Ft. Myers - Day One - Travelin'

Travel Day

Thursday was travel day and pretty laid back.

Had a fairly early flight - 8:50. Had a quick breakfast at the airport and then we were off.

Uneventful flight (although Kathy thought it was horrendous due to a little turbulence when landing), and landed in Ft. Myers about 1:30. Picked up rental car after a bit of a wait and headed to the hotel. After some settling in, Pat, Rob and Jenny headed to Manatee Park in the hopes of seeing the big lazy seals, while Kathy relaxed (and napped).

As we were paying for parking at the park, a sign warned us that warm water in the gulf would likely mean the manatee’s would not be hanging out in the park. The manatees move inland in the winter to the warm water of the park canal, both last year and this year the water in the gulf has been unseasonably warm, keeping the manatees in the gulf.

But to our surprise, there were a few lounging close enough to see - in a way. We saw a couple humps in the water that moved around and a tail here and there, but it was a little anti-climatic for at least one of us.

We wandered the park and Jenny ran into an alligator! She was a pro though, and we were all saved.

Saw tons of anoles as well, and general Florida nature. Great way to start the trip.

Grabbed dinner at Stevie Tomatoes, a sports bar Pat and Rob discovered on our first trip tp Ft. Myers a few years ago.