased the estate in 1916. Presenters
in period costume offer living history performances.
Location: 2350 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers. Admission:
Adults 13 and up $11, children $5.50. Special
summer rate package. Information: (941) 334-3614
or see Web site on Internet:
http://www.edison-ford-estate.com
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Fort
Myers Historical Museum
Housed in the former Atlantic Coastline Railroad
depot, the museum includes exhibits on the history
of Calusa Indians, Seminole Indians, Spanish explorers
and early settlers in Southwest Florida, in addition
to a pioneer "cracker" house, a 1929 private Pullman
rail car, a 1926 La France fire pumper and a recovered
Airacobra fighter plane. "America's Favorite Game:
The History of Baseball in Fort Myers" will be
exhibited through May 2000. Admission: $6 for
adults and students age 13 and up, $5.50 for seniors,
and $3 for children ages 3 to 12. Special summer
rate package. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed most holidays. Location:
2300 Peck St., Fort Myers, off Jackson Street,
one block south of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Information: (941) 332-5955.
Gulf
Coast Skimmers
The Gulf Coast Skimmers and Youth Outreach Program
perform free water-ski shows at 6:30 p.m. Saturdays
at Lake Avalon in Sugden Regional Park, west of
U.S. 41 South at the corner of Lakewood Boulevard
and Outer Drive. The park features an 800-person
stadium, paved parking, cooking grills, fishing
piers and a swimming area. Drinks and packaged
snacks are available. Donations are accepted.
Information: 732-0570 or see Web site on Internet:
http://
www.gulfcoastskimmers.com
Imaginarium
The Imaginarium Hands-on Museum & Aquarium, a
science museum, features more than 60 exhibits
about the environment, physics, anatomy, weather
and other scientific topics. Attractions include
aquariums displaying marine life, a touch pool,
a living reef tank and an outdoor lagoon. The
museum also features a 3-D theater, enclosed butterfly
garden, citrus grove and interactive areas for
preschoolers. Location: corner of M.L. King Boulevard
and Cranford Avenue, Fort Myers. Admission: Adults
$6, seniors $5.50, children 3 to 13 $3, children
under 3 free. Special summer rate package. Information:
(941) 337-3332.
Key
Marco Museum
The Key Marco Museum, located in the Marco Island
Area Board of Realtors building, 140 Waterway
Drive (corner of Bald Eagle Drive), on Marco Island,
focuses on the history of Marco Island. Sponsored
by the Marco Island Historical Society, the museum
displays artifacts of the ancient Calusa culture,
which was found in the area about 800 A.D., including
replicas of the Key Marco Cat and of ceremonial
masks discovered during an archaeological excavation
by Frank Cushing in 1896. More than 100 objects,
photos and documents are included in the museum's
display. Several interpretive displays focus on
Marco area pioneers, as well as on the development
of modern Marco Island by the Deltona Company.
The facility is open to the public from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is
free. Information: 394-5616.
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Koreshan
State Historic Site
A nationally recognized historical site, Koreshan
was originally settled in the late 1800s as a
utopian community. The site offers RV and tent
camping, canoeing on the Estero River, a playground
and nature trails. Ranger-guided tours of the
historic site are available on Saturdays and Sundays
at 1 p.m. Cost is $1 per adult, 50 cents per child.
Location: U.S. 41 South in Estero. Admission to
the site: $3.25 per car. Information: 992-0311.
Museum
of the Everglades
The Museum of the Everglades, Collier County's
first satellite museum, is a restored 2,800 square-foot
laundry building on West Broadway in Everglades
City. The community was founded as a company town
in the early 1920's by Barron G. Collier, and
the building served as a commercial laundry from
1927 to World War II.
Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11
a.m. to 4 p.m. Suggested donation at door: $2.
To reach the museum from Naples, take U.S. 41
South for 32 miles to State Road 29, then travel
south five miles to the center of Everglades City.
The museum is on the west side of the Broadway
roundabout, at 105 West Broadway. For more information,
call during museum hours: 695-0008.
Naples
Aquarium
The Naples Aquarium, located in the Old Naples
Seaport at 1001 10th Ave. S., is part of the Marine
Habitat Foundation Inc., a research center. The
facility features a touch tank that allows visitors
to feel sea squirts, horseshoe crabs, starfish,
flounder and other saltwater creatures. A large
7,000-gallon tank is home to a diverse collection
of native saltwater fish. Admission is $6.95 for
adults and $4.95 for children. Information: 403-7300.
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Smallwood
Store
The Smallwood Store and Museum, established in
1906 as a trading post on the western edge of
the Everglades, served the remote area buying
hides, and farm produce in exchange for hard-to-come-by
items. The store is on the National Register of
Historic Places. A gift shop on the premises features
Seminole and Miccosukee Indian crafts and music.
Hours: Seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: 320 Mamie St., Chokoloskee. Admission:
Adults 12 and up $2.50; seniors $2, children under
12 free. Information: 695-2989.
Teddy
Bear Museum
The 8,000-square-foot Teddy Bear Museum includes
a collection of nearly 4,000 bears, ranging from
life-size to 1-inch, and from soft bears to bears
of marble and bronze. The museum features interpretive
displays of antique and limited-edition bears,
teddy bear art and one-of-a-kind items including
a signed first-edition copy of A.A. Milne's Winnie
the Pooh. Bear-making demonstrations are available.
Location: 2511 Pine Ridge Road, Naples. Admission:
Adults $6, seniors $4, children 4 to 12 $2, and
children under 4 free. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Wednesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Information: 598-2711 or see Web site on Internet:
http://www.teddymuseum.com
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Wonder
Gardens
Southwest Florida's oldest attraction includes
botanical gardens, native and exotic birds, Florida
panthers, black bears, a museum and a gift shop.
The facility also features a display of Florida
reptiles, including alligators, crocodiles and
venomous and non-venomous snakes. Location: Old
41 Road in Bonita Springs. Admission: Adults $8,
children 3 to 12 $5, under 3 free.
Information: 992-2591.
Wooten's
Wooten's features airboat and swamp buggy tours,
as well as a park with animal exhibits including
crocodiles, snakes, Florida panther and alligator
wrestling. Location: U.S. 41, Ochopee. Admission
to park with animal exhibits: $6; 30-minute airboat
or swamp buggy tours, $12.50 per person, combination
tour $26. Prices subject to change. Information:
(800) 282-2781.
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