hHi guys and welcome to Fort Myers Florida!
I'm Oksana and we've got Max behind the camera
and we're here to show you how to plan the best trip in this beautiful destination. Let's get going!
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Fort Myers is located on the Gulf Coast in Southwest Florida in the United States.
The region encompasses not just the city of Fort Myers but also its islands, beaches, and neighborhoods
including downtown Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach Sanibel Island, Bonita Springs, and Cape Coral, just to name a few...
The region is accessible by road via I-75 but the majority of visitors
fly into Southwest Florida International Airport. The airport is well connected with major cities in
the U.S and Canada
From the airport it's just a 30-minute drive to downtown Fort Myers or to the beaches
so you can go from the plane to the beach in just under an hour
To reduce our carbon footprint we always try to rent an electric vehicle when we come to a destination
luckily for us Teslas are quite cheap to rent here in Florida
under 100 a day and it typically includes charging
that's what we're doing right now we're just charging up
also Fort Myers is very good to drive around in a Tesla because the areas are not too far away
and there are charges and destination charges all over the place
It's time to go explore and we're starting our day on Fort Myers Beach, right in front of our hotel the Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina
the location is perfect plus the hotel is a leader in sustainability practices in the area
they've got a lot of environmental initiatives to help reduce their carbon footprint.
It's been a very relaxing morning here on Fort Myers Beach
we've been enjoying the water, the sand, the sun
but there's lots of other beaches to explore in the region
and if you're coming to the Fort Myers area make sure to add Bonita Beach, Bowman's Beach, and Lover's Key Beach
to our itinerary as well. They are all very beautiful spots to check out.
It's not just all about the beaches here in Fort Myers, there's lots of other ways to get active
like this awesome kayaking session here in Manatee Park
it's not actually manatees in the water at this time of the year but it's still a great way to spend the morning.
If you want more time in nature, head to the JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island
or to the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve and spend the morning on the boardwalk
trails through the wetlands
Wow! I can really see why the locals rave about this place... it's so lush!
well it's time for lunch and that means it's a chance to check out Fort Myers food scene.
There's lots of restaurants around, there's international cuisine, seafood
local specialties, but today we're doing something a little bit different.
Afternoon tea anyone? For a tea lover like me this is absolute heaven!
I cannot wait to dive into all of these delicious goodies
The Chantilly cream is heavenly! It's got like a Nutty flavour to it. It's just like...mmmm... so good
When we travel, we always like to give back to the local communities that we visit
and today we're here with Keep Lee County Beautiful
and we're going to be taking these kayaks out, we got some tools with us
and we're going to be kayaking all up and down the channel way here going into the mangroves
picking up some garbage and making sure it gets disposed of properly
obviously, there's lots of debris left over from when the Hurricane hit, so we're going to try to grab that all out
so that fishes and other wildlife don't get impacted by it. Let's go!
Should we try to grab that?
Nah, I think that one's a little too big for us
No trip to the Fort Myers region is complete without
visiting downtown Fort Myers
there is a lot to do down here. It's mostly centered around First Street and Bay Street
where there's lots of shopping, there's lots of restaurants, there's bars, there's art museums all that kind of stuff
right now we're gonna get some food at a pretty popular place. Let's go check it out!
The Veranda is South Florida's most award-winning restaurant dating back to 1978.
It's one of the oldest restaurants in town.
we've got a beautiful table here overlooking the garden. This is a very elegant place
the kind of place you come to really celebrate something
all right our salad is here and our man Pete is preparing enough for us. Oh yeah, nice and fresh!
how's that salad
Well I think I've got the perfect dish right here in front of me I think they called it the
Southern Sampler and it's just beautiful seafood from the area
we've got the gulf shrimps we've got fresh fish...
and a look at this! This is a beautiful scallop
Dinner options are plentiful all around Fort Myers some of our other recommendations include
Yucatan Beach Stand on Fort Myers Beach - it's a great Island inspired spot with live entertainment
nautical decor and killer tacos!
Check out MudBug's Cajun Kitchen on Sanibel Island
They're famous for their Cajun specialties like Po Boys and etouffee
or head to Bonita Springs for downtown Coffee and Wine
it's a modern spot with great sharing plates and wine pairings
Well our time here in Fort Myers has finally come to an end
we've spent the last five days exploring this region
we've been spending lots of time on the beaches, we've been going to lots of restaurants
we've been doing some kayaking
we've been doing some hiking
pretty much everything that this area has to offer
While here we saw lots of signs of recovery from Hurricane Ian
but the community has really come together to rebuild this beautiful destination
We always talk about making a positive impact when you travel
sometimes that's environmentally based, here it's local economy
so if you're planning a trip to a warm climate,
why not choose Fort Myers and help this community recover
And as always I hope you guys like this video
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click like on the video below and we'll see you next time!