Entry 5: Estero Island Cottage and Matanzas Pass

My Estero Island Cottage experience was a fantastic one. We were educated by a lovely and knowledgeable woman named Jo. While we ate her delicious homemade sea grape jelly, she entertained us with stories of when she was a child growing up on old Fort Myers beach. These stories were laced with history that would have been bland coming from a book, but she brought them to life. You could tell she was passionate about preserving the history of Fort Myers beach. Once finished at the cottage, we loaded up onto the bus for our canoeing excursion. Though we had a rocky start, canoeing was an overall enjoyable experience that I would gladly repeat. My favorite part of this field trip was learning about Fort Myers beach and it's history. I feel it is important to preserve the important landmarks like Estero Island Cottage but not forget about the progress that has been made since then. My hometown hasn't changed much over the years except for the occasional new restaurant or store. I don't live there anymore so I can't really speak on the sense of community, but when I lived there there wasn't much to begin with. I didn't know my neighbors, the restaurants didn't know my "usual", and there weren't many mom and pop shops. I would take 300% of my childhood home's value if there were to be condos built there because I have no sense of connection to my hometown and it isn't a place that would be missed or needs to be preserved. I'd take the 300% for condos over the 80% for the 20/20 program in order to conserve it. It isn't a special home that has any significant history. Unfortunately though, there aren't many places left with historical significance like the Estero Island Cottage.