Copyright. Barefoot Beachcombers Club.  All rights reserved

Been waiting all winter for a 4-day beach vacation? 

Well, now’s  the  time  to  get  out  your calendar and mark

“Escape to Fort Myers, Sanibel and Bonita Springs”
on

May 18-21 (Mon.-Thurs.)

Thursday –

Following our final waterfront breakfast, we head home stopping about 2 hrs. along our route at one of our club’s favorites, Westfield Town Center in Brandon, for lunch and to stretch our legs..

We will leave Sanibel to go for a swim at Bonita Beach Park in Bonita Springs

Monday -

Before our arrival at Fort Myers, we will stop at Englewood Beach for a few hours of gulf-front relaxation and lunch at your choice of 5 restaurants just across the street within 1-3 blocks of the park.

To join us on this trip, print the reservation form (click on green button below) and mail it along with your check (made out to the BBC) for $99 per person to the address below.  On March 6th, we will conduct our lottery and you will be notified shortly thereafter of your seat confirmation or waitlist status.  YES, you can mail separate checks for the March Madeira Beach outing and the May multi-day trip in ONE envelope since the lotteries will occur on the same day.

Barefoot Beachcombers Club (‘BBC’ will also suffice)
333 Colony Blvd. #110
The Villages, FL 32162

You could instead hand your addressed envelope to a person at the counter at Safe Ship in Colony Plaza, saving you the stamp.

This serene location offers a choice of scenic settings. The back bay offers quiet waters, peaceful surroundings, and a close up look of vessels entering and exiting the bay, some followed by dolphins jumping in their wake.  The gulf front provides a relaxed atmosphere for walkers, swimmers and sunbathers. Walking trails through the preserve area carry you through varied environments, and offer an excellent opportunity for bird watching while featuring panoramic views of Estero Bay.

Upon returning to our hotel in late afternoon, you can freshen up then enjoy dinner at one of three restaurants within a 2-minute walk of our hotel, including our hotel restaurant named 3 Fishermen Seafood, the Che Tito’s Steak House, or an IHOP.    You could then adjourn to your room for a quiet evening or join others in our social room for chats and/or games.

Liability Waiver:  The BBC has a revised Liability Waiver specific to our club.  Even if you have signed a liability release form in the past for our club, we are asking that you sign the revised one. This will only need to be done one time; not yearly as in the past.  Please click on link below, print and sign, and give the form to your bus leader on this trip. 

Tuesday-

Following our waterfront breakfast, we venture just 4 minutes away to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates built in 1885, the Edison Botanical Research Lab, and the Edison Ford Museum on more than 20 acres of gardens.  

Then just before arriving at our hotel, women can stretch their legs by drifting through a few shops at the Fisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda

with lunch next door at Doc’s Beach House  (what, another Doc?)

2020 Beach Trips

Admission is $23, but military veterans receive $2 off (they can each buy two tickets), and a 10% discount on items in the Museum Store. We’ll spend approximately 75 minutes on a tour led by enthusiastic site historians learning about the personal lives and brilliant works of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.  There will be time after the group tour for individually wandering about the property, gardens, and shops.  There are plenty of places to relax and get off your feet if you wish.  We’ll then drive about 25 minutes to lunch at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grill.  

The Best Western Waterfront Hotel in Fort Myers has made us an attractive offer of $90 a night (plus 11 ½ % tax) which includes a waterfront balcony, either a king or two queen beds, and a complimentary buffet breakfast each morning at their waterfront restaurant.

followed by total relaxation at Bowditch Point Park, just 10 minutes away, at the northern tip of Estero Island.

BBC Revised Liability Waiver March 2015.pdf

Here you’ll have the choice of the Cheesecake Factory, Bahama Breeze, P.F Chang’s (plus two other oriental restaurants), Mugs N Jugs (a sports bar), Red Robbin Burgers and Brews, Panera Bread, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and a Chick-a-Filet.  

We then have about 1 1/4 hrs. to return to Lamers Bus Yard.   Our men will either then make dinner or call for carry out.

Wednesday –

We’ll drive to Sanibel and visit either the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge for a 90-minute tram tour ($6) . . .

The groups can then merge again over dinner at one of the Village’s five restaurants shown on this webpage:     https://www.fishville.com/restaurants/

Upon check-in at our hotel, relax in its picturesque setting and consider joining others in our social room for chats and/or games.

Anyone who wishes to escape the sun can go on a 30-minute optional mid-afternoon drive to the Miromar Outlets for a little shopping.  This site is described as a beautiful mall with lots of fountains and greenery and beautiful architecture all around.  You would think it was a high-end mall rather than an outlet.

The bus(es) would return to the beach and escort all remaining beach bums in late afternoon to join the others at the Miromar Outlets in time for dinner.  Cuisines include American (at Ford’s Garage), Peruvian steaks (plus sandwiches, salads, and burgers) at Llama’s House, Mexican at LaBamba, Japanese at Wasabi, Greek at Go Greek, and Italian (at Italian Kitchen) plus Luna Pizza and Subway.  And, of course, there are plenty of snack and munchie bars for your sweet tooth or take homes.

After dinner, we’ll drift 30 minutes back to our hotel for a final evening together.

**To open the printable versions, move your cursor to the left hand side of the blue or green button.  Your cursor will then turn into a hand.  Once it does, click on the button and the print version will open in a new window.

  …. or to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum. 

Its new Living Collection Gallery (an aquarium) is scheduled to open in March 2020.

If 10 or more members of our group choose to go here, the admission price is reduced to $13.

while our men might choose to stretch their legs less expensively outside
(unless they decide to buy one of these boats.)

COSTS -

$99 per person payable by check now -- but not cashed by our club until May 1.

(This includes our 4-day transportation, our drivers’ rooms and tips, our breakfast staff tips, and our hotel mgmt. tips.)

It does not include the tip for your room attendant.

$90 per night (plus 11 ½ % tax) – only when you have been chosen in our lottery and have been offered a seat on our bus, you will make your reservation directly with the hotel.

$23 – Edison and Ford 2 hr. ¼  tour & visit.

$13  Optional Sea Shell Museum visit in Sanibel

$6  Optional Ding-Darling Wildlife Refuge 90-minute tram tour

Cost of your meals (and any shoe, purse, and boat purchases)  

I/we would like to go to Ft. Myers, Sanibel and Bonita Springs with the BBC on May 18th.  Enclosed is my $99 check (pp). 

Print your name(s):   __________________________________________________________________________________

I/we wish to be on the bus with these friends (name up to four) ________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I/we still have a credit with the BBC and I would like to use that credit. _________

I would like to share a 2-queen bedded room with someone.  ____________

My name and phone # are: ___________________________________________________________________________

OPTIONAL TOURS:   (Please indicate the number in your reservation who plan to venture out on these optional tours for our planning purposes.  NO payment is being collected for these tours at this time.) 

 $23.00 - Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Edison Botanical Lab, Edison Ford Museum
   (check here)   __________ I/we wish to go.

 $6.00 - Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge    (check here)   __________ I/we wish to go. 
OR

$13.00 - Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum  (check here)   __________ I/we wish to go.

Optional Miramar Outlets shopping trip  (check here)   __________ I/we believe I/we would to go on this outing (no firm commitment necessary at this time.).