TOP SPOTS FOR SHELLING, MUDDING, ART GAZING AND MORE

Best shelling spots 

Southwest Florida is an international shelling mecca, a sub-tropical paradise for many of the more than 100,000 species of shells that can be found on the globe.

Shelling hotspots include the Ten Thousand Islands, Captiva, and South Beach and Tigertail Beach on Marco Island.

But the centerpiece of any Southwest Florida shelling excursion has to be Sanibel. Ask Google for the best seashell beaches in the world and Sanibel pops up at No. 1. It occupies the same spot on CNN’s list of Top 10 shelling beaches. The Travel Channel’s website mentions coquinas, scallops, olives, tulips, conchs and lightning whelks as species commonly found on Sanibel’s shores.

So what makes this island so special for shells?

From the Travel Channel: “Sanibel is shaped like a curve, so seashells are funneled onto its sugary-white beaches.”

The barrier island’s rich harvest of shells led long ago to a term that is familiar around the world to shell enthusiasts. The Sanibel Stoop is a reference to a common posture of beachgoers there: men and women, boys and girls, walking slowly, bent at the waist and head down, eyes scanning the sand for shells.

The Redneck Mud Park

Of course, the great outdoors of Southwest Florida is about a lot more than beaches and shelling. It’s even about a lot more than golf courses, tennis courts and dining al fresco.

A short drive east of Punta Gorda in Charlotte County, the Redneck Mud Park awaits intrepid souls who have no fear of getting down and dirty.

The park’s website proclaims: “The world’s most exciting mud park!” And on Facebook it promises: “More mud. More fun. More of your friends. … You bring the party. We’ll supply the mud.” (As of this writing, that Facebook page had 263,630 likes and 260,132 followers.)

The park’s 800 or so acres offer campsites and live music on many weekends, along with giant mud holes and miles of rugged trails for off-road racing, truck pulls, side by side racing, mud drags and world-class tug-o-war competitions. Bring the family and come get mired in good, clean — albeit messy — fun.

Marcus Jansen’s Gallery

Many Southwest Florida residents paint — and many of them are very good at it — but Marcus Jansen of Fort Myers, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Desert Storm, inhabits a special place in the art world as an internationally acclaimed artist.

The New York Times Style Magazine has profiled him, and he has had solo exhibitions in Milan, Berlin and Paris.

Closer to home, Mr. Jansen was in the spotlight recently at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College in Winter Park, where his works were described as “socially charged urban landscape paintings.”

He has two studios in the United States: one in the Bronx, N.Y., and the other at 2633 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Fort Myers.

Crayton Cove

Crayton Cove embodies much that has drawn millions to move to or vacation in the Sunshine State. The haven of fine shops, galleries and dining on serene Naples Bay is home of the Naples Yacht Club and Naples City Dock, where visitors and locals alike can easily arrange charter fishing, sailing, sight-seeing and sunset excursions.

Dining here includes some of the finest in Naples, at Bleu Provence and The Boat House. The Cove Inn provides a place to stay a night or two. And it’s all within a picturesque stroll or bike ride to Third Street South and First Avenue South.

Warm Mineral Springs

The Sunshine State is home to countless natural wonders. But in all the expanse from Key West to Jacksonville to the western edge of the Panhandle in Pensacola, there is no place quite like Warm Mineral Springs. Yes, Florida has many springs, but the only natural warm one is this one maintained and operated by the city of North Port in southern Sarasota County.

While the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the state’s many bays fluctuates, at Warm Mineral Springs it’s always 85 degrees. And it’s always chock-full of good-for-you minerals including calcium, magnesium, strontium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, silica, sulphur, nitrogen, fluoride and chlorides.

That could explain why 100,000 people visit every year.

No one has to worry about the roar of motorboats here; it’s all about basking in therapeutic and passive recreation. A variety of spa services are available by advance reservations.

The springs and its buildings — which were built to celebrate Florida’s Quadricentennial and were designed by architect Jack West, one of the leaders of the Sarasota School of Architecture — are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. A myth surrounding the spot is that it might have been the fabled Fountain of Youth that explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sought in the 16th century.

This much, however, is no myth: You can soak it up for $20 admission ($15 for residents of Sarasota County).