1920s Bed and Breakfast with Antique Furnishings

With Main Street rife with restored historical buildings and a Mediterranean-style city hall built in 1926, the sleepy town of Wauchula, Florida, has been called "last bastion of beautiful old South Florida." Situated on a corner of Main Street, The Quilter's Inn is a pristine example of the town's Americana heritage. Built in 1923, the craftsman-style bed and breakfast brings together a country porch and five guest rooms decorated with period-style furnishings and quirky antiques. By re-creating the setting of a homey inn from nearly a century ago, The Quilter’s Inn allows visitors to experience the simple pleasures of a bygone era.

Inside the Darn room, guests find the antique sewing machine that innkeeper Pattie Detwiler’s mother used to teach her daughter how to stitch. Romantic embellishments such as lace curtains, a mantel fireplace, and an antique iron bed decorate the Quilter's room. The Patriot's Haven room lives up to its name with a wall-mounted American flag and red, white, and blue quilts.

Every morning, The Quilter's Inn serves a gourmet breakfast with seasonal selections such as southwest egg casserole or quiche lorraine. Guests also get a $15 dinner credit toward entrees at the nearby Giovanni's Main Street Kitchen, a casual Italian restaurant that uses family recipes from Naples. After dinner, unwind by the hotel's outdoor fire pit with a bottle of merlot, chardonnay, or white zinfandel.

Wauchula, Florida: Small Country Town with Fossil-Hunting River

Located 90 miles south of Orlando in central Florida, Wauchula was effectively created in 1886 when the Florida Southern Railway extended its route and established a train depot there, which still stands today. One block from the hotel, Main Street charms with stores and quaint cafés topped with candy-colored awnings.

South in Zolfo Springs, The Cracker Trail Museum and Pioneer Village shows the region's pioneering history through artifacts including a locomotive engine and a 19th-century blacksmith shop. Visitors looking for even earlier history can also explore the area's prehistoric era with a fossil-hunting excursion to Peace River. Pick up a fossil-hunting permit for $5 and sift the river gravel for shark teeth, whale vertebrae, and alligator dentures.

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