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Florida's West Coast in a Convertible
Destinations · March 2, 1999

If someone handed you the keys to a late model convertible that had never been driven and cut you loose on Florida's West Coast in late January, what would you do?

Forget business and hit the road? My thoughts exactly.

So you won't blame me for putting 600 miles on that Chrysler Sebring convertible last week. Or for permanently lowering the top, even when the mercury dipped below 70 degrees. Hey, after all, we're talking the Sunshine State here.

I didn't mean for it to happen like this. I was on a serious assignment to write about the West Coast's attractions, on a five-day itinerary that ran from Crystal River, just north of St. Petersburg, to Sanibel Island near Fort Myers. I had negotiated a great deal with Dollar Rent A Car for a cheap subcompact.

But when the rental agent in Orlando offered an upgrade for just $10 extra a day ("we have too many convertibles this morning," she complained) I couldn't resist. I had to do it.

The dark green Sebring hugged the Beeline Expressway like a racecar as we headed west to our first destination, which called for a night at the Plantation Inn & Golf Resort and a date the next morning to snorkel with Manatees wintering near the freshwater springs. With the sun pouring through the open top and temperatures climbing to a comfortable high near 80 degrees, it made the Honda Civic I drive back in Annapolis, Md. - where winter is still in full swing - seem like mere transportation.

Swimming with the prehistoric creatures is something close to a religion in Crystal River, the Plantation Inn's Tracie Conti explained. Between November and February, thousands of visitors take small boats into the winding canals to get a firsthand look at the endangered species. Paddling next to a Manatee is a real adrenaline rush. Kind of like taking that sportscar on the open road.

My four-wheeled friend handled like a dream on Highway 19 bound for St. Petersburg on Thursday afternoon. And I would have driven it on the picture-perfect straight-aways of the Pinellas Trail, a 37 mile rail-to-trail bike path cutting across the county, but tourism pointman Wit Tuttel would have probably disapproved. As would Jerry Cummings, the soft-spoken trail supervisor we met up with.

"People get funny about the trail," he told me. "When we try to drive service vehicles on the path, they sometimes block it with their bikes and say 'you can't drive here.'"

I was grateful for the Sebring when we pulled up to the next property, the Don CeSar Beach Resort & Spa on St. Petersburg Beach. Checking into the elegant 1928 Moorish-Mediterranean hotel in anything less than a top-down convertible would have tipped them off to my finite bank account (of course I didn't have to tell anyone that I got a bargain on the rental.)

Sarasota spokeswoman Alisa Bennett, who offered to show us around town the next day, all but jumped at the chance to take the tour in the car. After we stopped by the Ringling Museum of Art, the nearby Ca D'Zan estate and concluded at the Mote Marine Laboratory, she confided her weakness for convertibles. "You've gotta have one if you're in Florida," she exclaimed. A sentiment shared by Erin McLeod of the ritzy Resort at Longboat Key Club, site of the annual Florida Winefest & Auction, where we stayed that evening. Over breakfast, she regaled my companion and me with stories of her red 1963 Chevrolet Super Sport. "Now that was a car," she remembered.

By the time we reached the end of the road on Sunday, word had gotten around that this reporter had a set of hot wheels. Lee Rose, the PR guy from the Lee Island Coast Visitor & Convention Bureau, who gave us the lay of the land during lunch at the Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa, knowingly smiled when I told him about my rental. The reaction was the same when I visited with Sharon Arnold and Linda Logan, the executives from the Sanibel Inn, the eco-tourism magnet where we overnighted.

Perhaps the only rival to the topless sensation on asphalt was the topless sensation on water that Kevin Holley's 20-foot flats boat provided on our last afternoon in Florida. With a 200-horsepower engine that can carry five passengers past 60 miles an hour on the bay, it's a thrill a minute. Don't even get me started on what it feels like to hook a redfish or snook living in the coastal inlets.

Let's just say I didn't want to return the car when the trip ended. I mean, would you?

This story was also published on Trip.com.