The Gasparilla Inn & Club

This idyllic enclave on the Gulf of Mexico, 60 miles from Fort Myers, is a genuine glimpse of Old Florida, with whimsically named streets such as Damnificare, a postcard-worthy lighthouse watching over Gasparilla Island State Park, and long, quiet beaches lapped by gentle waves.

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Florida is renowned for many things: a certain polka dot-clad mouse, its spring-break and swing-state status, the plastic people of South Beach, and gator-filled swamps. But glorious Gilded Age architecture, wide beaches where you won't see another living soul, Victorian bed-and-breakfasts, and cities with sixteeth-century beginnings? Not so much.

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Set in a pirate's cove of yore, Florida's Gasparilla Inn & Club surrenders a booty of golf, tarpon fishing and politesse.

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The Gasparilla Inn & Club is one of Florida's last remaining exclusive family-owned Gilded Age resorts, only most recently listed as a National Historic Landmark and among the Historic Hotels of America, and only in the past several years, began advertising to the public.

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Four islands to the north of Sanibel, Gasparilla Island is quieter and quirkier — think "Princess and the Pea"-style particular.

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In a state packed with roughly 1,400 courses and numerous PGA Tour-approved layouts, FT+L visits a handful of lesser-known golf destinations that deserve A-list status — plus, prized communities where you can live and tee off every morning.

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This Edenic escape on the Gulf of Mexico is a real slice of Old Florida, with whimsically named streets such as Damnificare, a much-photographed lighthouse watching over Gasparilla Island State Park, and long, quiet beaches touched by gentle surf.

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Summer is here, and it's time to celebrate everything our home state has to offer, from nearby island adventures to luxury resorts (discounted!) and local attractions. We've put together 20 great destinations for you, so there's no excuse not to plan a little downtime and give yourself a real summer vacation. Go on. Live a little.

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It's no secret that brides love Florida. Easy to reach, balmy and laid-back, it's a slice of paradise right in your back yard. What's not so well known is the diversity of its many wedding-ready properties, from quaint inns to historic hotels to sprawling beach resorts. No matter your MO, the Sunshine State has the site you're seeking. Here are our picks.

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As a Marquis Jet Partners customer, Spanx inventor Sara Blakely was invited to a customer appreciation event, the Net Jet Annual Las Vegas Poker Tournament. Her sales representative for the company convinced Jess Itzler, the company's founder, to give Sara a coveted spot at the table — despite the fact that she had never played before.

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The Sunshine State is home to more courses than any other state in the nation, so it's not surprising that a few quality tracks have yet to register a blip on your radar, even if you are a well-traveled golfer. If you're looking for a terrific layout — without the spring crowds — here are Florida's four best public-access courses that have managed to remain hidden gems.

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"No, not Boca Raton." That's a correction residents of the little community of Boca Grande, Fla., are used to making after saying they have a home there.

In fact, this quiet barrier island off the Gulf Coast is so little known — especially when compared with flashier Florida destinations — that sometimes, when residents call county offices with a request, office workers say the place doesn't exist.

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Once upon a time, doctors and lawyers didn't advertise their services. And neither did the Gasparilla Inn. Oh, there was mention in The New York Times following the right type of wedding at the resort hotel. But any other details about the inn have been kept close to the vest.

It has quietly housed presidents and the pedigreed on its part-Charlotte, part-Lee County island since 1913.

Two unrelated events changed all that.

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After almost 100 years, the Gasparilla Inn on Boca Grande has not lost its gentility. Its colors are daffodil yellow and crisp white trimmed with forest green, a prim village of summer/winter cottages surrounding a clapboard Greek Revival temple of dining, golf and sport fishing.

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Idyllic getaways at eight of the state's finest seaside resorts

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The Gasparilla Inn & Club Named to Global Top Ten.

Last March, we devoted a great deal of space on these pages to The Gasparilla Inn & Club - the lagniappe of the year. Our enthusiasm for what we enjoyed there has not dimmed with the passing of summer

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The Gasparilla Inn & Club is the idyllic setting for a preppy daydream.

Imagine: Wake in a guest room on the third floor of Grandmother's gigantic, rambling beach house. Run down the wide, hardwood hallway, slide down the banister, slip past the sitting room where the flamingo in the Audubon print presides over a sea of pink-and- green floral chintz and white wicker furniture.

