♪♪ -I'm in a state known for thousands of miles of coastline, with sugar-fine sand beaches and endless days of sunshine, attracting millions of visitors from around the world every year.

But in our quest for the ultimate beach vacation, it's important not to overlook what was there before, what is happening now, and who are the people who are making sure that generations have this beauty to return to -- a part of the world that people refer to as Paradise.

I'm on the Paradise Coast in Southwest Florida!

Whoo!

I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world.

And I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" is made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

♪♪ -Are we in the Everglades now?

Are we going to it?

-We are in the Everglades, yes.

-I'm in the State of Florida -- Southwest Florida, to be exact -- here to explore the charming beach cities of Naples and Marco Island, but also the incredible natural sanctuaries of Big Cypress and the Everglades.

When you're visiting Florida, it's about being in the sun and getting on the beach.

How many visitors actually make it to the Everglades, and what do you think it is that they expect?

-They think of the Everglades as saw grass, airboats, and alligators.

-Okay.

-Yeah.

But the Everglades is so much more than that.

The Everglades is a river of grass.

-It's a river.

-It's a river that starts out at Kissimmee, and the water flows south from there.

A drop of rain that falls in the Kissimmee area takes a year to get here.

So it's a very shallow, very slow-flowing river 100 miles wide, 100 miles long.

-So, where are we going now?

-We are headed toward Pavilion Key.

This is Florida before there were people living in Florida.

Florida has the number-one amount of boat registrations in the entire country, and how many boats do you see?

-One, and we're in it.

-That's right.

And that's the definition of wilderness.

-Pavilion Key is one of Dan's favorite islands, and we kayaked onto a beach where the shells were the size of small dogs.

-And this was inhabited centuries ago by the Calusa Indians.

They ate fish, oysters, clams, whelks, conch.

And what we're seeing here on this beach here, is remnants of their meals.

-Wow.

[ Chuckles ] The last time I saw a shell this big, it had a price tag on it.

-A pretty hefty price tag, I'm sure.

-Yeah.

And here they are!

-Yeah.

Look at that shell.

Isn't that amazing?

-It does not look real to me.

-It's definitely real.

-Wow.

I've been coming here for 20 years.

I have never seen Florida like this.

-Yeah.

You don't see big cruise ships.

You don't see big sailboats.

And the reason is, it stays shallow for miles.

So as a result, the only boats that ply these waters are small boats.

This is a piece of Calusa Indian pottery.

-Oh.

-What an amazing thing it is, to hold something like this.

-Yeah.

-And you don't know who the last person that held that was.

-Mm-hmm.

-Was it a Calusa Indian 500 years ago, 2,000 years ago?

-Wow.

-You don't know.

And this is one of the reasons that Everglades National Park protects the shells, the animals, the plants, and the objects that you would find within the park.

-And that is really what makes the Everglades completely unique from other parks.

When it was formed -- When it was established as a national park, it was to protect everything here.

-Right, to protect the nature and to protect the history of the islands.

-In Southwest Florida, there's always an opportunity to get on the beach.

Paradise Coast has 30 miles of beach, and most would argue that I'm walking on the most amazing stretch of it.

This is Naples Beach.

And if you like sugar-fine white sand, well then, this beach has seven miles of it for you.

And it's right along the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

But what I love about this beach, what I think makes it so far different than any other I've been to, is that every avenue in the City of Naples actually ends in a public-access point.

So right now, because of the time of day, you have people coming from their work, from their shops, coming out of their residences.

And they're all coming here to see one thing -- the sunset.

This is the heart and soul of Naples.

But when the sun does go down... ...all of Naples kicks off the sand and heads into town for its great selection of shops, bars, galleries, and restaurants.

♪♪ -When we opened up Bar Tulia, we wanted to do something a little bit different.

So we make our own ricotta.

We make our own cheeses in the house.

We cure our own salumi.

We make our own sausages, and we make our own pancetta.

So here, we have Brussels sprouts leaves, house-made ricotta, our house-made pancetta, and then garlic chips.

And we bake it in our wood oven.

-Wow!

