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Shrimp Islands in Southwest Florida
By : Chelle Koster Walton
Curled like shrimp along Florida's southern Gulf Coast, Sanibel Island,Fort Myers Beach and Pine Island have a reputation for the Sanibel Pink crustacean they haul in and serve up fresh.
Sanibel Island
The pink shrimp harvested in local waters takes its name from this resort and refuge island. Restaurants specialize in the island's eponymous shellfish, but none so much as McT's Shrimp House and Tavern. It serves jumbo shrimp 15 different ways and smaller shrimp steamed in the shell, all-you-can-eat style. For fresh shrimp to cook yourself, try The Timbers Fish Market, which will provide you with the best advice and recipes.
Fort Myers Beach
Despite their exotic-sounding name, Sanibel Pink shrimp actually originate from the shrimping fleets that call Fort Myers Beach home. San Carlos Island is their port-of-call, and during the day (shrimpers fish only at night), you can see trawlers bobbling along the island's shores. Shrimp markets here, such as Beach Seafood and Trico Shrimp Co., sell shrimp fresh off the boats or frozen for travel.
The affordable seafood restaurants in Fort Myers Beach naturally focus on shrimp. Favorites include waterfront restaurants Matanzas Inn, which serves classic deep-fried shrimp at its finest, and Snug Harbor, where Buffalo shrimp just may have originated. From both places you can watch shrimp boats sailing to and fro.
To learn about the local shrimping industry, visit Ostego Bay Foundation's Marine Science Center, which occupies an old shrimp packinghouse. Every Wednesday, it -conducts a walking tour of the San Carlos Island Working Waterfront Trail. Stops include educational kiosks, shrimp packing companies, the shrimp fleet and a net-making operation.
One weekend every March, the community celebrates its rich shrimping heritage with a Shrimp Festival. The local Lions Club steams up more than 1,000 pounds of wild shrimp, while vendors sell everything from coconut shrimp to shrimp pizza.
Pine Island
The commercial fishing port of Matlacha on Pine Island claims its own small shrimping fleet, which supplies local fish markets and seafood restaurants and inspires its artist community to capture the seaworthy boats, with their outriggers extended like so many birds in flight.
Andy's Island Seafood, which nestles into the harbor, sells them raw and frozen. Across the street at colorful Bert's Bar & Grill, eat 'em fried, steamed in the shell or Buffalo-style. Shrimp Rockefeller and shrimp burritos are just a couple of the many options at Red's Fresh Seafood House & Tavern in Bokeelia (also on Pine Island).
How To Get There: American Airlines and American Eagle provide service to Fort Myers, FL.
Book your trip today! Visit www.aa.com, call American/American Eagle reservations at 1-800-433-7300, or call your travel agent for more information.
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