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People around here talk about an old-Florida feeling. Drive up to the Gasparilla Inn & Club in Boca Grande, a property bathed in elegance, and you'll understand. For generations, families have congregated at this historic 1913 resort for youth programs and country club-style atmosphere.

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There should be a law against travel writers writing about The Gasparilla Inn & Club. Publicizing this sedately attractive place could have a negative impact by attracting outside attention. Efforts should be made to keep things on Gasparilla Island as they are, which is just as you wish they still were at more of your favorite places.

Measured, mannered, managed, relaxed, pretty, uncluttered, un-glitzed, confident, respectful and respected. How has the Inn escaped the ravages of our generally ill-mannered, harried time?

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The Gasparilla Inn & Club invited gourmands and wine aficionados to its most anticipated culinary event of the season, the annual "Food and Wine Weekend." The "Food and Wine Weekend" offered guest the opportunity to learn the culinary techniques of top chefs, taste experts vintners' favorite new wines and experience the sumptuous cuisine of distinguished master Chef Peter Timmins, executive chef at the Greenbrier

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Like so many slivers of Old Florida sprinkled throughout the state, the Gasparilla Inn & Club was once a winter retreat for weathly northerners like John D. Rockefeller, whom you can easily picture nestled in a rocking chair on the grand porch. It has undergone several face-lifts since it opened in 1911, most recently in the formal dining room yet has always managed to preserve its luxurious appeal - with a nod to its past. Think of it as Old Florida polished to a mirror-worthy shine.

Gasparilla Inn is the star of Boca Grande, a laid-back, speck of a town on a thin stretch of island jutting in the the Gulf just south of Sarasota.

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Beyond the palm-lined icons of the PGA Tour, Florida golf offers a surpising array of styles and scenes. Here are five of the states finest overlooked resorts, beginning with a timeless Gulf Coast hideaway, the Gasparilla Inn.

Quiet now. Were going to let you in on a little secret. You may think that golfers have been exploring Florida for so long that there is nothing left to discover. You may think it impossible that the state could have a small, elegant hotel with a seaside Pete Dye golf course that you don't already know about.

Welcome to The Gasparilla Inn & Club. If you've never heard of of it, it's no accident. For decades, the inn's proprietors have rather liked it that way.

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Gene Marra sits on the dock behind his beachside Boca Grande restaurant, where the setting sun spills into the Gulf of Mexico and the smells of salty sea and fried grouper mix into a pungent stew, and reflects on the millionaires, the kings of industry and stars of stage who have walked through his doors.

It's nice to see Katie Couric or Jimmy Buffett come down to the South beach Bar & Grille for a quick nosh, but Marra, who's been coming to Boca for 25 years, is mostly unmoved by fame. He knows why this tiny town always seems to bring the big names.

"They will tell you, every last one of them," says Marra, general manager at the Gulf Boulevard fish house. "The reason Boca Grande is special is because it's quaint and it's private and it's elite. All at the same time."

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At The Gasparilla Inn & Club on Gasparilla Island off Fort Myers, Fla., the period from March into early April is crammedwith special activities such as beach cookouts, kayaking trips, teen nights, movie nights and scavenger hunts.

Jack Damioli, president and general manager of the resort, says, "March is our busiest time of year. We have a setting where multi-generations spend the end-of-year holidays and spring break with us. It's a tradition; they want their children to experience what they experienced."

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Backstory: Developed by the Boca Grande Land Co. for wealthy northern guests, the Gasparilla Inn opened in 1913 on sleepy Gasparilla Island, midway between Sarasota and Ft. Myers. (Former president George H.W. Bush brings his family to the island almost every christmas.) Tycoons, including J.P. Morgan, and Boston society flocked to the isolated hotel, arriving by boat or bridge from the mainland. Long popular for it's deep sea fishing, the 62-room hotel and 80 cottages are only 300 yards from the Gulf of Mexico, and the marine influence is evident throughout: A six-foot-long tarpon is mounted behind the front desk.

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Remember that old Irving Berlin tune Blue Skies?

It played over and over again in my head as I rode into this small town (population, 1,121) on Gasparilla Island.

Blue skies smiling at me…nothing but blue skies, do I see.

The sky was as crisp and blue as any I can remember. It helped that the sun was shining so brightly, the coconut palm fronds were so green and the buildings were neatly painted in lemon yellows and paper whites. There were no highrises, mega-malls, fast food restaurants or grocery chains.

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