-And so, this is a big-time favorite.

-And it's all house-made, everything I'm having.

-Everything is house-made.

-Wow.

-We take a lot of pride.

-Oh, my gosh.

That is so good.

Bar Tulia is known craft cocktails, where every ingredient other than alcohol is house-made.

Oh, yes, please.

What is this?

-That is our Hamilton Harbor -- little house tiki creation.

-What's in it?

-So, we have a coconut-milk curry that we make here.

-Ooh!

There's alcohol in it.

-Little bit of rum, little bit of rum.

-Just a little bit.

-Yeah, a couple of kinds.

And we have some fresh-squeezed carrots, some fresh-juiced pineapple juice, little bit of lemon, little bit of Angostura, some tiki bitters, little, uh... -Little love.

-...little love, yeah.

That's what I was thinking.

-This is fantastic.

Thank you very much.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

Salud.

-We're serving very simple, very honest cuisine.

We're doing great craft cocktails.

There's a lot of soul.

There's a lot of passion.

So when people come to me at the end of their meal and they're like, "Chef, we had such an amazing meal.

We could taste the soul that's coming through your food," that's what makes me so happy.

I just wanted people to just kind of stroll in and out.

And of course, that's what we have here.

-Mm-hmm.

-That's what makes the space so fun, and that makes the restaurant magic.

♪♪ -When I first started coming to Florida and I would see the signs, you know, "Caution: Florida Panther"... -Yes.

-I just thought, there are no panthers in Florida.

I mean, that, to me, just seemed so -- -Yeah.

-Like, that's a myth.

-Yeah.

And I was like, "It's just cops trying to get us to slow down."

[ Laughter ] -Exactly.

So, how do you have a panther?

-Well, Athena in particular, your mother was radio-collared.

And she had a litter of cubs, so they were keeping an eye on it.

And then they noticed that their mother took the other three siblings away and left Athena behind.

So we picked her up.

She was just a couple weeks old at the time.

And now she's living here.

She's a rescue.

We only take rescues.

-That's it.

-Yeah.

We don't have a breeding program with them.

We wanna make sure that we have -- you know, if we need another rescue to come in, we have the room for them.

-How endangered is the Florida panther?

-Pretty endangered.

There's around 200, maybe.

And that's all in South Florida.

-Are they solitary animals, then?

Are they used to being alone?

-Yes.

-So then, do you only have one?

-No.

We have Uno.

He's our male, and he was the first one that were able to rescue from the wild.

-You can experience firsthand the overall mission of the zoo in the backstage panther experience.

We sit on the ground and keep our voices low, so as not to scare the animal.

And Uno is partially blind or completely blind?

-Completely blind, so everything that he does is with his whiskers, his ears.

He feels around.

-Wow.

And how did he become blind?

-He was shot in the face with a buckshot.

So, when it shoots out, all these little pellets spray out.

And they hit him all over his face.

And they shot him in his back, as well.

So you can see some scars on his back leg.

-But why did they shoot him?

-Hopefully, it was just they were scared and didn't know what to do.

But panthers aren't really wanting to be around humans.

-Mm-hmm.

-They try to avoid us as much as they can.

So generally, if you make a lot of noise and act really big and tough, they'll go the other way.

-Mm-hmm.

-Wow.

Whoa.

-What is your overall mission for allowing people to have this type of access with them?

-We want people just to understand that there's something that Floridians should be proud of.

You know, most of the big cats are like lions and cheetahs and things that are over in Africa.

But you know, we have one right here in our backyard.

And I think that's something really to be proud of, and then to understand that we can cohabitate with them.

So that's what the message that we want to spread.

-I have always had a love of strip mall restaurants.

And I wasn't gonna miss one of the best in town -- mother and daughter owned Grouper & Chips.

-I'm Pam Pischner.

I've owned a restaurant here in Naples for 25 years.

-The number-one grouper sandwich in Southwest Florida -- that is a serious accolade.

-I made up the batter, perfected it, decided that's it -- I'm opening this restaurant.

I haven't changed a thing in 25 years.

