THE INN & THE ISLE

It's hard to imagine a little island as quiet and quirky as Gasparilla could hold at its heart a grand hotel (that's just gotten even grander). But that's the beauty of this Old Florida secret

- TRACEY MINKIN

There are plenty of Florida postcard discoveries, but none feel quite as delightful as Gasparilla Island. Dangling like a slender ribbon from the state's southwest coast, the seven-mile-long slip of sand, scrub, and shells is barely more than an hour's drive from high-wattage Sarasota in one direction and Fort Myers in the other, but it feels a lifetime away. Here lies a little island where generations of fishermen share the waters with generations of tarpon-chasers, where families gather every year for reunions and holidays. Where Salt Life crisscrosses with dressing for dinner, where backgammon trumps video games. Where the echoes of Old Florida are as clear as the buoy clang off Boca Grande Pass. Where time stands still.