If you live on the McGregor corridor, you already know the reflex. Season ends, the snowbirds head north, and half your neighbors act as if the strip between downtown and the Edison Estates goes into hibernation until October. It doesn't. Between a new alternative sport on the fairways at The Fort, an expanded live-music calendar at the restaurant overlooking the 18th, and a Celtic café that opened at Bell Tower three weeks ago, the summer schedule around Fort Myers Country Club, the 1917 Donald Ross course affectionately known as "The Fort", is denser than most residents realize.
The thesis is simple. The businesses ringing this stretch of McGregor have quietly retooled for the off-season, and the rate card at the course itself now rewards the people who stayed.
The twilight math at The Fort
Start with the golf. The city's summer pricing runs a long window this year, and the spread between morning and evening play is wider than most public courses in Lee County keep it.
Summer rates run May 11 through September 30, 2026, and the tiers break down like this:
| Tee window | Green fee & cart | Walking |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM | $45 | $30 |
| 12:00 PM – 3:30 PM | $35 | $25 |
| 3:30 PM – Close | $30 | $20 |
A non-player riding fee of $15 is worth knowing if you like the ride but not the swing. The practical read for a resident: an evening walk-nine on a Donald Ross layout runs $20, which is roughly the price of two beers at most places on this stretch of the boulevard. That is the math that makes the summer twilight worth putting on the calendar.
The other change on the course is stranger. The Fort now offers FlingGolf, an alternative format that uses a specially designed FlingStick from New Swarm Sports and a regulation golf ball. Instead of hitting the ball with a club, players use a single FlingStick to shape every shot from tee to hole. It can be played alongside regular golfers, and pace of play tends to be a bit faster because there's no need to switch clubs. Head Golf Professional Kari Phenix has said the pro shop rents FlingSticks and will run demo days and clinics on the range through the season. For a household with a kid who cannot yet be trusted with a nine-iron, or a partner who never took to the game, that is a legitimate reason to book a tee time together this summer.
What Edison Tavern actually is now
If you have not walked into the restaurant on the corner of McGregor and Hill in a while, the sign is different and so is the programming. Edison Tavern sits on historic McGregor Boulevard and overlooks Fort Myers Country Club. The building itself opened as Edison Restaurant, Bar, and Banquet Center on May 8, 2008, a mile south of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates. The tavern iteration leans harder into two things that matter in June and July: the porch overlooking the course, and live music.
The current calendar features live bands every Friday and Saturday, and the menu now runs to smashburgers, fresh seafood, and seasonal favorites. Book the porch or the terrace, order something off the raw bar, and you have the closest thing this side of the river to a dinner-with-a-view that does not require driving to the beach.
For anyone planning a summer graduation party, engagement dinner, or corporate off-site, the banquet side of the building is worth a walk-through. The venue keeps six event spaces, including The Ford Room, The Banyan Room, The Edison, The Porch, The Terrace, and The Tower Room, and is a popular venue for golf course weddings and receptions. In practical terms, that means you can host a rehearsal dinner within walking distance of your own house on McGregor and still get panoramic fairway views out the window.
The breakfast axis on McGregor
The stretch of McGregor between downtown and College Parkway has quietly become one of the better breakfast corridors in the county, and summer is when the wait lists actually shrink.
McGregor Cafe, at 4305 McGregor Blvd, has been a destination for locals and travelers alike, with a reputation for consistent, quality fare in a friendly and relaxing atmosphere. The interesting shift there is the kitchen. Recent diners have noted a new Cajun-leaning chef headlining Cajun and Italian entrées, with some strong wine additions. Weekend brunch runs 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM most days, with the café closed Tuesdays. If you have been going out of habit for the corned beef hash, the dinner menu is now worth looking at.
Farther south, The Morning Bloom at 12901 McGregor Blvd keeps a tight 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM window and validated parking, which matters if you are meeting family before a walk at the river. Between the two, you can go a month of Sundays without repeating a breakfast on this road.
The Bell Tower detour worth making
The most consequential opening for McGregor residents this summer is technically not on McGregor at all. It is at Bell Tower, and it comes from familiar owners.
The owners of McGregor's Public House opened Oak & Vine on June 13, 2026, at Bell Tower in south Fort Myers. The backstory is more interesting than most restaurant expansions. The space adjacent to the pub's newly expanded area came up, and the McGregors decided to open a café rather than just extend the bar. Oak & Vine Celtic Café debuted June 14 in the 1,200-square-foot unit that most recently housed Sanibel Candle Co.
The café operates on a different rhythm from the pub next door. Oak & Vine Celtic Café sits in Suite 107 at 13499 S. Cleveland Ave. and is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The pub itself, in Suite 111, went through a serious kitchen upgrade in the same expansion. The team went from a 120-square-foot kitchen to an 800-square-foot one, from cooking in a closet to cooking in a high-functioning kitchen. The practical translation for a resident: the menu you like has more range now, and there is finally a daytime coffee-and-pastry option under the same roof for the morning after.
A summer Saturday, sequenced
If you want the whole corridor as a single day, it sequences cleanly:
- 7:30 AM. Breakfast at McGregor Cafe on the porch before the sun catches the room.
- 10:00 AM. A late-morning nine at The Fort. If you have never tried FlingGolf, this is the summer to rent a FlingStick and find out whether you actually enjoy the sport more without the fourteen decisions per hole.
- 1:00 PM. Lunch at Edison Tavern. Take the terrace side if the breeze is up.
- 3:00 PM. Coffee run to Oak & Vine at Bell Tower. Bring back a loaf of the house soda bread.
- 8:00 PM. Back to Edison Tavern for whichever band is on the Friday or Saturday lineup.
None of this requires driving past Colonial. All of it opens up in a way that November and February simply do not, when the season crowds fill every table on this road.
Why this matters if you already live here
Residents along McGregor spend enough of the calendar navigating the winter version of this neighborhood, which is a fine but crowded thing. The version that runs from now through late September is quieter, cheaper on the golf side, and freshly programmed on the food and music side in ways that were not true two years ago. The Fort itself underwent only its second significant renovation since 1917 back in 2014, when the city completed a renovation designed by golf course architect Steve Smyers. What is happening around the course now, in the businesses that ring it, is the smaller version of that same story. The corridor is being reworked while you live on it.
If you are thinking about a longer conversation on where the McGregor and Fort Myers Country Club submarket sits this summer, or if a life change has you weighing what your home is worth in the current window, the team at Ryan Batey with Premier Sotheby's International Realty is happy to walk you through it. Get Your Instant Home Valuation whenever you are ready.
