Showing off Fort Myers

My home; the subtropical, somewhat quiet, somewhat pretty, somewhat old and historic Fort Myers located in South West Florida on the Gulf of Mexico. It's really an odd place, we're subtropical with tons of natural beauty but we're no Key West; we're actually a rather large metropolitan city area but we're no Miami; we're close enough to major tourist attractions to be on the map but just far enough away that we miss most of the heavy traffic problems. This odd mixture of cultures and situations is reflected in the city's architecture, politics, businesses and history.

First off let me show off an aerial view of the region:

Thank you Google Earth!

If you're curious about Fort Myers' actual statistics I'll put them HERE for easy access. The short version is that Fort Myers city limits boasts a population of around 70,000 while the neighboring city of Cape Coral boasts around another 100,000. But most people tend to live outside city limits where the streets are less confusing among other reasons. The Fort Myers metropolitan area is actually the 5th largest city area in the state of Florida, so if you think the big cities like Orlando, Tampa and Miami are too big for you then chances are you'll like it here.

I was born and raised here so I think I know the area semi-well and there are a number of pro's and con's to living or visiting here just like there are to any other location on Earth. I was hanging out with a friend of mine last week just decided to document some of the downtown Fort Myers "River District" in it's unique style and beauty, so I figured I might as well show it off for my readers. Oh and btw, all the pictures were snapped by me unless I say otherwise.

First up I want to show off one of my favorite features of the city, the Caloosahatchee river. It's huge and really pretty, at the point closest to where I live the river is about a mile wide.

The picture on the left shows the older "Caloosahatchee Bridge" built in the 1960's and to the right we have the pair of "Edison" bridges that were rebuilt a bit more recently.

Fort Myers itself has some pretty cool history. We were a Union Fort during the American Civil War and actually the site of a "battle" between Union and Confederacy:

Right outside the brand new fancy city Library

Fort Myers was also the home of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone for a number of years. The book Uncommon Friends highlights their relationship and part of their lives here. There's also a statue in downtown Fort Myers with that same name:

There's also a famous restaurant in downtown named "Firestone", I wasn't able to get any pictures of the inside but I've eaten there before. It's so cool, all the decor has been themed to Firestone Tires and they keep some kind of old school silent film playing up on the wall about Mr. Harvey Firestone and his life. The restaurant has two main floors overlooking the river and a rooftop bar as well. HERE's their website if you want a peek.

I was lucky enough to get access to the rooftop of the Indigo Hotel in that area which let me get some decent skyline pictures of downtown Fort Myers. We're not really a high-rise kind of city yet though there is some work going on to change that. Have a look:

I also got some nice views from a pier going into the river:

Fort Myers does have its beauty, there's no doubt about that. Plus I think it's super cool that we have a Paddle-wheel boat! It's actually a dining and dancing river cruise ship, I've not had the pleasure of boarding her yet but I've heard a lot of good things.

The River District mainly boasts a shopping and eventful neighborhood with a heavily mixed architecture. The District showcases buildings built in three centuries with some brand new modern/tropical designs. The architecture is pretty nice overall, it definitely has a bit of a brick and mortar rustic feel that gets snuggled side by side with some more classic Greek style architecture and jazzy 1920's ambiances and the clean lines and organic curvatures of modern design. Granted we're no Paris when it comes to mixed architecture but I think we hold our own in terms of being a melting pot of all different designs and shapes.

The whole area has a small, tight feel similar to what you might feel in certain Washington DC neighborhoods, and the shops reflect that. There are a lot of small stores and the whole neighborhood is basically a weird sort of strip mall. The streets are regularly closed to traffic for events and block parties like the Art Walk, New Years Eve Ball Drop, Zombiecon, various types of Artfests and foodfests, etc. Around Christmas time I walked around the District watching local artists set up shop on the streets creating their art (paintings, ornaments, anything) live in front of people who are just walking around to take in the sights or who may be prospective buyers. It is a pretty fun atmosphere downtown, and if you pay attention to the city calendar there's a lot to do and see. 

This last picture has two places I like to visit a lot. One is a little cafe my friend opened up some years ago called the Green Cup Cafe, looking at the picture her place is at the far bottom right. Her whole set up is built around vegan and vegetarian drink (and food). She offers traditional coffee options as well but she has a really fun selection of vegetable based smoothies, I've tried one of almost each of them and they're amazing. I wouldn't have expected that from a vegetable drink but she did a great job! The second place is the Franklin Shops (dead center of that last picture) it's a unique store/mall/flea-market. The whole place is one large story but they offer small sections to be rented by independent business owners who manage their own inventory and products but the "shops" itself handles the sales work for everyone. It's quite nifty and they have a lot of unique products there so it's really fun to just step in and look around.

Fort Myers is unique city and I think downtown is probably more unique than the rest. I'm not going to overload you with a complete panoramic detail of the area but I hope you've gotten a basic idea of what the River District is like. And to be honest if you like the "bar scene" then the Fort Myers River District is definitely the place to go. I've lost count of the number of different types of bars and cultured eateries. So if you're looking for a future vacation spot please, keep us in mind. If you're looking for a classy and artistic hotel then I'd recommend the Hotel Indigo. But if you're looking for something a more laid back and if you love a marina type feel then Legacy Harbour is the way to go. I've worked with them before and they have a lovely and friendly staff, tell Loreal that I sent you!

Well that's it for today friends, I hope you've enjoyed getting to know my home a little bit better. If not it's cool, just comment below so I can spam you with even more Fort Myers pictures... 

Sincerely, 

Samuel