And my philosophy is if it isn't broke, you shouldn't fix it.

Every day I wake up going, "Oh."

So every piece of fish we put in that sandwich is gonna be as fresh as it can be.

I'm -- This restaurant's 960 square feet, so we can't keep things here.

So fish comes in fresh every day -- fresh.

-And this isn't just a mom-and-pop business.

This is a mom-and-daughters business.

-Absolutely.

-I love my mom.

I love my two sisters.

I could never work with them.

-We're entertaining some days, believe me.

-Is that right?

[ Laughter ] -My daughter here is here every day, Monday through Friday.

And you know, people walk in the door, "Hey, Natalee!"

You know, they all know names and they feel comfortable, you know.

And my other daughter's the same, you know.

She likes to stay more in the background because she's the shyer one of two -- if that's possible.

-So what brings people in: fresh seafood, fantastic prices, by the way.

I mean, now, eating seafood is a luxury.

-Yes, it is.

-It can be prohibitively expensive.

-Right.

-But you're not.

Your accessible.

Pam's head cook has been with her for 18 years, and her employees are like family to her.

-I employ 16 people.

That's something I'm proud of, you know?

I'm also humbled by the fact that they stayed with me this long.

They're the backbone of this business.

I could not do it without them.

You know, I get choked up just thinking about it because they're everything to me.

I majored in Home Economics, which is like an obsolete degree now.

But hey, I learned a lot about home management, you know -- cooking and keeping a budget.

And so that's what I attribute my business sense to.

That and grace of God, you know?

My local people here are the ones that sustain me when we don't have lines out the door.

-Mm-hmm.

I see, okay.

So there's a low season here, okay.

-There's a low season here, and it's long.

-Uh-huh.

-And so during the high season, that's when -- okay, I'm doing volume, I'm making money.

So I'm socking it away to get through the slower times.

-And, you have a really great grouper sandwich.

-Yes!

And we've got a great grouper sandwich.

-Southwest Florida is all about being laid back and enjoying life.

I've come to the beach version of a jazz club where three nights a week, the music is live, local, and original.

-I'm Christina Ortega.

-And I'm Taylor Freydberg.

-And we are part of the band, The Woodwork.

-The Woodwork plays regularly at the Oyster Society on Marco Island, and they're part of a small but growing group of local musicians playing original music.

-Our music is a combination of Folk, Indie, and Jazz.

-And a little Swing.

♪ Mother earth, mother earth's callin' me on ♪ ♪ 'Cause I can't stay, I can't stay anymore ♪ ♪ Lead the way, lead the way to where I'm going ♪ ♪ 'Cause I can't stay ♪ ♪ I have to face the things I've done ♪ -Your name -- The Woodwork -- it's pretty interesting.

Where did that come from?

-It came from the idiom, "out of the woodwork," which is kind of a focus on, um, the spark of creation -- like where songs just kind of come out of nowhere.

-Mm-hmm.

-Also, I think, like, the saying, too, is like the mystery behind things, too.

Like, "out of the woodwork" -- like, not knowing, you know, where it's coming from.

And that's kind of how we create.

It just comes out of us.

-Mm-hmm.

-♪ The wind that blows, I hear it call, call me on ♪ ♪ Whisperin' all our faults ♪ ♪ Takin' place, taken place on our home ♪ ♪ Given space but now we've gone way too far ♪ -What about where you live inspires you?

-For me, it's the water, I would say.

It's like, it can be incredibly beautiful and serene while at the same time, it can be chaotic and powerful.

♪♪ I feel like a lot of our metaphor and everything is tied into water.

I think it's from living next to it, you know?

-Yeah.

-Music in Southwest Florida, it's sort of in beach shack with a corrugated, you know, roof.

It's like a Jimmy Buffet cover band.

But this, where we are, and your music is just completely in opposite of that.

-When we met and I heard her voice, it had a very, like, distinct, kind of a jazzy feel.

And so it inspired me to try out those -- like, that playing style.

And it just kind of steam-rolled into that, and it just kind of came out of nowhere.

-Yeah, out of the woodwork.

