Going where the "other people live"

Monday was a reconnaissance mission to Fort Myers.
The airport is there.
There is a famous pier there and there are lots and lots of fancy homes there.
Off we went in the intrepid Equinox.

The airport is one terminal. That's it, that's all. Very well organized and, at this time, not busy. They had a curious thing. A "cell phone lot" for parking. No explanation given but we could only figure out that if you are picking someone up you sit there and wait, with your cell phone, then your party calls you and you go to the arrivals area and pick them up. Quite ingenious really.
I still like going into the terminal and seeing people arrive, there's lots of parking for that and pretty cheap too. The airport is 1 hour door to door from the house. Perfect.

Next we ventured into the city of Fort Myers with only a map to guide us and the promise of roads that would lead to the pier. Well, we found lots of roads leading to lots of water and some fancy homes. The roads are narrow and filled with cyclists, pedestrians and other cars. Not to mention the odd golf cart!  Very busy but neat!

 Fort Myers Beach road. Note large condos on Gulf side (left) and if you look closely, a for sale sign, of which there were quite a few. We even saw new buildings being constructed, which is a rarity.

 Looking west to the Gulf from one of the causeways connecting the islands. No, I didn't take the picture! I'm driving! I could only imagine what a hurricane could do to this area it's so low.

Some sail boats in the inter-island waterway. These boats are so far from shore because the water is only deep in the channels. They look water locked, I have no idea how they get out but we did eventually go over a drawbridge but it was miles away. Curious.

The road took us through Fort Myers Beach and the traffic became really, really heavy. It was after 3 pm but I think it was just touristy people like us taking a look around. We found Fort Myers pier and it was similar to the others we've seen but now we know to come in the "other way" to avoid the amount of traffic. A destination for another day trip. It was getting late and I didn't really know where I was going.
Oh yes, while driving in Fort Myers beach or any beach area in this part of the country, one must be conscious of the wild life. In Ontario we have squirrels that take off across the road. Here they have egrets. The little dude pictured below stopped traffic as it decided it was time to cross the road. Luckily we weren't travelling too quickly and with his (her?) long legs took off to the other side of the road. The Man got a picture of it after it successfully navigated the roadway.

It should be noted also that great blue herons (of which there are thousands down here) take off very slowly and use your car draft for lift. This has happened twice on the highways around here. Scares the life out of you as you see this terradactyle looking thing flying right at the car then it takes flight higher up. Yikes!

So, my continued research for you.
Snowbirds purchase "road registered golf carts" for motoring around Ft. Myers beach area. These suckers can do about 30 miles an hour (so a sign said) and have knobby tires on them. Yeee haaaaw!
Snowbirds also bike around a lot. The sidewalk was filled with bikers with their metal baskets on the front, off to where ever they go. In our time there we saw a total of 3 people under the age of 30 (2 were in very small bikinis walking barefoot on the sidewalk, hey, if you got it flaunt it I guess).
The folks here all seemed to be tanned and smiling and had their carry chairs to go to the beach with and seemed quite content. You'd have to be living in some of the condos and waterfront mansions we saw. We didn't see much in the way of bars or entertainment so I figure it's not for the younger crowd but perfectly suited for the demographic there.

Until next time...