Journal 5

The wonderful Trip to Downtown Fort Myers
The trip to Downtown Fort Myers was amazing. I have been in Fort Myers for almost three years and have never experienced such things. Waking up before nine in the morning is never my favorite thing to do but I can say waking up before seven in the morning on this day was well worth it. There were many aspects of the Downtown area and the Edison and Ford Estates that cultivated learning and made me take a glimpse into the past.
Until that day I had never seen the Edison and Ford Estates, to me the only thing I knew of them was that I passed the sign for the exit when travel north on the Interstate 75. The amount of history and culture that is there is immeasurable. The gorgeous plants took my breath away , as cheesy as that sounds , I could just picture Thomas Edison sitting on the long dock, as the sun set in while the flowers were in bloom and how lucky he was to have that view all to himself. I will be taking the trip down there again when I have the chance to be able to have a more in depth tour of the homes to really appreciate the nature over there especially the second largest Banyon Tree in Florida.
I never knew the Fort Myers was such a historical town, with so many places to go and experience. I learned of the Caloosa Indians that lived in this area, but were killed and moved out by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, which is horrible.
There are so many land marks and art pieces in Down Town and Centennial Park. There are two pieces of art that stuck out in my mind which are the fountain with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone relaxing leisurely around a fire and the Mural right in front of the Hotel Indigo. The mural, which is actually a mosaic, struck me the most amazing because of all the different factors that are incorporated into it. To me the mosaic tells a story of the things that people wanted to forget about Fort Myers, but seems to be in their honor at the same time, the Buffalo soldiers, cattle and Indians will always be commemorated right in the heart of Fort Myers.