Pine Island lies to the west of Cape Coral. In addition to excellent fishing, talented artists and ancient archaeological sites ... there are also several completely unique events of the "old Florida" that cannot be missed. Chief among them is Tarpon Lodge Sportsman Inn, a restaurant and bar located on the northwest coast of Pine Island in Pineland.
From Cape Coral, the trip to Pineland is picturesque and relaxing. Direct downed pine island road takes me for the dense local vegetation. Fishermen and artists encounter photographers and ecotourists among the Matlachi hallucinogenic flowers. Then it's a quick and quiet walk through the harsh, alien landscape of the Little Pine Island wetland restoration area.
With a four-sided stop sign in the center of Pine Island, I turned right onto the Stringfellow road. Large entrances to semi-built units encroach on the picturesque space, reducing the future of long-lived roadside vegetable vendors and the lush, desert labyrinths of palm tree nurseries. Continuing push for more, better, faster, more visible, even here.
At the corner of a side street is a fish-decorated sign. Gorgeous rough mounds raise the ground on the right side of the road. Sparkling pine island Sound soon appears on the left. The Tarpon Lodge Sportsman Inn and restaurant is neatly located a short distance away. It is located directly across the street from the Kaluza heritage trail and almost next to the house of Randy Wayne White, author of the popular New York Times.
The main building was built in 1926 by the Wilson family. He later owned and managed IB and Mary Hunt Jones as Pine Air Horse. In 1986, an additional dormitory building was added to the former property of Pine-Aire Lodge. For the next ten years, the property was known as The Cloisters, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. It was only in 2000 that Robert and Phyllis Wells (who also own a restaurant at Cabbage Key) bought this complex. They renovated the main building and the hostel in the restaurant and hotel ... now Tarpon Lodge. It was open for business in June 2001. When, on August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charlie landed on Pine Island, he seriously damaged the roof of the main structure, flooding the main dining room. Most of the windows were broken, and all the docks were destroyed. After the storm, work began and the property was restored again. The restaurant reopened on December 15, 2004. The Inn reopened during the New Year holiday and immediately arranged a family gathering for former President Jimmy Carter and his family.
Royal palms and banana leaves leave a front entrance shade. Red flowers and green leaves come to life in a soft wind as I walk past them along the road to sign up for the night room. A quick tour and gracious hospitality are immediately offered by a kind woman at the table. After targeting Tarpon Lodge, go by car to get your wife and belongings ... we are especially on Island Time.
Pineland is just as lagging as it gets. This is not pale neon Florida. This is not the sweaty South Beach, or the posh Worth Ave, or the sticky city of Panama, or the plastic Orlando. Even Sanibel and Captiva look overcrowded and restless compared to Pineland. People who visit Tarpon Lodge do not get here in case of an accident ... they usually come here to look for one of several things: fishing, history, nature, romance or loneliness. If they are lucky, they will get a mixture of them all.
Tarpon Lodge has several room types, but space is limited ... especially during the tourist and taranpa seasons. The small number of available rooms adds to the attractiveness of the house and allows staff to achieve their practical, personal service goal for each guest host.
The historic house of 1926 consists of nine rooms. Although this building has been renovated several times, you never know. A lot of antique materials still exist. Most of the rooms even have original parquet floors. Some rooms in the main building offer views of the water. All have easy access to the restaurant and lounge. Another important point is that these rooms offer a unique opportunity to become part of the history of Pine Island, staying overnight in one of the oldest buildings on the island.
There is one cottage and a renovated boathouse. Both rooms have kitchenettes, verandas and fantastic water views. These options are ideal for those planning extended seats.
Our room is located on Island House, a building in the style of the pile behind the main building. This building has 12 rooms. Six of them have views of the water. All of the waterfront rooms on Island have small balconies facing west, giving a one-of-a-kind view of Pin Island's breathtaking sunsets. We were fortunate enough to hook one of the rooms overlooking the water, although our visit is halfway through the season of tapons.
The room has a comfortable bed, a lamp, a closet with a small TV and a bathroom. The most important feature is a balcony overlooking the pool, tropical land and the Pine Island. There is no telephone in the room. There is no wireless internet access. Both can be in the main building ... but I come here to disconnect from the electronic connections that connect me everywhere.
As soon as each thing got out of the car and we settled down, she went out onto the balcony with a fresh bottle of red wine and two glasses. A pair of wicker chairs and a table awaits us along with all the glory of an unspoiled southwestern Florida.
A steady, cool breeze caresses our skin and flirts with our hair. Variable patterns of bright sunlight and cloud shadows are mixed on a well-groomed lawn stretching towards the water. A few strange algae hit the grass. Love bugs laugh in the air. The green halo expands the brightly colored lining and beans up and down. Our whole view relates to a leisurely and idyllic paradise ... swinging palms, huge watercolor skies and the wide expanse of the sound of the Pine Island.
