Fun in Fort Myers Beach & Fort Myers

We purchased FREEDOM 4 years ago in Fort Lauderdale, FL. We have spent 3 of the 4 winters since then in the Sunshine State and I must say it has never been more vibrant. From the Panhandle to St. Pete to Stuart the restaurants were bustling, shuttered storefronts have re-opened their doors and the traffic: Yikes!  Even before snowbird season began things were hopping.

We had a very good winter in Florida. I already posted about our time on the Panhandle and in St. Pete, and I am way overdue on a Fort Myers beach post.  So here it is, in words and pictures......

We had never even heard of Fort Myers Beach until someone along the way suggested we stop there this winter. So happy we listened.  It has just enough beach shops, bars and restaurants to keep it lively and the colorful homes and storefronts give it a Key West feel with out the Key West craziness and pricing.

The Cottages of Paradise Point look about perfect to me

Another colorful house

24/7 you could hear Jimmy Buffett music playing from the deck of this whimsical inn

A false front hides the parking area for a row of townhouses

Palm trees line the beach

Outdoor cafes, live music and a sunset ceremony keep the "Times Square" area of Fort Myers Beach lively day and night.

And the beach -- it was lovely. I am not usually a big fan of beach sitting or even sand, but the Fort Myers Beach sand was soft and white and it was always hard to pack up my things and leave after a few hours of sunbathing.

Moss Marina, our home from mid-February to mid-March was perfect. We docked on a T-head giving us a front and center view of the bayside activity. A steady stream of boats passed by from morning to night, even mid week: pleasure craft, shrimpers, tour boats, the local Pirate Ship, and the Big M Casino boat.

After dark departure for a shrimp boat

We saw a few commercial tugs and barges, but they looked small after what we had seen on the Mississippi!

The Coast Guard Station across the bay sent out training and rescue ships almost every day.  The rescue boats always left in a hurry -- leaving us to bounce in their wake.

Pieces of Eight, the local Pirate Ship, passed by at least once a day.  We knew when to Hurrah! and when to Aaarrrrggghhhh! and when the Limbo contest would start. It always sounded like fun....

The was the  view of the Big M Casino boat form our side deck as she returned to the dock.  Yikes - one day she came so close we almost abandoned ship!

The activity was not only in the water....the marina has a few large boat storage sheds.  All daylong the dockhands removed boats from their stacked slips, drove them to the water and launched them.

Where Boats Fly:  Moss Marina, FMB

The marina is family owned and even the great grandchildren of the owner, GT, work in the office and on the docks.  A handful of the dockhands live on site -- one on a boat, with Ham's arch enemy Moola the dock dog, and others in a camper in one of the large storage sheds. It was a lively place. There was so much to look at on shore and in the water that many days I never made it to the beach.

The Annual Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Fest took place just before our month was up.  A morning parade was followed by a two day craft fair, a Shrimp Queen contest, and a shrimp eating contest.  We might not have eaten any shrimp at the shrimp fest, but we certainly had our fill from the local fish market Trico's. With a fleet of shrimp boats right out their back door, we figured it couldn't get any fresher (other than the shrimp I bought directly from the shrimper in Mobile).

King Neptune led the Parade (kinda scary at 10AM)

Neptune's Shrimp Court

The Red Cross is always at the ready

A big ovation for these local beauties

Everyone stood up and cheered for our armed services

I loved this boat

We took a break from the parade and wandered over to the food tents. Lots of shrimp, crayfish and grouper on the grill

Meanwhile, back at the parade the topless women showed up -- advertising the local tattoo and henna parlour. We had never seen a topless float -- yes they were tastefully hennaed, but it was a bit shocking....( there were children in the crowd!) 

Finally, the clothed members of the yacht club appeared.

With our bellies stuffed with shrimp and grouper and a little more sand on the decks, FREEDOM departed Fort Myers Beach on Monday March 16th, destination Fort Myers. We were thrilled to learn that a block party was on tap for St. Patrick's Day.  I've never seen so many green shirts and wigs in my life.

Who says Snow Birds can't have fun?

When I saw this group I told the Cap'n "We need to up our game next year!"

Beer Mug hats were popular....

