I second the Boca Grande and Sanibel. You won't be disapointed.

Try and go when Boca Grande is open. Marilyn Hoeckel the woman who is the Curator there makes the visit very interesting. You can't get up into the Lantern room, but you can see the inside of the rest of the Lighthouse. It's mostly set up as a Museum that includes the history of the area as well as the Lighthouse.

They have a nice Gift Shop also. You even get a bonus Lighthouse on the way to Boca Grande- Gasparilla Rear Range. They have information about it at Boca Grande.

The trip would take about 8 hours to drive, not including stopping time at the Lighthouses. It would be about 2 hrs to Sanibel, then about 21/2 hrs to Boca Grande from Sanibel and then about 3 1/2 hrs back to Marco Island from Boca Grande.

The drive from Sanibel to Boca Grande is a nice drive. We were there this past October. We were at Sanibel Island (not the Lighthouse, though) when the sunset happened and got some beautiful shots.

It would be a great day if you have a full day free.

Here's a link to my post about our trip to Sanibel and Boca Grande, plus a couple of other places on the way.
http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/forums/Forum15/HTML/000221.html

Dennis



[This message has been edited by wheland (edited 04-08-2001).]