In a Flip-Flop State of Mind.

Just what is Mashupalooza?

Find out for yourself on Saturday, February 29, when composer/conductor Steve Hackman returns to the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall with the Southwest Florida Symphony.

Previously, they’ve wowed audiences with mash-ups of “Beethoven and Coldplay” and “Brahms and Radiohead.”

This time around, they’ll fuse fuse modern pop songs with various orchestral movements, including “Beethoven and Beyonce,”  » Read more

Photo from Narcity

Southwest Florida has countless unique locales that belong on your bucket list, with histories that are just as unique.

For instance, many of our guests delight in taking a lunch cruise up to Cabbage Key, just north of Captiva.  Did you know that the island formed around 10,000 B.C.?  According to geologists, it is considered an “ice age sand dune”  » Read more

Why, of course, Ding Darling will be celebrating “National Wildlife Day” tomorrow!

You’re invited to take a free guided bike tour, play wildlife trivia games, watch a free film, and take advantage of Refuge Nature Store specials during National Wildlife Day tomorrow, Monday, Feb. 24.

Bring your own bike and helmet to join the 4-mile bike tour at 9 a.m. and meet at the parking lot flagpole.  » Read more

“Jonathan Seagull discovered

that boredom and fear and anger

are the reasons

that a gull’s life is so short,

and with these gone from his thought,

he lived a long fine life indeed.“  » Read more

Photo found on Pinterest

It’s fun to learn of bizarre laws still on the books in Florida, as they always make you wonder about the stories behind them.

For instance, what do you think was behind this latest batch of outlandishly peculiar laws?

• Men may not wear a strapless gown in public.
• It is illegal to have sexual relations with a porcupine.

 » Read more

What a beautiful photo of a bird that is really tough to photograph!

Longtime guests Peter and Joan F. from Glenwood, MD captured this amazing photo of a male Belted Kingfisher on a recent walk through the Bailey Homestead and Pond Apple Park.

Fun Fact #1: 

The Belted Kingfisher is one of the few bird species in which the female is more brightly colored than the male.  » Read more

Join us in welcoming our newest team member!

This is Pia.

Pia has a broadcast journalism and advertising background. She’s a FGCU graduate and has worked in TV production and social media content for different media outlets.

Pia has also been working on island for the past 15 years.

Pia has passion for wild and marine life,  » Read more

Winner of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts’ award for best cinematography in a documentary, BLUE delves into the ocean realm at a critical moment for marine life.

The eighth annual “Ding” Darling Wednesday Film Series continues its biweekly showings tomorrow with a free airing of the documentary at 1 p.m. in their Visitor & Education Center. Seating is limited and on a first-come basis.  » Read more

Photo from Stevens Construction

“Never have I experienced a room so acoustically perfect as the new theater at Big Arts on Sanibel Island.”

So begins a wonderful review by David Dorsey from the Fort Myers News-Press of the new 410-seat theater that we’ve been anxiously awaiting at BIG Arts.  Andy attended their opening gala and agreed that the new facility is indeed spectacular!  » Read more

Jeff Klinkenberg engaged a professional symphony orchestra tuba player to determine whether bull gators would respond with thunderous bellows to a low B-flat note during mating season; thus the name of his book Alligator in B Flat.

The award-winning journalist will present two programs beginning at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21, in the admission-free “Ding” Darling Visitor &  » Read more