Luxury Home in Southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast Local Area and About Us
About the Local Area
Villa Whispering Palms is situated in southwest Florida in the northwest portion of Cape Coral (link: . This is 30 minutes north of Naples, two and a half hours west of Miami and 2 ½ hours south of Disney World and Orlando! Several airlines have daily flights to Fort Myers International Airport which is 40 minutes from the house.
We are only a 5 minute drive from the fishing and artist colony of Matlacha and 15 minutes from the Midpoint Bridge which leads in turn to the Interstate 75, giving access to both north and south Florida.
We are really well provided with restaurants in the area. Particular favorites of ours include Bart’s Bar in Matlacha which is a very traditional Florida waterfront bar/restaurant, quite often with live music. The Waterfront in St James City (misnomer) on Pine Island, Morett’s in Matlacha (both great for lunch with outside seating by the water), and the Tarpon Inn for special occasions. Carrabas, a great Italian is up Pine Island Road (towards I75) as are The Outback (wonderful steaks), Pollo Tropical (Cuban) and of course Ada’s.
We mustn’t forget Ada’swhich is a Health Food Store with a difference – fantastic selection of fresh fruit and vegetables together with a great café. They serve lunch and takeaways – the food is excellent, amazingly inexpensive and, of course, must be good for you! Best of all, Ada’s is about 5 minutes away, up Pine Island Road.
Ada’s has a gym which hasn’t been opened very long but is very popular. There is also a great gym called the Wellness Centre of Cape Coral situated at Cape Coral Hospital. They offer very good deals for weekly and monthly membership.
We have a large Publix nearby- you can bicycle there in 5 minutes - along with a good selection of shops. There is also a good fresh fruit & veg stall called Tropicaya. At the junction of Pine Island and Burnit Store Roads, turn left for Publix and right for Tropicaya stall - can't miss either of them.
There are two parks within 5 minutes of the house.One is Joe Stonis Park is located at 3444 Ceitus Parkway in the Northwest section of Cape Coral, west of Burnt Store Road and north of Pine Island Road. The park has picnic shelters with BBQ grills, a fitness trail and wellness trail for all ability levels, lighted tennis courts and shuffleboard courts, restrooms, horseshoe pits, two playgrounds and a one-acre lake.
The other being Jim Jeffers Park which is located at 2810 SW 3rd Lane, Cape Coral. This park includes a mega structure playgrounds, four soccer fields, softball field, tennis courts, basketball courts, a three-acre lake, walking paths, picnic shelters, restrooms, concession building, pavilion, bike racks, drinking fountain and lighting
You can drive to Four Winds Marina on Pine Island where you can rent a boat on a half day or full day basis. There is great ocean occess from the Marina. Charters also available.
Kayaks and canoes can be rented from Gulf Coast Kayaks in Matlacha . Kayaking in the mangroves around Matlacha is just wonderful and you can see wild boar, hundreds of fish in the water, turtles and amazing species of birds all around you. Best time for bird watching is just before the tide turns and flocks are feeding in the shallows. You can join an eco-tour or go it alone.
Florida is renowned for its State Parks, two of which are within easy reach and which we particularly enjoy. Near Sarasota is Myakka State Park where you can hire bikes and kayaks and there are miles of walking trails – this is a fantastic place to spend a day.
Another of our local favorites is Koresham State Historic Site which is about a one hours drive east of Fort Myers. Again, outstandingly beautiful, lots of walking trails and kayaking on the Estero River.
Don’t miss out on a visit to Sanibel and a trip through the beautiful Ding Darling Wildlife Park You can rent bicycles on Sanibel or take your own. There are miles of wonderful, flat, bicycle tracks, have lunch in one of the many restaurants/cafes and end the day with a lazy time on one of the silver beaches with a swim in the warm water. Shelling is a must on Sanibel! You can get a great filled roll from the East End Deli or sit down to a lunch at the Lighthouse Café.
You will see masses of pelicans on the beach at Sanibel - all giving a wonderful diving exhibition. Ospreys are pretty common as well with lots of their nesting boxes scattered about Cape Coral.
About one to one and a half hours drive away is the Everglades National Park . This is definitely worth visiting and it is also worth taking an air boat tour of the everglades.
This is a fascinating area and you are sure to see lots and lots of alligators and usually turtles and masses of wonderful birds. Rather rarer is the Panther - I have never seen one but people do - you may be lucky! Lots of herons though.
We hope you enjoy our house and please spread the word amongst your friends that a visit to Florida is a must!
As we can’t be in Florida to greet you, our good friend, Heidi Thornton will meet you and show you around the house and be there at the end of the ‘phone should you have any queries during your stay.
About Us
We are Marny & Richard Hill and we live permanently in Edinburgh, Scotland. This is our holiday home and we have had great fun trying to make the house exactly how we think a holiday home should operate and look.
We like bicycling and kayaking – there are two bicycles in the garage which you are welcome to use – if your car has a 2” square hitch please make use of the bike carrier as well. We plan to buy two kyaks on our next visit – just haven’t had the time yet!
Our idea is to visit two or three times a year, mainly to escape the long hard Scottish winters.
We have two children, one of whom lives in Key West. There is now a ferry from Fort Myers to Key West and also a small plane gets you there fast, direct from Fort Myers International Airport. Having Jessica living there gives us a great excuse to visit – fit in a trip if you can.
Our son, Jeremy, lives in Scotland with his wife, Caroline, and their two children, Chloe and Sam. This way, we have the best of both worlds. He lives in a beautiful house in the seaside village of Coldingham – Scotland has some of the most lovely scenery in the world – it’s only the weather that is slightly unpredictable! His favourite pastime is surfing and amazingly enough Coldingham has a good surfing beach – chilly water though.
Caroline can walk the children to the village school down the hill through their garden – what a wonderful environment in which to live and work.
Villa Whispering Palms is situated in southwest Florida in the northwest portion of Cape Coral (link: . This is 30 minutes north of Naples, two and a half hours west of Miami and 2 ½ hours south of Disney World and Orlando! Several airlines have daily flights to Fort Myers International Airport which is 40 minutes from the house.
We mustn’t forget 
There are two parks within 5 minutes of the house.One is 
You can drive to 
Kayaks and canoes can be rented from 
Florida is renowned for its State Parks, two of which are within easy reach and which we particularly enjoy. Near Sarasota is 
Don’t miss out on a visit to Sanibel and a trip through the beautiful 
About one to one and a half hours drive away is the 
This is a fascinating area and you are sure to see lots and lots of alligators and usually turtles and masses of wonderful birds. Rather rarer is the Panther - I have never seen one but people do - you may be lucky! Lots of herons though. 
We hope you enjoy our house and please spread the word amongst your friends that a visit to Florida is a must!
We are Marny & Richard Hill and we live permanently in Edinburgh, Scotland. This is our holiday home and we have had great fun trying to make the house exactly how we think a holiday home should operate and look.
We like bicycling and kayaking – there are two bicycles in the garage which you are welcome to use – if your car has a 2” square hitch please make use of the bike carrier as well. We plan to buy two kyaks on our next visit – just haven’t had the time yet!
We have two children, one of whom lives in Key West. There is now a ferry from Fort Myers to Key West and also a small plane gets you there fast, direct from Fort Myers International Airport. Having Jessica living there gives us a great excuse to visit – fit in a trip if you can.
Caroline can walk the children to the village school down the hill through their garden – what a wonderful environment in which to live and work.