The horizon is occupied by resistant and unsurpassed islands and keys. Wooden key Black key Part of the island. Inaccessible by foot or car, these unspoken places are played in the imagination. Who owns them? Does anyone live on them? Minds wander through the ancient heritage of Kaluza in the area, filling these clean islands with colorful and legendary past periods. Sinks. Unreasonable Indian art. Sacred burial grounds. Undisclosed secrets.
Birds break the surface of the water, useful for diving hunting for fish. Fish break the surface of the air, jump up to catch a trap. Small boats ride around the border areas, strolling along the rumpled surface of Pine Island Sound, sometimes joining Tarpon Lodge, sometimes heading to Pineland Marina, conveniently located nearby.
An excited couple in the forties goes to the balcony in several rooms. They are on vacation, and they just drove to Tarpon Lodge. A few minutes later they go to the pool in bathing suits, all huge smiles. This is a place that they have been looking forward to visiting, noting the big black X every day in their calendar, a painful countdown. Now they are finally here, and they are immersed in the experience of Southwest Florida as quickly as they are immersed in an outdoor pool. This is all that is needed. The obligation to relax.
I like to look at them with amazed amazement at the novelty around them. With the curiosity of babies, they emerged from the womb of their normal life into a wonder of a place, so everything is different. Their heads rotate in wide arcs, taking the landscape. When you find yourself in a direct look, you will find out that you have begun to relax. Wild eyes absorb tropical moments, romanticize, write in memory. Between the playful bursts in the pool, they reconnect, only allowing the scenery to change.
The lure of the landscape is strong. Soon we leave our chairs and explore the territory of Tarpon Lodge on foot. We walk under flowers and foliage, low-hanging leaves and flowers tickle our bare skin. The rejuvenating aroma of salt water is common, massaging us with aromatherapy. The material of the infamous hammock eagerly captures the curves of our bodies when we gently swing back and forth. Then he goes on a date with a virgin white gazebo. We run away from the sun, running knee palms with long branches. We look at their clusters of exotic fruits and run our hands over the ribbed terrain of their stone chests. Leaving the dock, tongues flew into the trees, birds singing suggestive songs, and the fish splashed feverishly ... everyone benefits from perverted linen from Egyptian cotton clouds. In less than half an hour we became close to nature.
In the dining room and lounge at Tarpon Lodge, it will be what you are or what you want. This is a sports hotel on Pine Island. Sometimes it can be a multi-colored melting pot. This is the place where the lottery enthusiasts of the millionaires beat their shoulders with young couples looking for romance. Vegan eco-activists dine in the same room as the crispy fishermen and professors of archeology. Different styles of dress and speech are the backdrop to the social scene in the Tarpon Lodge. Some of the guests want to have a polite conversation, others want to be left alone with their books and thoughts.
The employee of the service adds his own tones to the vibrant and vibrant combination, the tones of the various places from which they dared on their way to be here, the tones of the high level of service that management expects of them. For a place out of the way of the battle and on an island known for the carefree nature of its service employees, general manager Rob Wells III has amassed a staff he can truly be proud of. In all respects, our needs were expected and met, most often with stunning precision.
The lounge at the Tarpon Lodge is reminiscent of an old-fashioned New England style pub, something from the days of the revolutionary war. Magnificent dark wooden floors pass by the cavernous bar in the direction of a primitive brick fireplace. Delicious tall vases filled with beach sand and lightning shells serve as candlesticks for large white candles that flicker vaguely every evening. The trophy fish is mounted on the wall, as well as the hideous saw of a small tooth (now it is a protected species that is in danger of extinction). Simple photographs of ancient fishing conquests abound. Folding Windsor chairs overlook several tables, and people from all over Pine Island come to pamper themselves with libations and great food.
Three unshaven people, fresh from the day on the water, a crowd of small bar that sells bright fish stories. Leaving the menu in the lounge, a couple from the neighboring Bokeelia. Because of the room, they attract my wife in conversation ... life on the island, trips to Hong Kong and Dubai, the presidential race. Between the twists and turns of a lively discussion, my wife and I shared Caribbean shrimp, mushrooms, and Spinach Dip snacks. Topped with Monterey Jack cheese and served with seasoned croutons, the bright surprise was a pleasant surprise because of the culinary dignity.
A suitable hostess gets to know herself and explains how the Chef in the Tarpon box, Jotro Joseph, hails from Grand Cayman. He likes to mix fresh ingredients from Southwest Florida with Caribbean spices when creating his unique menu items. The end result is some of the region’s most innovative products. Traditional classics, provided that in South Florida you will find a menu for exchanging information with fresh traps, and the exotic flavors of the Cayman Islands are revealed in unexpected and unexpected places.
The Tarpon Lodge restaurant is constantly rated at four stars, visiting criticism regarding food. Live music, easy listening, scheduled for a couple of times a week. There is an exquisitely appointed indoor dining area, but the tables you want here overlook the dining patio screening overlooking the magnificent sunset sunset on Pine Island.
