The Speckman Family
July 3, 2023
We had such a blast at Congo Breeze! This was a vacation that we will never forget! The Speckman's from Las Vegas met up with the Speckman's from Michigan to enjoy a relaxing vacation at Congo Breeze.
The house had more than enough room for us and we were never bored because there is no way you could be bored at Congo Breeze. We biked, kayaked, swam, played pool, ping pong, corn hole, cards, fished, and more. This was the first time that we went on vacation and didn't have to pack much besides clothes. Our daughter has Type 1 Diabetes and Eosinophilic Esophagitis which makes traveling a little harder due to food restrictions and carb counting among other things. However, Congo Breeze had it all! They had a food scale, blowdryers, beach towels, and more.
We did have a couple of questions while we were there and a text to the Bartels was returned by a very quick text reply and answer.
Here are some places we went to and restaurants we enjoyed.
Places & Activities:
- Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve - We walked the trail and saw some manatees
- Ft. Myers - Beach, Top Golf, and we drove around to see the damage and restoration from hurricane Ian
- Sanibel Island - Beach, shopping, and we drove around to see the damage and restoration from hurricane Ian
- Congo Breeze - There is a ton to do at the house! We used the sound system to play music while swimming which was really nice.
Restaurants:
- Nice Guys Pizza - A little scary decorating but this was the only place that we could get Gluten free crust and dairy free cheese for our daughter. She really enjoyed the pizza too.
- Paradise Pizza - This is where we ordered our pizza from and it was very delicious.
- Fathoms - We ordered a bunch of appetizers to taste test a lot of things and it was GOOD!
- Doc Ford's Run Bar & Grille (Sanibel Island)
For anyone who is thinking of finding a place to stay for their family or multiple families, we highly recommend Congo Breeze!
read more from past guests
Here are our recommendations! Restaurants: Nice Guys Pizza - Good spot for takeout! Pinchers - Cape Coral location - Beautiful location on the water, this restaurant was very accommodating for our larger group, including kids. Huge menu, everything was delicious, kids eat free! Dixie Fish Company - Fort Myers Beach - This was definitely our favorite meal of the trip! Very cool space right on the water. Fish was fresh and delicious! Tiki Hut Bar & Grill at Dolphin Key - Fun, casual spot to grab a drink and listen to some live music! Activities: Kayak Excursions - We very much enjoyed our guided eco kayak tour out of Pelican Bay. It was about three hours long, and our guide was very knowledgeable of the history and wildlife of the Fort Myers Beach area. We toured the bay, went around San Carlos Island, kayaked around the shrimp boats in the area, and went through mangroves. We even had some dolphins swimming alongside us! Captain Jack's Airboat Tour - We loved our Everglades airboat tour! All the guides had great stories, and it was very kid-friendly. Highly recommend going to a spring training game! As Minnesotans we had such a fun time watching the Twins on a sunny, warm March day! 
We really appreciated the well-stocked house! The spices, coffee, paper goods, soaps, shampoos, etc. were great, especially for those of us who travelled a distance. The pool towels and chair covers were wonderful! It’s also great that your house is literally just minutes from Walgreens, CVS, and Publix. We made grocery runs literally in under an hour! We also made a trip to Joe’s market up on Veterans Hwy and got fabulous filet’s and gulf shrimp. We had a wonderful dinner at the house dining by the pool and waterfall. One of our best nights! A favorite was Prawnbrokers on McGregor. The seafood was wonderful there. I especially enjoyed the shrimp cocktail! We also enjoyed Cork Soakers on 47th Terrace (literally 5 minutes away). We had dinner there and went back for their Sunday brunch with friends. It was fun and yummy! The bloody Mary’s were huge! Iguana Mia was good, as was 2 Meatballs in the kitchen, and both close by. We made the drive to Fathoms too as we’d been there before and enjoyed the location and little shops. We purchased fresh seafood from Merricks but haven't eaten in their restaurant, the seafood was fantastic! Other restaurants we loved were Point 57, Big Storm Brewing, Rum Runners, and Bonefish. All in all it was a great 2 weeks! We used the pool every day. We even hosted a few of our friends who were also staying in CC a couple of times. We had the best pool!! Looking forward to next year!!
While visiting Congo Breeze, there were so many opportunities in the area for great adventures and so little time! We really had to do our research on what would best fit our family with kids ranging from 5-8 years old, but also knowing, as parents, we wanted a relaxing fun filled vacation we could enjoy as well! And let’s be honest, parents need a vacation that feels like a vacation too!!! We started the vacation off with Legoland which was about 2 hours away from the Punta Gorda Airport. The kids loved it, but it is aimed at pleasing parents as well! If you like to have an adult beverage on vacation but have a vacation aimed at making your kids little dreams come true this was the place! Traveling around with a bucket of beer anywhere your kids wanted to go was a definite perk! I would have to say visiting Sanibel Island by boat and land was an irreplaceable experience, ranging from the isolated beaches you could only get to by boat to the restaurants we visited right next to the water! We picked up some boogie boards, snorkeling gear, and floaties from the Publix right down the road from Congo Breeze and our boys had a blast!!! We rented our pontoon boat from Sunny Cape Boats. The experience with them went so smooth! The father/son team dropped the boat off just on time and docked it for us, and came and got the boat so we did not have to worry about transporting the boat anywhere other than where we wanted to go! I cannot recommend this company enough! Not only did they follow through with all expectations, but were very friendly and welcoming to the area, as well as willing to help with any questions we had! There are 2 restaurants at the very top of my list for when we go back. One was Bimini Bait Shack, located in Punta Rassa Florida, and the other was just out of the canal from Congo Breeze named Boathouse Tiki Bar and Grill. The Bimini Bait Shack and Boathouse was that perfect example of a family friendly environment, yet a place parents get to really feel like they are on vacation too. The bar at the Bimini Bait Shack was one giant fish tank (which my kids loved) and they even had swings as seats surrounding the bar. Along with this was live music and a perfect seating scenario! The whole inside was opened up to the outdoor seating seamlessly at both restaurants. The Bimini Bait Shack had the best fish tacos I have ever had (that I’m still trying to recreate) and my 6 year old devoured an entire plate of gater bites at both restaurants! :) My husband and I are not much into revisiting places we have already been to, but with how amazing this house was, how attentive the owners are to their guests, and the priceless moments we had with our family this is one place we can’t wait to revisit.
