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Itinerary: Paradise Coast History and Heritage
 Key Marco Cat
Courtesy of Marco Island Historical Society
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Day 1: Naples
For an excellent overview of the Paradise Coast's intriguing history, visit the Collier County Museum in Naples. The museum's exhibits show what the area was like more than 10,000 years ago, when Paleoindians as well as mastodons, camels, mammoths and huge herds of bison and deer roamed the area. Also learn about the Calusa and Seminole Indians, and the first pioneers who moved to Southwest Florida. At the museum you can also see native plant gardens, two early Naples cottages, swamp buggies, a WWII Sherman tank and a logging locomotive.
Next, take a guided tour of Palm Cottage, the second oldest house in Naples. It was built in 1895 out of tabby mortar, made of lime, shells and beach sand. In 1996, the house was restored at a cost of more than $300,000, and today it houses the Naples Historical Society and the society's collection of artifacts. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Day 2: Marco Island
Head south to Marco Island and visit the Marco Island Historical Museum, at the Shops at Olde Marco, which depicts Marco Island history and houses Calusa Indian artifacts discovered in the area. Notably, in 1896, archeologist Frank Hamilton Cushing unearthed the famed Key Marco Cat wood carving and other artifacts here. The cat is now housed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., but a replica is on display here.
But who says you have to stay indoors to learn about history? In the afternoon, take a guided tour of Calusa Indian shell mound sites with Florida Saltwater Adventures. The company offers trips of all activity levels to explore the mounds, from mild to extreme.
From Marco Island, head inland to the Tamiami Trail Scenic 
Museum of the Everglades
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Highway. This 50-mile segment of U.S. 41, from Collier-Seminole State Park to Big Cypress National Preserve, passes by pioneer-era towns, mangrove forests, cypress strands and sawgrass prairies. At Collier-Seminole State Park, you can see a "walking dredge" used in the late 1920s for the construction of the Tamiami Trail. Or, walk the nature boardwalks in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park and Big Cypress National Preserve to see what the Paradise Coast was like for the Calusa Indians, 2,000 years ago.
Day 3: Everglades City
In Everglades City, check out the Museum of the Everglades, where the exhibits focus on the history of the southwest Everglades, the building of the Tamiami Trail and Collier County's development in the early 1920s.
The museum building, originally used as a commercial laundry facility for the early Everglades City pioneers back when the Tamiami Trail was being constructed, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Next, stop at the Ochopee Post Office, the country's smallest. The structure was originally an irrigation pipe shed, but became an official post office facility after a fire burned Ochopee's post office and general store in 1953.
When you leave Everglades City, trek north to Immokalee for a last historic treat - the Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch, one of the oldest historical cattle ranches in continuous use in Florida.
If you go:
Naples
The Collier County Museum, 239-774-8476, Website
Palm Cottage, 239-261-8164, Website
Marco Island
Marco Island Historical Museum, 239-389-6447, Website
Florida Saltwater Adventures, 239-595-7495, Website
Tamiami Trail Scenic Highway, 850-410-5894,
Collier-Seminole State Park, 239-394-3397, Website
Everglades City
Museum of the Everglades, 239-695-0008, Website
Ochopee Post Office, 239-695-4131
Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch, 239-658-2466, Website
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