Fort Myers Florida

Help Rebuild Fort Myers, Florida

Help Rebuild Fort Myers, Florida

Cindy McCain

*The post below was published in December of 2021 naming Fort Myers a 2022 Best Destination. As of this update published on October 16 2022, Fort Myers is rebuilding after the devastation of Hurricane Ian (see NPR photos below).

https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2022/09/29/1125903958/hurricane-ian-florida-photos

To find out ways to help, please go here:

https://www.fortmyersbeach.org/hurricane-ian-recovery-how-you-can-help/

Do you have post-holiday letdown or New Year’s Eve dread? Do you feel deflated — like a Christmas yard decoration lying in a heap upon the ground?

There’s a way to flip your mood, stretch yourself like a starfish, and feel happy as a clam. Ok, cliches aside…

  • Courtesy of The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel

Even if you’re not a beach person, celebrating the new year on the southwest coast of the Sunshine State has many benefits. Booking a stay in Fort Myers, Florida, “The City of Palms,” is a really great plan. 

If you’ve joined my two-year expedition down the southwestern coast of Florida, you know that I’ve fallen in love with this area of the state. Here I’ve found the white sand and clear aquamarine waters that I played in as a child on the Panhandle’s Emerald Coast. But I’ve also found educational, historical, and cultural treasures. I’ve felt welcome in a community that still marvels at manatees and dolphins and salutes sunsets with bagpipes, conch shells, and guitars. 

Built in 1901 as the Bradford Hotel, The Arcade Theatre opened in 1914 as a Vaudeville house and in the 1920s became a movie theater.

Why Travel?

If wellness is a goal for the new year, multiple studies have shown that merely planning travel gives our mood an instant boost. Amy Blankson, author of The Future of Happiness and authority on health and wellness in the digital era, explains in Psychology Today:

The anticipation and sense of hopefulness for better times can keep us motivated and excited for the delayed gratification of a getaway. This ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ often has a long-term mood-boosting effect and can help us relax as it puts us in the mind frame of a more soothing future.

And about that light…

Sunlight provides Vitamin D and releases higher levels of serotonin which lowers anxiety while elevating mood, focus, sleep, and immunity. (I can attest to the power of perpetually sunny skies. While living in Marrakesh, Morocco, I felt happier and had more energy year-round.)

Travel is also a way to reconnect with people we love as we create shared memories of precious moments. Solo travel provides opportunities to reconnect with ourselves and Creator as we discover (or remember) our passions and purpose. It can also push us to make new friends.

A getaway provides escape into a new world where we can try on another life, explore, learn. It provides not only adventure but also perspective. Miles create distance from our problems, sadness, or stress. We can rest, recover, rethink, and reset when we see the Big Picture. Sometimes this means rising above obstacles and changing our focus literally. I’ll never forget the beauty I saw and gratitude I felt looking down from a balcony on a Spanish hillside or out from ramparts on the African coast. Morocco taught me the gift of rooftops whether places to gather or to be alone. I started 2021 by looking down on the lights of Sarasota from a rooftop New Year’s Eve party at Art Ovation Hotel. I ended it by looking down on Fort Myers from Beacon, the appropriately named rooftop of the luxurious Luminary, another hotel in the Autograph Collection® of Marriott International. (No surprise that their 2022 Rooftop NYE Party quickly sold out, but you can still see fireworks and the Ball Drop at the New Year’s Eve Downtown Countdown. )

View of Fort Myers Bridge from Luminary Hotel Rooftop

Finds in The Franklin Shops on Main Street, Fort Myers, reminded me that travel inspires us to…

Inspiration found in Franklin Shops, Main Street, Fort Myers

Why Fort Myers?

If you like winters with sunny skies and 70 degree temperatures… a walkable downtown with eclectic shopping and dining outdoors on rooftops, by the river, or along a red-bricked Main Street… art galleries, live music, museums, theatre, symphony, opera, or ballet… Spanish Floridian, Art Deco, or Modern architecture… inspiring and beautiful places like the Edison & Ford Winter Estates, … then this is your place. Seriously, the downtown area is one of the prettiest I have seen.

