BOCA GRANDE, Florida – Finally, I took my shoes off and felt the sand through my toes.
Two and a half months after Hurricane Ian slammed into Southwest Florida, almost all Lee County beaches remain closed. A spokeswoman for the county said there was no timetable for reopening the beaches, given ongoing concerns with parking, beach access and other issues related to visitor safety.
So I headed to Gasparilla Island for my oceanfront fix, where a state park beach is open to visitors.
Gasparilla, located just north of better known Sanibel and Captiva, was not spared by Ian, but the destruction here wasn’t as extensive as it was further south.
Most shops and restaurants on the island were open during my stay in early December.
And the tony Gasparilla Inn, the historic hotel that dates back more than a century, was preparing to reopen on Dec. 15, after being shuttered for more than two months.
The entire 7-mile-long island is sometimes referred to as Boca Grande, which is the name of the town in its center, a quaint hub of commercial activity, with numerous restaurants, shops and places to stay.
On this visit, however, I was focused on the sand.
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Gasparilla Island State Park has to be one of Florida’s prettiest, with 127 gulf-front acres on the southern end of the island.
The park is home to two lighthouses, including the oldest building in Lee County – the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse, a beautiful two-story frame dwelling with a cupola on top, built in 1890 at the entrance to busy Charlotte Harbor.
A second lighthouse, the 105-foot-tall Gasparilla Island Light, is 2 miles north, a steel structure that was originally erected in Delaware and moved to Florida in 1927.
I walked between them, searching for shells, finally getting my feet wet.
I also biked between them, along a section of the island’s 6.5-mile multi-use path, which runs nearly the entire length of the island.
Much of the bikeway is along the right of way of the former Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway, which operated on Gasparilla Island from 1907 to 1981. For decades, the railroad serviced the busy shipping port on Gasparilla, which served as a transfer point for phosphate from the mainland that was sent throughout the world.
Though the industry is long gone, its legacy remains. Officers from Boston-based American Agricultural Chemical Co. founded the Gasparilla Inn in 1914, which helped transform the island into the tourist destination that it is today.
Though the Gasparilla Inn was closed during my visit, several of the resort’s restaurants were open, including the Pink Elephant, where I had lunch, and the Outlet, where I had breakfast.
For dinner, I enjoyed fresh snapper at the new Keylime Bistro Boca Grande, in the former location of the Loose Caboose, inside the historic train station. It’s a sister property to the Keylime Bistro on Captiva, which remains closed.
And no visit to Boca Grande is complete without a stop at the Pink Pony, a long-time island ice cream shop.
Kay Heimann, whose husband’s family opened the store in 1988, said the island has been quiet since Ian, although she’s unsure whether the hurricane was keeping people away.
“We always have a lull this time of year, so it’s hard to know,” she said. “We were very fortunate in our store – we had no damage.”
She expected island activity to pick up later in December, after the Gasparilla Inn reopened.
Indeed, the island was unexpectedly quiet during my brief visit, but I didn’t mind. I had a lot of beach to cover, almost all of it to myself.
The Gasparilla Inn in Boca Grande in early December, about a week before its Dec. 15 reopening date.
Biking through Boca Grande in southwest Florida.
Gasparilla Island Light, one of two lighthouses on Southwest Florida's Gasparilla Island.
If you go: Gasparilla Island
Getting there: Unless you’re traveling by boat, Gasparilla is a bit of a haul to get to, 90 minutes from Southwest Florida International Airport -- although maybe that’s part of its charm. The island is connected to the mainland via the 2 ½-mile-long Boca Grande Causeway, which is $6 per car (entering the island only); Sun Pass and EZ Pass not accepted.
Where to stay: The Gasparilla Inn has extremely limited availability through the season, with rates starting at about $500 per night. For less expensive accommodations, try the Innlet, with rates starting at less than $200 per night, but also with limited availability this winter. I spent one night at the Boca Grande Hotel, at the far north end of the island; rates start at about $300. There are also house and condo rentals on the island, available via numerous rental agencies and booking sites.
Red tide information: Red tide, a naturally occurring harmful algal bloom, has flared along Florida’s southwest coast in the weeks since Ian. It was a minor concern during my visit, with a small number of dead fish on the Gasparilla beach and a slight odor. Red tide outbreaks move rapidly; to monitor: myfwc.com/research/redtide/statewide/)
More information: visitfortmyers.com