A Trip to Quaint and Quirky Matlacha, FL

Sparky went to see her sister in Matlacha, (pronounced Mat-la-shay) recently. Her sister comes down every year in March, and has come to this delightful town for over 30 years! They always find a lovely rental to stay in...

post office mural created by Leoma Lovegrove, local artist

Matlacha is a very very small tourist town, population 735 or so. It is located on Pine Island, 17 miles long and 2 miles wide, and is one of five very small communities on the island. If you are interested in Matlacha as a vacation destination, you will not find sandy white beaches and you won't find high rises. What you will find is a quirky, quaint little town with artsy shops,  galleries, some fabulous murals, great restaurants, and a one main street through town. Don't blink or you will miss it and then you are off on a journey to the next fishing village/community.

typical colorful storefront on the main drag

Matlacha has an interesting, relatively new local history chapter. Up until 1992, it was an "old"
Florida fishing village. In 1992, voters passed a ban on net fishing to protect other fish from being caught with the popular mullet. That didn't sit well with the fishermen.  They shot holes in their boats and then set them on fire in protest.  Guess it was quite the fire and was seen from as far away as Sanibel Island. That was the end of the fishing industry in Matlacha! So Matlacha reinvented itself as an artist community, and it's very well known for its bright funky colors and cute little shops that line the one street through town....Even the telephone poles have murals on them! However, if you want to fish, there are charter boats that will take you out for a terrific day out in the gulf.

another interesting looking shop

There are a few small motels, and quite a few vacation cottage rentals. They are pricey, but that's southwest Florida for you....Here is one rental my sister and brother-in-law found while they were here this year....

And another little cottage rental....situated on the docks!

The tiny island has six galleries..In February, there is a Fine Art Festival, and art lovers and collectors come from all over the world to browse...If you love the island life, this is the place for you! Plenty of kayaking, no stoplights, no schools on the island, and it's "island time".....that means NOBODY is in a hurry to get anywhere... As an additional little known fact, Matlacha also has supposedly SEVEN Civil War shipwrecks in and around the waters of Matlacha Pass and Pine Island. Divers, anyone?

Bus stop in Matlacha...one park bench

If you love to kayak, just keep in mind that "Matlacha" in Calusa native American means "shallow waters"...Sparky kayaked with her sister, and you could have easily walked beside your kayak in a LOT of the areas we were in. Of course, the tide was out, too.... :-) There are several kayak rentals places in the area if you don't own one. It was so shallow, we saw crab traps with decent size crabs in them. If you look hard, you can see one in this trap.

As far as dining, Bert's Bar is a required stop for ANYONE visiting Matlacha...fantastic views of the water, great beach bread, (sort of a garlic cheese bread with mayo and garlic and other stuff) and terrific seafood. That one just happens to be Sparky's favorite. Bert's Bar will be remembered this year because Sparky leaned over the dock to check for fish, and her sunglasses fell off her head and  into the water, down, down, down they went. Oh, well...not expensive ones, just about the tenth pair of "fit over" sunglasses from Walmart....She should get prescription sunglasses! Maybe....

At Bert's Bar

In surrounding communities, there are many more restaurants with good food. The Lazy Flamingo in Bokeelia, a nearby community, is another great restaurant where we had a wonderful lunch. On the way back, we stopped at a little art shop in Bokeelia...and saw this mailbox in front of the shop. Oh, my! Told you it was a quirky place! :-)

The only drawbacks to this destination, Matlacha, is the constant flow of traffic thru the one street town surrounded by water on both sides. The traffic is TERRIBLE during season. You just crawl at about ten miles an hour or less to get through town. Parking is at a premium, there is not enough on the island! and involves backing out of tight spaces onto the one main street and hoping somebody will be on "island time" and let you out, stopping and holding up the rest of the traffic while you exit your parking place. Despite the lack of parking and the jockeying to find a place, my sister plans to come back again next year. They already have their rental picked out! Sparky is happy because sis lives so far away in Michigan that this is a great time to see her and get together.....It's a little over an hour's drive from Sarasota. Wonderful! See you again next year, Sis!

Lyle and Sparky