Downtown Fort Myers Field Trip

Wednesday we went on our class field trip to Downtown Fort Myers. One of the things I found most interesting was the story about how the construction workers that were supposed to build the yacht harbor in Sarasota drove too far and ended up building it in Fort Myers instead. I also liked the story about the Pleasure Pier. I think that the building that was moved off the pier onto land should be restored and used. It is a cool piece of the history of Downtown Fort Myers.

I also had no idea that Lee county was one of the last places to move away from segregation. The story of the two boys who were accused of raping a white girl because they were swimming with white children was extremely sad to me.

I also found it interesting that the canals in the Keys were dug out to use the keys stone. I thought that they were dug so that there would be more water-front property. I'm sure that was also part of the reason too!

I have never been to Downtown Fort Myers. It was definitely a worthwhile field trip. I mentioned to Nicole that I didn't know much about the area and she justified it with the fact that I live in Naples.. but to be honest, I don't know much about the history of Naples either! This has really opened my eyes and given me the opportunity to gain a better sense of place.