Estero thoughts

Alright, so I guess if I'm gonna go, I need to start making plans

Before I do, since I've never been there, I was wondering if people had advice on places to stay, where to fly into (Tampa/St. Pete, I assume), things to do, discounts to get, and anything else that I should know about before making plans.

Oh, and btw, who's thinking of going?

- Fred

Hi Fred...
there is an airport in fort myers (RSW) that is serviced by northwest, delta, american, ata, usairways and i think southwest. Tampa is about a 2 hr drive (and includes a big bridge to get over tampa bay). I haven't flown in/out of st. pete. Rental cars might be a problem and expensive (book now!). as my parents and brother say "it's season". and all the snowbirds come from the north jam up all the roads, cause accidents and make what should be a 10 minute trip 30 minutes.

There are several hotels by the airport and a best western on route 41 in south ft myers that is pretty decent (or so i hear). there are also hotels on fort myers beach. Naples is about a 40 minute drive, but plenty of beach side hotels there. I'm not sure on prices... my dog and I have "deluxe accomodations" on a sleeper couch either at my parents or at my brothers.

the major roadways are rte -41 (if you been in central ct, think berlin turnpike, lots of lights) and I-75... and lots of stop and go traffic. if possible stay somewhere between the airport and bonita beach. If you stay in North fort myers leave yourself plenty of time to drive to the arena.. or you'll be in the same situation as for all-access cornell football... missing the first 20 minutes of the game!!!

all the major food chain restaurants are there... bonefish, outback etc. so finding a place to eat not too bad. just drive on 41, you'll find it all. there are malls and shops galore (including a big outlet mall next to the rink).

if you are looking to go to the beach, there is a neat place called "Doc's" in bonita beach (about 20 min or so south of estero). Cash only (and valet parking for patrons). they have good seafood, burgers, beer and cocktails, tables set up on the beach to eat and just hang out. very casual. a favorite of mine. There is also a public beach in bonita beach that is very nice (about 0.5 miles from doc's iirc).

hope this helps.... let me know if you need any other info

look forward to meeting you in estero.....

Rita

For anyone flying himself down, I generally use FMY. They have a self serve pump and waive the ramp fee if you promise to use it before you leave. The FBO is better than average. They deliever your rental car right to your plane and in the past have set us up with very good hotel deals even during peak tourist season.

On the trip down Venice makes a great lunch stop. There's a very good seafood restaurant walking distance from the FBO (about 1/2 mile) right on the ocean. We always stop there and let our kid wear herself out playing on the beach before flying the last 20 minutes down to Fort Myers.

A couple of years ago we flew into Naples (APF). Nice FBO, reasonable service given the really busy time of year. APF is an easy drive to Estero. There's a great Japanese steak house across from the Naples Ritz Carton. Good food, reasonably priced (unlike across the street!)!

I think I waited too long. With flights at at least $400 per person at the moment, I'll probably wait 'til next year and plan well in advance. SW/JetBlue have it at about $100 per way per person, if you can get in early enough. I can put that extra $400 to $600 to better use in the meantime.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

you may want to mark the 4th of july weekend.. that is when i usually booked my holiday trips from oregon to fort myers (pdx-rsw or eug-tpa)... never paid more than $400, usually it was closer to $300.

I know this past july for ct ---> rsw at xmas time i found tickets for ~ $250 - $280 (w/ 1 stop) and according to my brother that was the cheapest.. but they decided to wait for sw fares to be posted in october, and well, they never saw a fare that low again.

it might be a bit cheaper if you fly into tpa and drive the 2 hr... especially if you plan on renting a car (and book that early too!!).

The athletics site schedule gives the impression that the games in Estero will actually be available to "watch" via all access. It sounds too good to be true.

[Q]redhair34 Wrote:

The athletics site schedule gives the impression that the games in Estero will actually be available to "watch" via all access. It sounds too good to be true.[/q]

The Athletics site also said last night's basketball game with Lafayette was going to be "nationally televised on CSTV"--but it wasn't.

If all-access actually worked, then no one on this site would be able to get off on complaining that it didn't work.

For what it's worth, which is certainly not much, I've had absolutely zero problems with accessing game feeds during the season. I use Safari on a Mac, but I don't know if that has any impact. Maybe I'm just magic. That's certainly possible.

Then you didn't try for the second half of the second period during the RPI game, nor did you try to listen to the majority of the Brown away game... neither of which worked.

Not to mention the lack of a pre-game for just about each game.

IIRC, when the audio/video was run as a free service. partially by volunteers, we were much less apt to complain when there were outages. When we're forced to pay for a service it's not unreasonable to expect reliability and to complain when it is not.

[Q]Jerseygirl Wrote:

If all-access actually worked, then no one on this site would be able to get off on complaining that it didn't work.

For what it's worth, which is certainly not much, I've had absolutely zero problems with accessing game feeds during the season. I use Safari on a Mac, but I don't know if that has any impact. Maybe I'm just magic. That's certainly possible.[/q]

I think your magic, because I use safari on a mac and all access hates me.

Got this today

Hello Cornell Alumni and Friends,

Cornell University's Southeast Regional Office would like to wish you and your families a very happy holiday season. We have enjoyed meeting and spending time with many alumni in Florida over the years and hope to get to know even more of you in 2006. Please read below for information on exciting Cornell happenings in the Sunshine state.

Cornell Men's Hockey in Estero, FL
Naples/Ft. Myers, FL area, 12/27 & 12/28
Watch the College Classic with fellow alumni and meet the team after the games!
Click the link for more details:
[www.alumni.cornell.edu]

Actually, to totally contradict Rita's advice...

You will have a considerable drive to the game wherever you stay. Downtown Fort Myers has a decent bar scene, so the best strategy I've found is to stay close to there so you can walk to the bars and back.

The hotels right on the river seem to be booked up, but there's a Quality Hotel where some of us stayed last year that's not too bad a walk to the downtown area.

No problem john .... I'm most familiar with the estero area, so i'd thought i'd pass along that info for people to take with a grain of salt (or sand) ..... i HATE driving in ft. myers with all the traffic, so i do not venture out any more than necessary, especially after driving 1200 miles to get down there (and then another 1200 to go back to indiana).


Rita