Florida Favs – Key West & Everglades

Tour Includes: 6 nights' hotel accommodation; 6 breakfasts; 1 lunch; 1 dinner; admissions, entrance, and guide fees as stated in the itinerary, including taxes & gratuity. Except gratuity for guide fees is not included on adult tours unless otherwise requested.

• Historic Fort Myers
• Discovery Nature Walk and Sea Turtles
• Wildlife Refuge Tram Tour
• Shell Museum
• Edison and Ford Winter Estates
• Cruise to Key West
• Harry S. Truman Little White House
• Ernest Hemingway Home
• Key West Sunset Celebration
• Glass Bottom Catamaran Tour
• Trolley Exploring
• Turtle Hospital

• Arrive and check into your Fort Myers hotel. Enjoy dinner on your own this evening.

• Enjoy an included breakfast at the hotel then meet local Naturalist in the lobby depart on foot and enjoy a Discovery Nature walk. Explore the beaches and turtles of the area. Sanibel Island’s beaches provide the perfect subtropical nesting area for sea turtles, some of the world’s oldest creatures. These ancient reptiles have long fascinated people around the world. Sea turtles can move through the water at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. This is surprising considering their enormous weight. Adult males reach about three feet in shell length and weigh about 250 pounds, but large specimens of more than 1,000 pounds have been found. Their average life span is more than 50 years.
• Arrive back at the hotel and enjoy meals on own and a free time for the rest of the day.

• Enjoy breakfast included before departing for Sanibel Island.
• Visit J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Tour by Tram with Tarpon Bay Explorers. Our experienced naturalists can help you spot wildlife most visitors would never see. As the road meanders past tidal mudflats and mangrove forests, roseate spoonbills, white ibis, little blue herons, reddish egrets, brown pelicans, osprey, and other colorful birds can be seen feeding, resting, and preening. View many other species that make the migratory stopover of "Ding" Darling part of their annual flight corridor.
• No trip on Wildlife Drive is complete without stopping by Alligator Curve, where you are almost sure to observe these prehistoric reptiles. It’s not all about the wildlife, though. You will also hear fascinating tales of the Calusa Indians and the early days of Sanibel and south Florida.
• Depart for lunch at a local restaurant.
• Visit Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum - The non-profit museum features more than 30 exhibits of mollusks from around the world. Exhibits are devoted to shells in art and history, shell habitat, rare specimens, fossil shells, common Southwest Florida shells, and more. The learning lab features a hands-on play area for children, displays, games, and a tank with indigenous mollusks. Two videos, Mollusks in Action and Trails and Tales of Living Mollusks, are shown (on the hour and half-hour), and a children's video is shown continuously. The museum store also offers a wide selection of shell books.
• Depart and arrive back at hotel for free evening and dinner on own.

• Enjoy a leisurely morning at the beach & resort before departing for The Edison Ford Winter Estate.
• Visitors to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates will enjoy more than 20 acres of historical buildings and gardens including the 1928 Edison Botanical Research Laboratory. Open to the public since 1947, Edison Ford is a National Register Historic Site and is one of the most visited historic home sites in America.
• Afterwards enjoy free time in historic downtown Ft. Myers for shopping, a coffee, or a stroll.
• Later return to the hotel for a free evening to explore.

• Check out of hotel then depart on motor coach to then arrive and board the Key West Express, it is a luxury, jet powered catamaran. Enjoy your approximate 4-hour boat ride to Key West. Traveling via the Key West Express is truly the best way to get to Key West. You will enjoy air-conditioned interiors, several exterior sun decks, plus couches, tables, and even reclining airline-style seating. There is even a full-service galley, full-service bar, and flat screen TVs with satellite television to watch during the duration of the ride. This is not just a ferry to Key West, it’s the Key West Express where getting to Key West is half the fun!
• Arrive into Key West. Enjoy lunch on own and free time to explore in downtown area.
• Visit the Harry S. Truman Little White House. Originally constructed in 1890 as naval officers housing, this house has been visited by many famous people, including Thomas Edison and has been used by six presidents (Taft in 1912, Eisenhower in 1955-56, Kennedy in 1961-2, Carter in 1996 and 2007, Clinton in 2005); however, it’s most notable use was between 1946 and 1952 where President Truman spent a total of 175 days here using this as his winter White House. Visit the home of legendary writer, Ernest Hemingway. The house is one of Key West’s most historic places. Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote here for more than 10 years. Calling Key West home, he found solace and great physical challenge in the turquoise waters that surround this tiny island. Step back in time and visit the rooms and gardens that witnessed the most prolific period of this Nobel Prize winner’s writing career. Wander through the lush grounds and enjoy the whimsy of the more than 40 cats that live here.
• Enjoy Dinner on own this evening.

• Enjoy breakfast included.
• To really experience Key West, you must get out on the water, because without a doubt, the most popular attraction is the warm, blue waters that surround the island.
• Today, embark on an adventure to the world-famous reefs off the coast of Key West. Aboard the magnificent Key West Fury catamaran with a glass bottom, you’ll enjoy the fresh sea air as you voyage above the lively marine world underneath. Once you arrive above the reefs, be ready to catch your breath as vibrant sea life abounds right beneath your eyes. Through the glass bottom, you’ll see colorful fish, coral and plants. It is a fabulous way to explore the water without ever leaving the boat!
• Dock, disembark and explore Key West on the Old Town Trolley with hop on hop off access.
• Enjoy lunch on own today then depart and enjoy time at the Sunset Celebration, a nightly arts festival at Mallory Square Dock in Key West, Florida. The participants of this Key West attraction consist of arts and crafts exhibitors, street performers, food carts, psychics and of course the thousands of tourists from around the world who visit this Key West art show. Each night around two hours before sunset people, both locals and tourists alike, flock to the water's edge to experience a multicultural happening and to watch the sun sink into the Gulf of Mexico.
• Enjoy dinner on own this evening then return to the hotel for the evening.

• Enjoy breakfast included this morning then depart and visit the Turtle Hospital. Guests are invited to take a guided educational tour of the hospital facilities and the sea turtle rehabilitation area. This educational experience lasts approximately 90 minutes and provides a presentation on sea turtles as well as a behind the scenes look at the hospital facilities and rehabilitation area. At the end of each program guests are invited to feed the permanent residents.
• Return to the hotel for an afternoon to explore on own!

• Enjoy breakfast included at hotel prior to checking out and then depart for home.