Page 44 - 2024-2025 Travel Guide to Florida

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Bradenton’s history dates back to Hernando de Soto, and a national historical site recalls his first landfall. The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature and Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat Aquarium nicely displays de Soto-related exhibits. The aquarium is a second-stage rehab center for rescue manatees before they are released into the wild.
Stroll along Bradenton Riverwalk for views, play areas, and easy-to-absorb learning experiences.
Bradenton’s Cortez community retains its feel of an Old Florida fishing village with a working waterfront and maritime museum. A number of charter boats depart from the docks to take you deep-sea or back-bay fishing.
INTERNATIONAL
GATEWAYS
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport:
srq-airport.com
Southwest Florida International Airport, Fort Myers: flylcpa.com
Head east of town for a little extreme adventure at TreeUmph! Adventure Course, an aerial obstacle course with zip lines.
BEACHES & OUTDOOR GEMS
You will find no nature-deficit disorder in Southwest Florida, where the great outdoors ranges from gorgeous, award-winning beaches to the raw wilderness of the Everglades ecosystem.
FORT MYERS BEACH • VISIT FORT MYERS/JASON BOECKMAN
Around Naples and Everglades City, a number of state and federal parks and preserves safeguard fragile Everglade habitats—home to a host of birds and fish, deer, Florida panthers, bobcats, manatees, alligators, crocodiles, turtles and river otters. Big Cypress National Preserve, the most massive of the public lands, provides inimitable opportunities for recreation among wildlife. Everglades National Park
BAKER MUSEUM, NAPLES • BRAND USA
42 2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO FLORIDA