Main Street Fort Myers, Florida
The original Ford’s Garage (located on Main Street just a few blocks from the Edison and Ford Winter Estates) is the place for craft beer and a burger. Vintage Fords and gas pumps give it a 1920s service station feel while the copper bar recalls the Speakeasys.
And speaking of Speakeasys, Capone’s
You could make a day of exploring vintage and consignment shops here.

Other Reasons to Choose Fort Myers for a Getaway

Location

Approximately 20 miles from downtown Fort Myers are Fort Myers Beach located on Estero Island, Sanibel Island, and Captiva Island with world-famous shelling, wildlife preserves, and an “Old Florida” feel. And if you’re up for a vast adventure, The Everglades, an UNESCO World Heritage site, is only two hours away.

Fort Myers Beach Photo Courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel

  • Alligators in Fort Myers Six-Mile-Cypress-Slough Preserve (Photo Courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel)
  • (Aerial shot courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel) ‘Tween Waters on Captiva Florida (more on this “Old Florida” property in a later post)
  • Art is everywhere. (Photo Courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel)
  • Shelling (Photo Courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel)
  • Roseate-Spoonbill at Fort Myers Beach (Photo Courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel)

Attractions for All Kinds of Travelers in All Seasons

In 2021, MSN, Travel & Leisure, HGTV, Fodor’s Travel, Fishing Booker, Country Living, U. S. News & World Report, Yahoo Life, Coastal Living named Fort Myers, Sanibel, and Captiva as top getaways for many reasons, such as uncrowded family-friendly beaches and outdoor spaces, tropical beauty, charm, island living, wildlife, shelling, fishing spots, and other hidden treasures. And I can vouch for its allure for couple, family, friend, or solo getaways because I’ve experienced all of them there myself.

My romance with Fort Myers Beach started in 2020. In April 2021, my daughter and I recharged and reconnected on Captiva Island. In early December 2021, I returned for an unforgettable writing conference and community event (more on that later), then ended the week solo in downtown Fort Myers at Luminary. 

  • Photo Courtesy of Fort Myers & Sanibel
  • Photo Courtesy of Fort Myers & Sanibel
  • Photo Courtesy of Fort Myers & Sanibel
  • Shelling (Photo Courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel)

Located In the historic Downtown River District on the Caloosahatchee River, the AAA Four Diamond luxury property — the first in the area of the Autograph Collection® of Marriott International — first lit up the waterfront and city in late 2020. The hotel, decor, and restaurants are named for visionaries and innovators (such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford whose winter estates are within walking distance) who converted Fort Myers from a cattle town to a historical, cultural center. Today snowbirds, locals, and tourists flock to the 12th floor rooftop bar nightly to do what’s customary in these parts, watch legendary sundowns with a drink or meal.  My room was perfect. I felt like Kate Winslet in The Holiday when she raised some fancy window shades with a remote, read in bed, and took a dip in the pool below. The shower/bathroom was the largest I’ve seen in a hotel suite and the branding throughout was very Gatsby.

  • Florida Rep
  • Morning walks along the docks
  • Fritto Misto at Beacon Social Drinkery, Luminary’s Rooftop Bar
  • Southern grits, eggs, sausage and gravy at Luminary’s Ella Mae’s
  • Sidney and Bernes Davis Arts Center
  • Julie Obney’s oil painting Glasses on display at the Sidney and Bernes David Arts Center
  • At Oxbow I had fresh oysters and a Grouper Sandwich.
  • Virginia Newsome, Sean Royal, Hillary Ekwall, Leeds Hill, Jackie Schram, Gary Troy, Haley Clay, Julia Rifino, Ysabel Jasa, Dillon Feldman, Andrew Hubacher, and Alexis Fishman in “Cabaret” at Florida Repertory Theatre. Photo Courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel
  • Fort Myers is the class of a cosmopolitan city and the heart of a small town. The Edison Festival of Light Parade kicking off the holiday season Photo Courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel
  • Island Hopper Songwriter Fest 2021, presented by the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, Cat Country 107.1 and BMI. Photo by Brian Tietz Courtesy of Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel

Sincere thanks to The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel, Luminary Hotel, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, for your hospitality. You fed my mind, body, and soul with art, beauty, random roaming, and coral skies of hope.

