FLORIDA: Alligators, racoons, sunsets and…wiener schnitzel

Another day, another fine Florida beach. Bev Fearis and family head further south to Fort Myers…

From Sarasota it’s a two-hour drive south to Fort Myers, but we decide to go a little out of our way and stop off at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, a 13,000-acre preserve which can be explored via a 2.25-mile boardwalk trail. It looked pretty impressive in the pictures and promised lots of sightings of alligators and snakes and other wildlife. We couldn’t resist.

A mile in, and we were beginning to feel a bit deflated. Pretty as it was, all we had seen so far were trees, trees, a few ferns, and more trees. We soon realised that the pictures of the swampy landscapes we had seen on the website were probably taken in the wetter months and that most of the undergrowth at this time of year was dry as a bone. Warren (who loves trees) was snapping away but Freddie and I were getting a bit bored so we resorted to playing Peter Pan and Captain Hook, using sticks as swords and pretending to do battle. However, just as we were beginning to give up, we spied our first alligator lurking in the reeds. Then, just around the corner, there was another, followed by a snake, then another alligator, a blue heron, a hawk, and finally three racoons. In the last mile, the swamp redeemed itself and we left feeling we’d got our money’s worth from the $12 per adult entrance fee.

Our accommodation in Fort Myers was going to be slightly different from the rest of the trip because instead of a hotel or motel, we were in a typical Floridian RV park. Well, I say typical, the Red Coconut is the only RV Park in the Sunshine State with sites directly on the beach. As well as the RV sites, the park has mobile homes to rent, plus a Gulf View Apartment, which was to be our home for two nights. It’s large one-bed apartment with 1980s-style d-©cor (glass-topped dining table, pastel flowery prints, carpets throughout) and a little decked terrace, with Gulf views. It was directly above a little arcade of shops and eateries, including a German restaurant, a beauty salon, and a Chinese takeaway. A bit of an odd mix, but they all seemed to be busy.

The seven-mile long Fort Myers Beach, on Estero Island, is known for being a very safe beach with shallow water and no current. Like most of the beaches on the west coast, it’s lined with beach homes and hotels, mostly low rise, but it also has some cute little beachfront bars, most of them simple thatched tiki bars.

We had been told not to miss the sunset celebration at the nearby Outrigger Resort, just down the beach. In fact, it was a good two miles down and we made it just in time. The tiki bar was buzzing and everyone seemed to know each other. Apparently this resort gets a lot of regular guests, and also regular locals who come here every night to watch the sun go down with a beer or two. We opted for margaritas, and as the sun dipped down behind the horizon, we watched as two locals blew conches and everyone cheered. It was fun.

A few margaritas later, we got the Fort Myers Beach trolley back to the Red Coconut (50 cents per journey) and decided we might as well give the German restaurant a try. As a neighbour, it seemed rude not to. It’s not fancy by any means, but the food is excellent. I hadn’t for one minute imagined I’d be tucking into wiener schnitzel, red cabbage, and apple strudel on my Florida holiday, but it actually made a refreshing change from fried seafood and key lime pie.

www.visitflorida.com
www.fortmyers-sanibel.com