The stereotypical, five-star, all-inclusive, very expensive beach resort.

Naturally, this was where I stayed when I went to Florida, although not by choice.  But, I mean, it was nice.  The room was large, complete with a whole kitchen area that we didn’t even need, a TV, and some comfy beds. We even had a little balcony with our room that looked right out onto the beach, and it was a really pretty view to wake up to every morning.

However, if I were to be completely honest, I would say it bored me to tears.

I’d hate to sound ungrateful.  Don’t get me wrong, it was very luxurious and I was lucky to be there, the rooms were nice like I said, and there was conveniently a pool and hot tub right outside.  And I actually did enjoy the fact that the beach was right there.

But there was nothing exciting about staying in this resort.  Everything was taken care of for you, and you learned nothing about the city except for the hotel’s beachfront property.  And it was a huge drain on savings for something that wasn’t even that exciting for me.

I had to get away.  I could only sit and burn on the sands of the beach for so many days.  One day of lazing around in the sun on this gorgeous, white-sand beach was most definitely nice and relaxing, but there was no way I wanted to do this all day, for the five days we were there.  Nor was I going to spend all my time in the pool and hot tub, or sitting in an air-conditioned hotel room.  Nope, the adventurer (and the writer) inside me were calling out.  I had to get away from the swarms of tourists and the unnecessary luxuriousness to do something different, so I escaped of course.

Taking a Long (A Very Long) Walk

So how exactly did I escape the resort? I walked.  I stayed on the beautiful beach, and I walked as far as I could, seeing what I could discover.  And Fort Myers beach was huge.  It must have been well over four miles, so walking down the beach as far as I could go and back meant 8 miles for me.  I did this a few times, and these long walks made for the most interesting stories of my trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made some friends.

I didn’t just make friends with many other gymnasts who were also staying at this same hotel.  There was one man who pushed his ice cream cart up and down the beach everyday, trying to get some business, so I bought ice cream from him a few times and by the last day he knew who I was.

I also made some new animal friends while walking along the beach.  One man was walking his bicycle along the beach, along with his pet parrot.  He offered to let me hold the parrot, and I put the bird on my shoulder and snapped a picture.  I think the parrot liked me, but when my coach discovered the bird later and tried to take a picture with him on her shoulder, the parrot tried to eat her hair.

There was also this one Siamese cat who would wander the beach by day, and come back to the ground floor and beach bar area of my resort at night.  After a couple times of me patting the cat’s head, and giving it some love, it would wait for me to walk back at night.  I’m still not sure whether it was a stray or owned by someone else on the beach.

I made some new discoveries.

Taking my time to walk down the beach, I encountered quite a few unusual things and creatures.

I found a seven-pointed starfish.

I found some sea urchins, and plenty of snails.

I found a huge seashell opened up in the shape of a heart.

I stumbled upon a small wedding happening right on the beach.

I discovered that someone had basically recreated the Pyramids of Giza in the sand.

And I also found many beachfront restaurants and other places for some delicious food.

It also pained me to see para-sailing and jet skiing expeditions going on over the warm waves.  The entire trip I watched every person who got the chance to participate in these water sports with envy.  They looked like SO much fun.  Unfortunately, being the broke almost college student, I did not have enough money to do any of these activities.  One day, I will though, no matter where that may be.

My adventures down Fort Myers Beach, like I said, were definitely the most eventful and exciting parts of my trip.  In other words, you’re going to have a better story and a better time if you don’t spend your entire vacation locked up in a resort or always lying on the beach.