Nightlife in southwest Florida? (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: vacation, house, advertise)

[jcjh20]

I am from south Jersey and I have another house in Cape Coral. Me and my girlfriend recently had a vacation down there for spring break and we had a great time, but the only drawback was that it was hard to find a place where we can hangout after like 11 pm. I was pretty pissed that even on St Patricks day the whole region was a ghost town, so we were subjected to playing Scrabble all night and drinking beers instead. Pathetic. I know this area isn't exactly known for its nightlife, where Cape Coral and Ft Myers are given nicknames like Ft Misery and Cape Coma, but there's gotta be SOME place for young people. Some kind of cool after-hours bar, club, restaurant or whatever.

I am thinking about possibly moving down there for good someday but the lack of nightlife could be a problem. I am not exactly a huge party guy, but I wouldn't want to have to drive to the east coast just to party a little bit during the week. I don't have any friends down there as of yet either to show me around. Can anyone help?

[whippersnapper]

Most of Cape's "nightlife" is in their downtown district. Scorz, Rack 'Ems, Pearl, and the Dek seem to be the most popular with the younger crowd. (Scorz=sports bar, Rack 'Ems=pool hall, Pearl=upscale, the Dek=laid back, live music). If you want more, go into downtown Fort Myers. On. St. Patrick's Day, 105.5 sponsored a pub crawl downtown so it was pretty crowded. Some clubs/bars to check out are Venue, Envie, Indigo, Neo, Fat Cats/Sal's/Cigar, Sky/Brick, or City Tavern. You can generally find something going on at least at one of them.

[justNancy]

Isn't that what the internet is for?

[Starion]

I'm also trying to get out more and meet some younger professionals like myself. My girlfriend isn't really into the dancing/bar scene much anymore b/c she doesn't like the drunken idiots that can often show up at places where there's dancing. Is there a spot in the paper or online where all the "fun" places advertise?

Not sure if picking places at random is the way to go when it's not an every weekend event. I'd like to find out what all the specials/bands/etc. are for a given weekend.

[whippersnapper]

If you check the newspaper's Gulf Coasting section, it gives a rundown of events for the weekend, including what bands are playing at which bar.

[SWFL_Native]

Originally Posted by Starion

I'm also trying to get out more and meet some younger professionals like myself. My girlfriend isn't really into the dancing/bar scene much anymore b/c she doesn't like the drunken idiots that can often show up at places where there's dancing. Is there a spot in the paper or online where all the "fun" places advertise?

Not sure if picking places at random is the way to go when it's not an every weekend event. I'd like to find out what all the specials/bands/etc. are for a given weekend.

I hear ya, young professional myself and don't care for the club scene. Since they've redone Dwyers, we've been looking for a new spot. Most everyone has liked Bar Louie's in Gulf Coast but it was just ok to me. Cru and Blue are popular for the "in" crowd but I'm more of a Cantina Laredo/Margaritaville person.

[whippersnapper]

Didn't Margarita Grille shut down? I like Spirits of Bacchus, Cigar Bar, and Sky Bar myself. They're more of a laidback atmosphere and they have some of the best employees.

[jcjh20]

I remember I went to Cigar Bar once (or I think it was that place.. It was a cigar/tobacco store and bar in one) and the people there looked like rednecks and they were staring at us like we didn't belong there or something. It was weird. Then again, that was like 1-2 years ago, so hopefully it has changed since then. Downtown Ft Myers back then was a really quiet, creepy place at night and looked like a ghost town.

[whippersnapper]

Downtown is still pretty quiet on Sunday nights and early in the evening. It starts picking up about 10pm. That's weird that the Cigar Bar had rednecks in there. It's normally more of a yuppie-ish bar.

Bar Louie at GCTC is pretty nice but it's a bit of a hike from the Cape. They do seem to have a lot of events going on there though. One of my good friends is a bartender out there and she loves the place.

[Tarastomsgirl]

Originally Posted by whippersnapper

Bar Louie at GCTC is pretty nice but it's a bit of a hike from the Cape. They do seem to have a lot of events going on there though. One of my good friends is a bartender out there and she loves the place.

i just went there a couple weeks ago it was pretty nice. My husband liked all the different beers from around the world you can sample.