Travel

A new era for Fort Myers

Glorious beach day at Fort Myers

Sunset at Bowditch Point on Fort Myers Beach

FORT MEYERS, on Florida’s stunning Lower Gulf Coast, is open for tourists once again, two years after one of the world’s worst hurricanes caused mayhem. JAMES RUDDY reports.

OVER at Sanibel Island, the iconic 98-foot iron lighthouse, first lit in 1884, will soon be shining again and getting a ‘brown pencil’ colour paint job after being battered by Hurricane Ian’s 15-foot waves and 155 miles-an-hour winds that ripped off one of its four legs.

Meanwhile, down at McGregor’s pub, on South Cleveland Avenue, in Fort Myers itself, bearded and be-hatted Irish five-piece locals, The Rowdy Bards, are knocking out Finnegan’s Wake to a foot-tapping and hand-clapping Guinness, stew and spuds crowd.

View from Thomas Edison's home in Fort Myers

Nearby, on Mango Street, a steady queue has formed at the food truck operated by Tyler and Kayla Lukesic, on the same spot where their popular wooden café was completely washed away by those waves that slammed into the area at telegraph pole level on September 28, 2022.

Such scenes illustrate the determination of so many people to restore the life, communities and, importantly, the tourist economy of this heavenly section of Florida’s southern tip.

In a week spent touring an area that resembled a war zone two years ago, I was moved to see how human resilience has rebuilt so much that was pummelled to smithereens by this once-in-a-lifetime force of nature.

Everywhere I went I met people who told of narrow escapes during the Category Five hurricane that left 161 dead, caused $113 billion in damage and became the deadliest weather event to hit Florida since 1935.

In Fort Myers resort which, along with its palm-fringed barrier islands of Cayo Costa, Pine and Sanibel, took the first devastating landfall hit, major hotels are back open, restaurants and bars are busy and thousands of locals and foreign visitors are hitting the blue seas and the white sand beaches once more.

Of course, the remaining scars and rebuilding works are obvious. Heavy diggers are at work in some places, including on the damaged Sanibel and Pine Island bridges. And it is hard to miss such emblematic sights as the 42-foot yacht, Batchelor Pad, which remains embedded in one of Fort Myers’ most popular restaurants, Bonita Bill’s. Hundreds of people have signed the 20-tonne wreck, which has achieved celebrity status and was the backdrop recently to one couple’s quirky wedding day (hopefully, not an omen of rough waters ahead for them!)

Mangroves at Ding Darling Nature Reserve

Locals even tell the tale of the large structure that was spotted by fishermen five miles out to sea some time after the hurricane had passed. That was the resort’s Hooter’s restaurant, floating off into an uncertain sunset.

But it's that fun and devil-may-care approach that I found in so many places across an area known more for its fascinating history and teeming wildlife than the crowded theme park hustle associated with so much of Florida’s tourism.

Here, in the gateway to those picture-perfect islands and crystal-clear waters, you can rent kayaks or join a boat party for a cruise to spot turtles, manatee sea cows or playful dolphins who leap higher the louder you sing and shout (as I discovered when my croaky rendition of a few lines of The Irish Rover had them flying past the yacht like banshees on triple Jamesons.).

Invention centre, Edison's laboratory at Fort Myers

I arrived there after a 9.5-hour flight into Miami from Heathrow, followed by a comfortable 2.5-hour minibus ride to check-in at Fort Myers’ laid-back Margaritaville Beach Resort, which has a lively new Finn’s Up beach club with a lagoon-style pool and a sundeck where you can savour icy cocktails as the sun sets on the Gulf of Mexico.

What else would you expect from a hotel, that is one of more than 20 launched by that late hedonistic tropical singer and billionaire entrepreneur Jimmy Buffett?
And that kind of sybaritic experience is on tap everywhere in downtown Fort Myers, from the beer tasting at Point Ybel Brewing, which boasts regular live Irish music and a (very decent) Guinness-style Rowdy Stout, or the Tex-Mex specials at Rosalita’s Cantina where the margaritas come strong and fast.

Despite the fun bars and restaurants, the area also offers a complete wind-down amid the islands, which are a haven of tranquillity, wildlife and deserted beaches if that’s what you want too.

James pins his dollar to the wall at Cabbage Key

A great start to my island-hopping was McCarthy’s Marina, on Captiva, established by a Boston Irishman, and from where I made a memorable eco excursion in the extremely shallow Gulf waters that teem with fish, including big game Tarpin, which feature in a $100,000 annual tournament attracting anglers from across the world.

Another world-famous attraction on my voyage was unique Cabbage Key Island, where the old world restaurant (created in a 1930’s house once owned by America’s Agatha Christie, murder mystery author Mary Roberts Rinehart) has been visited by such celebrities as Julia Roberts, Kevin Costner and the George Bush family – and where Jimmy Buffett is said to have written his hit song ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’.

Oysters and cocktails in Fort Myers

The reason for such interest? The restaurant walls are covered with at least $70,000-worth of autographed one-dollar bills. The tradition was started in the 1960s by a fisherman who put his name on a dollar bill which he stuck on the wall so that he could guarantee he could afford a drink when he returned. I was pleased to be able to stick my dollar on a post bearing the names of long-departed family and friends. Never forgotten.

And so much of Fort Myers was hard to forget. No surprise the number one attraction in the area is a tour of the pristine winter estates of two titans of industry, prolific inventor Thomas Edison and his friend, Henry Ford, of motor vehicle fame. Their homes, offices, laboratories and even their daily lives were utterly fascinating.

Other highlights included the beautiful egrets and herons at the ‘Ding’; Darling nature reserve as well as dinner at the early 20^th century Veranda restaurant, which oozed, old-style Key Lime Pie South Florida charm.

But what will stay with me is the welcome from so many people here, not least at the legendary 51-year-old Farmers’ Market Restaurant, where – in an Irish-style manner - host Joann McCoy greets guests with: “Come on in – you’re home now.’

Home, indeed!