Fort Myers and Cape Coral, FL
I’ve been down in Fort Myers these past two weekends, and will be there again Aug 16/17.
There I have been serving as summer supply Priest at St. Hilary’s Church.
http://www.sainthilarys.org/
It’s been fun!
Fort Myers is some 80 miles south of Sarasota, on Florida’s West or Gulf coast.
In 1850 a Fort was built there to “ward off” the Seminole Indians. (It was named for Col. Abraham Myers).
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears for an account of the shameful episode in American history which led to the forcible removal of Seminole Peoples from Florida.
And see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_(tribe) for a Wikipedia account of Seminole history.
In 1885, Thomas Alvah Edison built a winter home on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River in Ft. Myers. In 1916 his friend Henry Ford purchased the adjoining property. See
http://www.efwefla.org/
The beauty of Ft. Myers is the broad estuary of the Caloosahatchee River. The sadness is that the estuary is inaccessible. It is lined with Condominium complexes and gated communities. This means that the river is viewable only from the bridges over to Cape Coral. If only some walk-ways, and bike trails had been created along the river banks.
Cape Coral is to the west of Ft. Myers. It is a coastal Cape. Developers built a huge and complex system of Canals on Cape Coral, so that many homes have “water-front” views.
But I find it to be soul-less and barren. There is no “there there”. I stayed in a pleasant enough condo there last weekend. I had my canal view.
I also noticed that about one in seven properties are for sale. Cape Coral is one of those over-developed areas in which all manner of unwise mortgages were granted by greedy banks and mortgage companies.
That’s what happens when the so-called “free market” operates.
There I have been serving as summer supply Priest at St. Hilary’s Church.
http://www.sainthilarys.org/
It’s been fun!
Fort Myers is some 80 miles south of Sarasota, on Florida’s West or Gulf coast.
In 1850 a Fort was built there to “ward off” the Seminole Indians. (It was named for Col. Abraham Myers).
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears for an account of the shameful episode in American history which led to the forcible removal of Seminole Peoples from Florida.
And see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_(tribe) for a Wikipedia account of Seminole history.
In 1885, Thomas Alvah Edison built a winter home on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River in Ft. Myers. In 1916 his friend Henry Ford purchased the adjoining property. See
http://www.efwefla.org/
The beauty of Ft. Myers is the broad estuary of the Caloosahatchee River. The sadness is that the estuary is inaccessible. It is lined with Condominium complexes and gated communities. This means that the river is viewable only from the bridges over to Cape Coral. If only some walk-ways, and bike trails had been created along the river banks.
Cape Coral is to the west of Ft. Myers. It is a coastal Cape. Developers built a huge and complex system of Canals on Cape Coral, so that many homes have “water-front” views.
But I find it to be soul-less and barren. There is no “there there”. I stayed in a pleasant enough condo there last weekend. I had my canal view.
I also noticed that about one in seven properties are for sale. Cape Coral is one of those over-developed areas in which all manner of unwise mortgages were granted by greedy banks and mortgage companies.
That’s what happens when the so-called “free market” operates.
Comments
Post a Comment