Planning Your Trip

To plan your trip, start here.

I’ve used Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) twice and Dolphin Transportation and Punta Gorda Airport (Allegiant Air) once, both about a 30-minute drive from downtown Fort Myers.

When you arrive, you can also pick up the Southwest Florida Guide to the Arts: Gulfshore Life with a listing of events and coupons in the back with discounts.

Just a few of Hundreds of Happenings in 2022

Florida Rep‘s A Doll’s House, 2 and Driving Miss Daisy

Gulfshore Opera‘s A Night in Italy, Songs of Ireland, Tosca

Broadway Palm Dinner Theater‘s Singin’ in the Rain, Escape to Margarittaville, and In the Heights

Gulfcoast Symphony concerts from Led Zeppelin to Frank to Billy Jo

In March, the Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival and Parade

In May, Fort Myer Film Festival

In June Captivaville

More here

Edison and Ford Winter Estates Lighting Up the Holidays and Inspiring All Year

Edison and Ford Winter Estates Lighting Up the Holidays and Inspiring All Year

Cindy McCain

We celebrate the holidays with light, a symbol of hope that dispels darkness. This month as I walked the grounds of the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, I felt the restorative and illuminating power of light and beauty. As I listened to waves lapping the shore and watched the sun casting a golden glow on the Caloosahatchee River, I felt peace and renewal. 

I’m not alone. From now until January 2, 2022 (closed Christmas Day), locals, resident snowbirds, and guests will continue to gather at the 46th Annual Holiday Nights Celebration at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. If you can’t join them this year, put the event on your calendar for next, but plan a trip to Fort Myers, Florida now where abundant beauty illuminates and rejuvenates visitors all four seasons. Located 11 miles from the Southwest International Airport, the Estates are a global destination, but if you want to stock your garden with plants propagated on the property, make it a road trip. There are also lectures and workshops on a variety of gardening topics.

 ‘There is only one Fort Myers in the United States, and there are 90 million people who are going to find it out.” 

Thomas Edison

His words have proven true as Edison’s winter estate is one of the most visited historic home sites in America and named #1 of the 10Best attractions in Fort Myers by USA Today.

I admit it. Until recently I did not know the scope of Thomas Edison’s genius or his connection with Fort Myers. Until 2020, I knew little about the southwestern coast of Florida — its beauty, abundance, and power that inspires and restores. I didn’t know that Edison was one of the first snowbirds who not only spent winters in the Sunshine State but also created a retreat that fueled his passion, fed his genius, and sustained his work.

Thus before he created the first home phonograph in 1896, the first office dictation machine in 1908, the first disc record and phonograph in 1909, or most of his other accomplishments, Thomas Edison knew he needed a place to feed his soul. In 1885 he found a cattle town where he bought a 13-acre property for $2750 where he built a lab and home which he named “Seminole Lodge.” A widower with three children, he married Mina Miller. They honeymooned there and had three children of their own.  

He died in 1941 in New Jersey. Ford sold his estate in 1945 for $20,000, the amount he paid for it. In 1947 Mina deeded the estate to the city of Fort Myers, and in that year she and Ford died. Below are photos of the home and guest house decorated as they were when the family lived there.