I'll admit, I stalked this hand in hand father/daughter pair. Loved his kilt, loved her confidence..and there are no words for the hair

The Hip Natuticals...loved them...my new (second) favorite band

Even the beard....

We had a lot of guests while we were in Florida( say "Beach" and they will come), but that is another post for another day.....

The Definition of Cruising: Squeezing a Two Day Trip into Two Weeks

We never did get to a marina on Friday February 6th -- the local marina was full and the north winds made it impossible to get out of Charlotte Harbor, and even if we did there were no feasible anchoring or docking options for some distance. So, we stayed put, or rather we stayed on Freedom while she swung on the anchor chain.  Getting in and out of the dinghy was a bit treacherous, so Ham had to be content with one trip to shore per day. #mostpatientboatdogever.

When we did make it to shore we enjoyed walking about Punta Gorda. There was an excellent free dinghy dock adjacent to the waterfront promenade allowing all of us to get onshore and stretch our legs. The winds died down enough on the morning of 7th so we headed in to the weekly Saturday Farmers Market.  The highlight of this market for me were the incredibly fresh Strawberries from nearby Plant City. Next time you buy strawberries in your local market, check the origin. It is quite likely they are from Plant City. But, I can assure you they are no where near as delicious as the ones you can buy at the local markets. Here they are sweet, full of flavor and red all the way through. As I understand it, the berries picked for shipping out of state are picked before they are fully ripe, resulting in white centers. That early picking robs the fruit of the its full flavor potential,.
Some local fishermen were also at the market selling "caught the day before" fish. We feasted on Mahi that night.

After returning to the boat, eating lunch and taking a siesta, we lifted the anchor ( not an easy task after all those days and nights of heavy wind) and headed down the ICW to the Burnt Store Marina, just 2 hours away. Once again, the winds picked up and our 2 night stay at the marina turned into 4. Burnt Store is a large gated community north of Fort Myers. There are over 3,000 residences in mid size condo buildings, townhouses and single family homes. We spent a lot of time walking through the various neighborhoods. One day we saw an owl chick take its first flight between the branches of a Live Oak tree.   The marina grounds and restaurant are a gathering place for many of the residents. Every morning groups would gather on the porch or under the Tiki Hut for coffee and conversation. (In case you were wondering,, "highlighter yellow" appears to be the official color of  2015 snowbird outerwear.)   As we did on boat chores on Sunday afternoon we were able to sing along to the live entertainment on the restaurant deck.

Once again, the winds calmed enough for us to continue our cruise, and on  February 11th we pointed our bow towards Useppa Island. Two and a half hours later we were anchored in one of our favorite anchorages.  A combination of the wind direction and the number of fast moving pleasure crafts in the ICW made it a less than enjoyable stop for us this time, We had hoped to stay put for a few nights, dinghy over to Cabbage Key for their famous cheeseburger (rumoured to have inspired Jimmy Buffet), and spend some time exploring a local state park. But, we couldn't stand the rocking and pulled anchor just after noon on the 12th for a 5 mile trip to York Island near St. James City.

Keeping with the theme, the north winds made for a few bumpy nights at anchor and some cold and damp trips to shore with Ham. Once we motored the dinghy out of the anchorage and into the St. James canals, the waters calmed down and we had a great time exploring the area. We had lunch at a canal side restaurant on Friday the 13th and considered ourselves lucky to get back to FREEDOM before the winds kicked up even more and prevented us from safely landing the dinghy back on FREEDOM. Once again, it was a long night for Ham because there was no way we could get back to shore for his evening walk.

On Saturday the 14th we proclaimed success in squeezing a two day trip from St.Petersburg to Fort Myers Beach into a 2 week cruise. It was time to head to the dock.....just 7 miles away.

Until March 15th we will be calling Moss Marina in Fort Myers Beach home.  It's a lively, colorful town, and the beach is just two blocks from our dock. There is a constant stream of boats passing by-- fishing boats, run-abouts, shrimpers, the daily Key West Express, the local Pirate ship "Pieces of Eight", muscle boats, sailboats, and a water taxi -- to keep us entertained from sun up to sundown.

If only the winds would calm........