The first settlers in these parts were the Mound Builders. They were followed by the Caloosa Indians, the Spanish, and the Seminoles. When the braves retreated into the wilds of the Everglades after the Seminole War, a trading post was established at the site of what is now called Everglades City.
The Rod and Gun Club was built on the original structure of the first permanent white settler who founded Everglades City in 1864. By 1922 Barron Collier, a banker and railroad man, purchased the Rod and Gun Club. He catered to many famous, notable guests and operated the club as a private establishment.
Half a century later in the year of 1972 the Rod and Gun Club was purchased by the family whom owns it to this day, the Bowen family. Throughout the years the Bowen family has maintained the Rod and Gun Club's old frontier values and rustic charm!
There is wicker furniture along a grand old screened porch which is ideal for watching the pelicans perched on the pilings and for checking on the river traffic.
The atmosphere of the club still exudes dark brown wood, the pecky cypress dining room, the mounted grouper and tarpon trophies, the deer and 'gator skins, and the casually appointed registration desk. Actually, it looks haunted.
The dining room is from another era, just imagining Presidents and Movie Stars.
Off to the side there is a swimming pool. At dockside, charter captains and guides pick up guests for a day of fishing the flats and backwaters of the glades.
This was such a surprising little paradise, that once hosted international dignitaries, celebrity guests, movie makers, and cocaine cowboys, a step back in time.
Our good friends, Marcia and Russ, joined us for a memorable steak dinner, as we know soon we will be parting ways, we are almost home, and they just started the loop in Sarasota.
As the sun rises, we head out in different directions, knowing that the best friendships are made in surprising ways and at surprising times, and the best place to make them is on the Great Loop.
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