[ Laughs ] -I was waiting for that.

[ Laughter ] -♪ I don't know what's to come ♪ ♪ Grin and face all we've done wrong ♪ ♪♪ -♪ Ha, ha, ha, ha ♪ ♪ Ha, ha, ha, ha ♪ ♪ Ha, ha, ha, ha ♪ ♪ Ha, ha, ha ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you very much.

-Whoo!

[ Laughs ] And this is the other performance on Marco Island that has people standing and clapping.

Whoo!

That's awesome!

I'm actually helping a study of wild dolphins right now, a part of the Southwest Florida initiative known as the 10,000 Islands Dolphin Project.

Look at you!

Oh!

-The 10,000 Islands Dolphin Project is an attempt to document the population of bottlenose dolphins that are resident to this area.

-Okay.

-When we encounter a dolphin, we'll photograph the dorsal fin.

Their dorsal fins accumulate nicks and bites and scratches.

-Okay.

-And then, they become identifiable by them.

So we're looking at the numbers, their range, their reproductive success, and their association patterns.

-The Dolphin Explorer has survey trips twice a day, and is the platform for the only wild-dolphin study in the US that engages and is supported by the public.

These bottlenose dolphins, do they migrate?

Do they go away?

Are they here year-round?

-No.

It's very much like these dolphins were born into a little, small town and they never moved.

-Okay.

Oh.

-Moms, calves, subadults... -Mm-hmm?

-...probably spend their entire life within a little 20-mile circle.

These coastal bottlenose don't stay together in a pod.

You see two or three moms get together.

They have a little playdate.

-Oh, okay.

-It's a very fluid social structure.

-I see.

Ooh, dolphin!

-Cool, we got a mom and a calf.

The mom's name is Sydney.

-Okay.

-And the little guy's name is Nemo.

Oh, coming over to say hi.

-Whoa!

[ Laughing ] Hey!

Whoo!

-Oh, my gosh.

They got a new dolphin with them.

There's a third.

There's four dolphins now.

[ Camera shutter clicks ] Are you ready to get to work?

-Oh, yeah, yeah.

-All right.

You already know they're adult females, so that narrows down the catalog search.

-Okay.

-So just be in the adult female section.

-Oh, wait.

Okay, so it has a clip -- a little nick out of it.

It's halfway.

-Yeah, that's halfway.

-Okay, that's halfway.

-And we just saw Wyatt, who was born in 2016.

-Oh, okay.

So that's the mom.

-Yeah.

-And Wyatt is the baby.

-We just recorded the location, the GPS coordinates, the depth, the tide, the water temperature, how many there were there, and their behavior.

And that's it.

-Today, I've helped make sure Sydney, her son, Nemo, and their friends were all looking good.

Oh, my goodness.

And they certainly made my day.

Whether on water or on land, Southwest Florida has a natural beauty that can be under-appreciated.

But there is one man who has made it his life work to change that.

-I'm Clyde Butcher, sitting in probably the most beautiful spot in the world, here in Big Cypress.

I've been a photographer for about 55 years.

When you get into Florida, the beauty is primeval and it just engulfs you.

When I first came to Florida I said, "Hell, this landscape is gorgeous here.

Why aren't people photographing it?"

That's because it's swampy, and gators and snakes.

But I've got past that, and it's just -- those are just part of the beauty of Florida.

-Have you ever encountered any sort of dangerous animals back there?

-I had an occasion to meet a 12-footer back here.

Back there is mud.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I'm barefoot.

-Why are you barefoot?

-Well, 'cause you get stuck in the mud.

It's easier.

You don't wanna lose your shoes.

-[ Laughs ] How many pairs of shoes have you lost, Clyde, to doing your job?

-I find them.

I find them.

-[ Laughs ] When the waters recede?

-So anyhow, I turn around and he was about four feet from me, looking at me.

So I grabbed my stick and I hit him in the nose, and he took off.

-Okay.

-If you're not -- You don't show fear, the animals don't care.

You just go out to have fun, enjoy it, and animals will say, "Oh, hell.

Hello there, Clyde," you know?

