The next motorcoach we reviewed was called Riverbend which is way out east of Fort Myers. Wonderful established place with 315 lots.
A bit bigger than we would like. They used to have a restaurant on site, but it wasn’t getting used enough so it was shut down. Now they only host special events there. To keep monthly costs down, almost the entire operation is run by volunteers – and you have to put in a set number of hours each month! Usually, more established means older crowd – Riverbend was no different. They had lots of activities, but not that many “active” activities. What do I mean? Remote Controlled (RC) sailboats that they raced on the lake, model trains (LGB so mine would work) village set up with 150 buildings, RC race cars with oval racing track:
Crazy! They did have a six pickleball courts.
We got a tour of the place from one of the “volunteers” who know a lot about the resort, but not which lots where up for resale. We asked him about casitas (sizes and styles) and we saw two different types. Originally, the resort only allowed 150 sq ft ones, but has since changed to 300 sq ft. Small for our liking. He did stop at a friends of his to show us their casita which was very nicely appointed. Had a drink with them before realizing that we needed to get back to the coach because the Chubb’s and Busalacchi’s were getting a tour as well and had just finished theirs. We all decided to out for lunch at the LaBelle Brewing Company in LaBelle which is even further away from the gulf. The food was excellent! The craft beer was good as well. After lunch, we headed over to check out the River Landings Motorcoach Resort that sits right next to Riverbend on the Caloosahatchee River. From this river you can get to the gulf, but also north and east to Lake Okeechobee. From there you can take a waterway out to the Atlantic Ocean! I didn’t know that there was a way to boat across Florida.
River Landings is a newer resort that has had seven Grand Openings. It isn’t doing that well because it is priced very high and the developer was waiting until he was half sold before building the clubhouse and pool areas. Kind of backfired on him. The lots that were sold were on the river and the “casitas” built are beautiful – they even have boat slips! More of house – 1750 sq ft. Not our cup of tea!
The next day we went to The Boathouse Tiki Bar & Grill in Fort Myers for dinner. The Chubb’s, Busalacchi’s and Allen’s met us there. Outstanding structures (they even had a pool) with decent food.
For another evening, we met the Pope’s (Kat had met Laurel at the Bonita Lake RV Resort when we were helping her mom move. We subsequently met them at the Tampa RV Show as well) and some of their friends at Cabos Cantina Taco & Tequila Bar for Mexican food in North Fort Myers for Fat Tuesday.
The food was pretty good, I mean it was Mexican which is hard to screw up. Kat and I wore our Mardi Gras hats.
After dinner we found The Lodge which had beers on tap (self serve) that you paid by the ounce.
What a cool way to taste a lot of the local brews without having to commit to 12 or 16 ounces. I thought that Keenan and Matt (Ari, too) would have loved this place.
Whilst leaving the next morning we determined that neither of these two places was better than what we had found at Myakka – still our favorite! I think the search is done!
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