Cape Coral Vacation

Va·ca·tion

noun

  1. an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in traveling.

When the pandemic hit we were already long overdue for some rest and relaxation with the family. TWO years overdue! to be exact, but that’s kind of what happens during the start of a successful food tour company. We had already planned to visit the area individually to help out a family member so decided to make the best out of the time and plan our mini vacation. 

(Disclaimer: Some of these links are affiliate links and we receive a small commission for rooms rented and items purchased. All opinions are entirely ours.)

Cape Coral

Cape Coral is located on the southwest side of the state of Florida, in Lee County which is neighbors to Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Traveling from Cocoa Beach it was a 4-hour drive. 

We took I 95 to State road 70 through Okeechobee. It was a nice drive through cow pastures and orange groves. Driving through Okeechobee we notice a number of taco trucks and Mexican restaurants. Like 10 of them all within a 2-mile strip of SR 70. We decided we had to check one of these out as they all appeared to be hidden gems. 

The restaurant we chose was

Mi Familia Restaurant you can read more in our review full review here(Coming Soon)

Cape Coral is a nice area, full of Canals and heaven for bird watchers. We chose our Airbnb based on availability, room for 8 people, and the need to have a pool. This place was absolutely perfect for our family and we ended up spending the entire trip confined to the house. 

If you are interested in staying where we stayed here to book a stay here. 

Book This Awesome Airbnb In Cape Coral!!!!

When we first pulled up to the home we were a little skeptical. It appeared to be very very small. Also located right behind a bar and a strip mall it was I little worrisome. That all changed soon as we walked through the doors.  My first impression couldn’t be more wrong, soon as you walked through the big doors the size of the house was impressive. Multiple bedrooms spacious kitchen, dining room. The master bathroom had both a walk in a glass shower, but a separate hot tub as well. 

The pool was heated and ashamed to say this was my very first experience with a heated pool and after the stay, boy oh boy now I want one. It also had a fountain and color changing lights. We spent about 90% of our waking hours in the pool having an all around enjoyable time with the family. 

 The house sat on a very large canal facing west to watch some of the most magnificent sunsets we have witnessed. We spent countless hours in the back yard not only enjoying ourselves in the pool but watching wildlife as well, from turtles to herring to looking for owls. We had intended to journey out and try numerous restaurants but there was plenty to keep us occupied within the house and just staying in. 

We ordered groceries from Publix through Instacart so we didn’t even have to leave. The house had a grill and a number of cooking supplies. Although I would recommend packing condiments as the house wasn’t supplied with any. This Could be due to the fact that it was in the middle of a pandemic and Florida had just surged in Covid Cases. 

We cooked steak, roasted veggies, and baked potatoes that were absolutely delicious, the house also came with some Champagne(which was not chilled upon arrival) so we made makeshift melon mimosa’s to go along with our meal. 

We also ordered take out from several places and when dining out once. When we dined out we visited the lobster lady. You can see our video review here (make sure to subscribe to our youtube channel if you haven’t)

And we also have a full blog post about The Lobster Lady that you can read here.

The Lobster Lady Blog Post

The 50’s Cuban Cafe (now closed) was across the street and we ordered some Cubans, breakfast sandwiches, and this awesome steak sandwich. To feed all 7 of us it came to about $40 and we had plenty of food. The only downfall and a major one at that it is probably one of my least favorite Cuban sandwiches I have ever tried. They also epically failed on what we ordered. Oh well, we still got some great pictures as well as you can’t expect to have the most amazing meal for the price we paid.

We also ordered from Viet 55 and went with PHO that was out of this world. I had the Brisket pho and it was some of the best pho I have ever tasted. It was chock full of chunks of tender fatty meat that added to the umami of the entire bowl. Typically I leave some broth with my pho but that was not the case here. I sipped and slurped every brothy mouthful of greatness. 

Another home fun for us was El Patio Restaurant, located about a half-mile down the road from Airbnb. We ordered this to go as well and were impressed. The only downfalls were that the steak meals were kind of flat cheap skirt steak. This would be fine if I had to know more on the menu, and prices at $13.99 an order I was expecting more than a quarter-inch of meat. Enough with the negative though. 

The staff was super friendly and accommodating while waiting for my order I enjoyed a beer and took some pictures of the interior. Really nice setup, everything appeared to be clean and in order. Here we ordered the steak and green noodles

A steak and chicken stir fry, which was similar to a hibachi-style meal and after researching is typical for Peruvian dishes. I thought was odd and expecting more of a Latin south American flavor as opposed to an Asian flavor. The kids had chicken tenders and pizza from another place. We also had the Shrimp and White Fish Ceviche. Now, this was on point and lots of chunks of fish and the roasted corn and traditional Peruvian ceviche style made it out of this world. 

We left the house the day after our amazing dinner at the Lobster lady and then headed back to The Space Coast. And we definitely stopped in the area for Tacos and even Cake Pops!

Overall great trip and relaxing time for the entire family!

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