FORT MYERS & JUNKANOOS

Written by: Julie Hart
Authors Website

A few years ago we had a long holiday in Florida and decided to spend some time on the Gulf Coast, as somewhere we hadn’t visited before. We are now used to having our own place and didn’t want a hotel so we used a homeowners forum to find a lovely 2 bed 2 bath condo at Fort Myers. Our daughter was staying with friends at the Longboat Key Club so we collected her on the way. That is a really lovely resort, right on the beach near Sarasota. We spent the day there in glorious sunshine and set off after dinner at Tommy Bahamas restaurant.

A storm blew up just as soon as we set off and it was quite scary driving in the dark, on unfamiliar roads with the pounding rain and thunder and lightning but eventually we arrived unscathed. The next day brought beautiful sunshine and our neighbours suggested a place on the beach called Junkanoos. This turned out to be a good recommendation, there was parking, a restaurant, toilets, jet ski hire, sun loungers and a beautiful clean sandy beach. Everything we needed for a family day out.

In the afternoon my daughter and I decided to walk into Fort Myers, about a half hour stroll down the beach. This is a typical seaside town, busy and bustling with lots of shops and cafe’s. As we were ready to walk back the sky turned black and we set off quickly but with no chance of avoiding the impending storm. We decided to stick to the road instead of the beach and within minutes were absolutely soaked to the skin, at one point the water was flowing so fast down the kerbside it took our flip flops with it and we had to chase after them.

We came to a motel block and took shelter under a balcony for a while but the air conditioning blowing out from the rooms made us so cold we moved on. A car drove past and thought it would be hilarious to drive as close as possible thus soaking us from head to foot, at least the water was warm! We arrived back to find the rest of the family dry and enjoying a drink in Junkanoos, much to their amusement. We were amazed to see people not only on the beach but still in the sea with lightning flashing around them.