They don't bother you.

-Were you the first professional photographer to really explore this area?

-Yeah.

I've been walking around, photographing Big Cypress since 1984.

Never met another person.

That's how many people are here.

Now, I've done Rocky Mountain National Park where maybe 1,000 people pass me when I'm doing one shot, you know?

-Mm-hmm.

-I only shoot maybe most, three shots a day.

-Wow.

Are you spending a lot of time setting up that shot?

-Yeah, waiting for the light.

-Waiting for the light, okay.

Clyde's gallery is located in the middle of the Tamiami Trail, a location that may seem odd until you see what's behind it.

Not only can you visit your gallery, but you can also visit your world.

-We're 50 miles from civilization.

Two couples came in and they said, "Isn't this a strange place to have a gallery?"

And it's become, I think, one of the number-one destinations in Collier County.

-Your gallery.

-Yeah, and the backyard.

♪♪ People ask me, "What do you wanna be remembered for?"

I wanna be remembered for being an educator, not a photographer.

-So, what do you think your photos educate people on?

-The reason I make my pictures large is you have to scan.

-Uh-huh.

-So when you see the picture, you have to scan through the picture.

And you get a feeling of being there.

-So you walk into them.

-Yeah.

When people come to the gallery, then they go out and see Big Cypress, they come back in the gallery, "Now I can see it."

-Mm-hmm.

-So it helps them see when they leave the gallery and get into the woods.

Actually, we do have a few boardwalks now and a few paths that people can use.

-I don't think many people love the idea of walking through sort of a swampland.

Am I the only one who has a little bit of trepidation about this?

-No.

Most people have to overcome that fear of alligators and snakes coming and meeting them on their walk.

-Oh, are we gonna be meeting alligators and snakes?

-We could.

-Okay!

[ Laughter ] Wow.

-Isn't it beautiful?

-I mean, this just seems ancient to me.

-Yes!

It's primeval.

-Yes!

-Yes!

-Okay, I see an alligator.

Is that an alligator or a crocodile?

-Nope, that's an alligator.

There's actually two in there.

-How do you know?

I only see one.

And that means, where's the other one?

-Dry-down period, they're always seeking water.

So they're gonna stay close to the water.

-Okay.

-All right, let's keep going.

-You got it.

So, there's no water here now.

Is that because of the season?

-Once we start getting our summer rains, the swamp will fill up.

You can see the waterline right on the trees.

-Mm-hmm.

So you do this guide in water, as well.

-We do it year-round.

Yes, we do.

-I mean, it is definitely a different world in here.

And you are showing people that world.

-Yes.

-What are people most amazed about when they get a chance to come back to a place that seems so forbidding to us?

-If you can get people to stop for five minutes and just be quiet and embrace nature, then I've done a very good job.

-Five minutes and counting, let's go.

♪♪ ♪♪ We've solved all the world's problems.

-In five minutes.

-In five minutes, exactly.

Because if this exists and we can be here, life's good.

-Life is good.

-[ Chuckles ] -Coming to Southwest Florida, you've got the prettiest beaches I've ever seen, some of the best food.

-There's so much nature everywhere, and there's so much to explore.

Any time you go to the beach, you're gonna see at least a dolphin or a stingray or something amazing.

-I'm a firm believer in seeking out little places in strip malls in Southwest Florida, because you're gonna find your best mom-and-pop little places in those areas.

It's a wonderful place to be, and I wouldn't wanna live anywhere else.

-To understand Florida, you have to get out of your car and get into it.

And it'll surround you, and it'll -- it'll hug you.

It's just a gorgeous place.

The Everglades -- there's no place like it in the world.

You just gotta come and get out of that bloody car.

-When you can walk on a secluded beach that reveals a natural beauty that you didn't know existed, when you are allowed to take part in an effort to protect and preserve exceptional wildlife, when you can enjoy a great local spot, live music, a hand-crafted tiki cocktail, and still make it in time to watch a masterpiece, that is when we share a love of travel.

And that's why the Paradise Coast of Southwest Florida is a place to love.

-For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" was made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