13 of Edison’s lights are in the home.
Edison built the pier first so materials from Maine could be shipped via river to build his new home. There was no train here until 1904 or good roads until after 1910.
“It is the marriage of the soul with nature that makes the intellect fruitful, and gives birth to imagination.” — Henry David Thoreau
On the 20 acres are more than 1,700 plants of 400 species from six continents.
I agree with Lisa Wilson, Marketing & Public Relations Director and my tour guide. The Moonlight Garden is my favorite space, too. In 1928 Edison built it behind his new study. (See video.) Photo: Courtesy Edison Ford Winter Estates
Edison built the first residential swimming pool in Fort Myers. The only other pool was at a hotel.
Almost as large as the Banyan tree (thought to be the largest in the continental US) planted in the late 1920s (located outside the museum) is Mysore Fig this one near the River. See both in the video. The roots are as tall and thick as park benches. Under its shade many couples have wed.
Palm trees are not only ubiquitous on the property but along McGregor Boulevard where the Estates are located. Once cattle were driven here to Punta Rassa to be shipped to Cuba. where the Estates From Central Florida, cattle drives went right through town and down the river to the port at Punta Rassa, where cattle would be shipped to Cuba.
Stroll by roses, coconuts, citrus trees, lilies, succulents, and flowering shrubs.

Darth Vader Tree Under the Stars at the Edison Ford Estates

Edison cared about making his inventions affordable and accessible as well as his estate. This year at Holiday Nights nearly 60 local schools are participating in the 13th annual Edison and Ford Winter Estates Children’s Tree Trail. Students created ornaments from recycled materials with stipends from the Estates. The Estates host children and their families —some who wouldn’t be able to do so otherwise —to see the decorated trees and Estates.

The Lilly Pond was added in 1929
The Luminary Hotel is where I stayed just a short Uber or Lyft ride or walk away.

I love that Edison didn’t spend all of his time in a lab but was curious about so much of life around him. He loved to travel, camp, and fish with friends and their families. He loved Florida’s warm temperatures, natural resources, and people which is why he named his estate “Seminole Lodge.”

Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone who formed the Edison Botanic Research Corporation (EBRC) in 1927.
Photo courtesy of Edison Ford Estates

In 1896 Henry Ford meets Thomas Edison at a Detroit Edison Illuminating Company conference where Ford worked. In 1912 they worked together to improve the storage battery for the Model T. In 1901 Ford began spending winters at his Florida home. Famous guests included President Herbert Hoover, Colgate and Kellogg families, Harvey Firestone. In 1910 Edison did renovations to his Queen Anne home. In 1914 the Ford family first visits the Edison in Fort Myers for a camping trip to the Everglades. In 1916 Ford purchased The Mangoes, a Craftsman home next to Edison.

I love his story– a man with little formal education who was bored with school where the mode of learning was rote memory (difficult because he was partially deaf). Like many of the brightest people I’ve known, he would be diagnosed today with ADHD for his boundless curiosity and experimentation. Today he might be called “all over the place” for his interest in so many diverse projects where he used the skills of a writer, chemist, and inventor.

Most of all, I love his resilience. While known for his 1000+ patents, he also had 500-600 patent applications that were rejected or never finished. — which earned him the credibility to be an encouragement today.

Judy, one of many passionate volunteers, shared fun facts for music lovers of all ages.

In 1931 Thomas Edison spent 6 months in Fort Myers working on rubber research.

When you leave, take some beauty home with you. And if there are goals you hope to reach in the new year — old dreams that don’t die but you’re not sure how or when they’ll materialize — take some advice from Thomas Edison…

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

“I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.”

“If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

And my favorite as I look ahead into the new year…

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”

Getting There

The short drive to Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach Approximately 30 minutes from Southwest Florida International Airport ADA accessible with wheelchairs available Free parkingThe Edison and Ford Winter Estates are located approximately 30 minutes from the Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) and near Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, and Captiva Island. (More on Downtown Fort Myers and Captiva next). There are guided tours, self-guided tours, and maps in English, French, Spanish, German and Chinese. Narration in English, German, French or Spanish is available with the new app and through a phone number. For more info go to http://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org.

Thank you so much to Edison and Ford Winter Estates and The Beaches of Ft. Myers and Sanibel and Lee County for the tour and hospitality. As always, the opinions here are my own.

You might also like this:

Botanical Gardens in Morocco

Botanical Gardens in Nashville, TN

Visit Florida