The fishingest bridge in the world
Matlacha sits in Matlacha Pass, the water between the Cape Coral mainland and Pine Island. The Museum of the Islands, Pine Island's historical museum, says the first crossing here was a small wooden swing bridge. A concrete drawbridge replaced it in 1968, and it became such a popular spot for local anglers that it earned the nickname the fishingest bridge in the world.
That bridge had a long second life. A new drawbridge opened on November 18, 2012, about nine feet above the water like the one before it, and the museum notes that the 1968 span was set to become an artificial reef at Novak's reef, about three miles off the Charlotte County coast.
The museum keeps whole chapters on the village: the squatters' shacks of the early years, the Matlacha historic district, and Piner's Seafood Company. Even Theodore Roosevelt passed through. A historical marker in Punta Gorda records that during his 1917 harpoon trip he spent a full day inspecting the bird rookeries near Matlacha.
Color is part of the place now. The Greater Pine Island Chamber of Commerce counts more than 120 utility poles painted by island artists.
Mangoes, mullet and crab
Pine Island's two signature parties say a lot about how people eat here. MangoMania, the chamber's tropical fruit fair, celebrates the island's mango crop each July with growers selling fruit and trees, growing seminars, a biggest mango contest and a best of mango food contest. In March, IslandFest brings back the mullet toss, where the record throw stands at 192 feet, plus a best mullet dip competition and island food vendors.
On the water, the pass is crab country. Florida lets a recreational harvester take 10 gallons of whole blue crabs a day with no size limit, using up to five traps, but egg bearing females go back. For snook and redfish, Matlacha Pass sits in the state's Charlotte Harbor region.
