A Tale of Two Beaches

Day 266  |  Fort Myers Beach  

It was another beautiful day in South Florida and we had a great time exploring Fort Myers Beach. Our adventures started when we tied up to the floating dock, outside the marina office, just below this piling. The harbormaster then proceeded to inform us that dinghies weren't permitted on this dock and we'd have to move. We took the picture to state our case, but still had to relocate. Oh, well. It was only a small inconvenience. The attraction of Fort Myers Beach to cruisers is that you are right in the middle of the beach resort. The directional sign highlighted only a few of the possibilities before us. Vibrantly colored buildings attempted to gain your attention on the palm-lined streets. Street art murals decorated the sides of retail establishments typical of any beach town. If you happened to want a T-shirt, you'd have no problem finding hundreds to choose from. The messages all centered around a common theme -- that Fort Myers Beach is a pretty nice spot.

Barry and I had fun along the way and just had to take advantage of the character boards. These two were the best ones we've done since way back at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. (That seems like forever ago.) Our first destination was Times Square and the Fishing Pier at Fort Myers Beach. The eponymous clock in the middle of the park was keeping perfect time. We headed out to the end of the pier, where several folks were fishing, but not necessarily catching. We watched some adventurous folks out for a parasail trip. The view looking back from the pier showed the incredible density of people crammed on the beach.

In some places it looked like towel-to-towel and shoulder-to-shoulder, without much room to walk. Not really our idea of relaxation, so we walked south to the Matanzas Pass Preserve. We followed the boardwalk through the mangrove forests to an overlook on Estero Bay. Cool in the shade and with a nice breeze, we sat and watched the boats pass by. At the entrance to the park someone had made the most of a topped tree by turning it into amusing yard art.

From there we took advantage of the free trolley and headed to Bowditch Point Park at the north end of Estero Island. This is a beautiful facility with showers, restrooms, water fountains, and of course a nice beach. I walked over the dunes and took a quick stroll around the point. At the very tip is the sailing channel I mentioned yesterday that sits just a stone's throw from the beach. The red and green day markers are visible just beyond the breakers. My scavenger hunt find of the day was this long-unoccupied turtle shell, covered with barnacles.

This was closer to my ideal beach with more birds than people and powdery soft sand that warranted the removal of my flip flops. When Barry came to get me, I was having too much fun to leave. I looked down at my feet and was puzzled as to why the sand stuck only to the places than had earlier been covered by the flip flops. I don't know the answer, but look forward to more research opportunities. The trolley took us back to Times Square where we strolled around for a while and watched the interesting assembly of tourists and locals. New and unwelcome visitors were swarms of lovebugs. Everyone was swatting the pesky insects, so we deemed it time to return to Crossroads. We were just getting the dinghy back on the upper deck as the sun set over Estero Island.

We will leave by 8:00 tomorrow morning for an anchorage inside Marco Island. No more Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from here on out. The remainder of the passage to The Keys will be made by traveling a few miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.