The hostess sits us on a corner table in the courtyard with unobstructed views of the water. The live music guests this evening are a trio of David Sarchet. Their combination of classic and modern jazz styles blends with the fresh air in Florida and provides the perfect atmospheric backdrop for a magical dinner.
Within a few minutes, our professional server provides the right service for the wine on the bottle, which we have chosen from the limited and accessible list of wines. Glasses filled with Steele Pinot Noir are raised for toast in dark light. Crystal blades, and our leisurely meal begins.
Salads that are larger than life appear before us. My wife comes with a salad of green spinach leaves, made with baby spinach leaves, topped with fried red pepper and mushrooms, topped with warm sweet vinaigrette bacon. Temperature fluctuation plays with our senses. Crisp cool spinach faces a warm bacon sauce ... absolutely stunning.
Mine is the heart of a palm salad salad. Tangy hearts of a palm and a sweet snowman, thrown by mixed field greens and crispy fried strips, which add to the salad an additional crispy texture. All this is light, strangled in an Asian vinaigrette with sesame and red tones. Great.
My wife Pina Island Apple Crab Cakes definitely correspond to the legendary status of word of mouth, earned over the past couple of years. Soft crab meat combined with a unique blend of seasoning Chef Jethro Joseph, turned into two giant crab cakes and fried until the end. They are intelligently combined with garlic aioli, which perfectly complements the flavors of crab cakes. This is Florida's southwestern food, made right.
My choice is the culinary press, which is difficult to trace, but oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh. I was so oriented to hear our server recruit a dish at the beginning of our meal. Tripletail is something like a keen fisherman in South Florida ... thin, flaky pearly flesh with a soft, slightly meaty taste that is completely unique to itself. Tarpon Lodge is one of the few local restaurants that regularly offer this fish. If you ever see this, offer it - get it, you will not be disappointed.
Chef Joseph did it right, again with a triplet ... just a tender saute with salt and pepper. That's all he asks for. This is a fish that does not need to hide sauces. It was the best in the public domain, it was merit, minimalism and cleanliness ... and enjoy it!
Somewhere along the line the sun sinks below the horizon, and a burst of explosion splashes across the sky. Long shadows fall on the palm trees, and playful jazz music wanders in the darkness of the night air on the coast. One by one, other visitors leave the screened patio while we are the last two people there, our only company a few sips of red wine and what remains of a decadent chocolate dessert. Island bliss.
Back in my room, my wife takes a long, hot shower. I decided to wait for her on the balcony. Night is in full bloom, and the wall of searchlights shines from the ground, illuminating the underside of several palm trees and arbors. The indoor pool still glows in the dark. Is there anything more attractive than the blue-blue glow of a swimming pool at night?
After a few seconds, I came across my boxer shorts and ran down the corridor of Island House. I descend the stairs and unexpectedly slip into the gate around the pool. I look around nervously, but no one looks. I am breaking the rules of the hotel by sliding into the refreshing neon water of the pool, which is closed at night.
My surroundings are as vivid as a pleasant and otherworldly dream. Majestic, dark palms are shown in silhouettes against the night tide. Tropical air has cooled dramatically. A mild chlorine smell emanates from the water, then disappears each time a light breeze from the pristine air rises again. Fresh air. Pine-Aire.
In the distance, purple and white electric dances in the form of silent thermal lighting. Flickering, white Christmas lights are moving around the perimeter of a historic inn, stretched across the entire length of the eaves. The blue-tinted haze from the half-watched television screens dumps from the windows of the night rooms, where travelers, exhausted by their adventures, leave in the direction of dreams.
The light of the pool reflects the gentle waves that I create and flash across my skin in stripes and blur. The only sound is the rustle of the deserted islands of palm branches in the invisible wind and the electric raven of the inadequate balanced ceiling fan on the porch of the island house.
I relax on my back and let the water hold me up. Weightless, I float on the surface, eyes directed upwards. The stars are above the glow with brightness and brightness that I have never seen before, huge burning spheres floating in the sky when I swim in this pool.
Я смотрю на небеса и оглядываюсь назад во времени, свидетельствуя о старинном свете, заканчивающем невероятно долгое путешествие к Земле. Звездный свет, который я вижу сегодня вечером, начал свой путь задолго до того, как Тарпон Лодж исчерпал себя. До монастырей. Перед Домом Пайн-Айр. До того, как семья Уилсона очистила эту землю или построила этот дом. Звездный свет, который я вижу сегодня вечером, был сформирован, когда индейцы Калузы правили этим куском земли, когда только один свет был выброшен кострами, и звезды были нацелены на руководство и удивление.
Сегодня я нахожусь в древнем месте, наблюдая, как древний свет проникает в то, как древние видели его ... и он настолько тих, что почти так же, как если бы я был последним человеком на Земле ,
Затем шум раздвижной двери нарушает тишину, и я вижу тень на моей любящей жене на балконе, терпеливо ожидая, когда я вернусь в комнату.
