#8- Downtown Fort Myers and History Museum

I am ashamed to say I have lived in Florida my whole life and didn't know any history about Fort Myers at all. I learned so much about Fort Myers history when we took a walk in downtown Fort Myers. I felt like I was exploring the downtown area for the first time, even though I have been there on numerous occasions. I really enjoyed the garden of different palms; It was very shady and calming. It seems like the downtown area is very lively at night, and we learned that the annual zombiecon took place there.

Taking a walk by the Caloosahatchee was very cool. I had never taken a walk by the Caloosahatchee, I only ever drove over it. The fountain had a lot of history behind it. For instance, I didn't realize that Firestone, Ford, and Edison were in the fountain sculpture, and I didn't realize that they were all friends and vacationed in Fort Myers together. It was also interesting to find out that Fort Myers was called Fort Harvie first, during the second Seminole War.

The way some of the buildings were constructed were amazing. For example, the art building had columns in the front made from limestone. The old coral was visible throughout the columns, it was very cool. The National Bank, we found out, had a "bank holiday" which are very very bad. Many people couldn't get their money out for a year when this happened. But, what I found the most interesting was that the first sidewalk in Fort Myers had 7UP circle advertisements every couple inches from each other on the sidewalk.

I had a lot of fun in the History Museum. I had no idea that in Prehistoric times, in Florida, there was  giant sloths and saber-toothed tigers. Some of their bone remains are in the History Museum. It was also interesting walking through the typical Florida home from back in the early 1900s. It was so small compared to homes today, but the tour guide told us that most people spent most their time outside so the need for a big home wasn't neccesary. 

Photos taken by Kayla Bjerke 

#7- ECHO

I had been to ECHO before the field trip with my boyfriend. When he first bought his house he wanted to have many plants in the yard and in the house. When we went to ECHO we didn't get a tour but we bought seeds and some potted plants. I never knew though that ECHO had displays of global farms. I really enjoyed the tour. It gave me more insight to what they are actually about. I enjoyed being able to taste test different leaves, although not all of them tasted good.

 

Our guide was in charge on the rice fields. She told us that each side had a different irrigation system. ->

They used live fences in some of the gardens. Live fences are just trees, that are in the ground growing, that make up the fence instead of wood that would rot quickly.

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Growing up my father was a plant fanatic. He paints for a living, but on his spare time he was always in the yard taking care of his trees and plants. We called him Dr. Green thumb as a joke. I remember going outside with him and watching him tend to his garden. I never really helped, but I think it gave me a greater respect for nature. Maybe one day when I have some free time I could start a garden. I could grow my own food, but I think it is wonderful to be fortunate enough to be able to make the choice of growing your own food or buying it in the store, which not to many people have the option of doing. 

Pictures by Kayla Bjerke

#6 - Estero Bay Historic Cottage

The field trip to the Historic Cottage was very neat. I enjoyed the lecture about the history of Fort Myers Beach. I have lived in Florida my whole life, and to hear what it used to be like back in the early to mid 1900s was very incredible. I thought it was a fun little fact when the guide told us that in the 1950s the Estero Bay was crytsal clear. She said you could see your feet at the bottom through the crystal clear water. The boardwalk was, also, very interesting. We identified three different kinds of mangroves; black, red, and white. 

Conservation 20/20

Conservation 20/20 was started by a group of concerned citizens in Southwest Florida. They lobbied to conserve the natural areas that had not been developed yet. Their mission is to preserve the land, the water quality, to protect areas from flooding, and our community can use these areas for recreational purposes.

I received this information from www.conservation2020.org/index.cfm.

When we went on this field trip it was the first time I had ever heard of Conservation 20/20, and like I said I've lived in Florida my whole life. I couldn't believe I had never heard of it. I have been to many of the preserves though such as, Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, San Carlos Bay - Bunch Beach Preserve, and the Koreshan Preserve.I would definitely go back to these preserves or go to others in the near future.

I don't necessarily agree on the property tax increase to make Conservation 20/20 possible, but if there is absolutley no other way the land can be preserved then I guess it's worth the price.

Pictures By Kayla Bjerke

#4 Sense of Place - Your Neighborhood

This is my house I live in with my boyfriend. We live in San Carlos Park and let's just say it's a gigantic neighborhood. We have many neighbors and not a lot of wooded areas around us. There are not many sustainable features around our neighborhood, or at least not that we can see. I took a walk around my neighborhood to see for any wildlife, special environmental features, etc. What I came to find out is there is not a whole lot of wildlife. With all the traffic in and out of the neighborhood it would be hard for many animals to survive. My friend and I almost got ran over by a car while taking a walk; a small animal or even large animal probably couldn't stand a chance. The only special environmental features I found were that all our neighbors seem to have very green yards with many plants. 

This is the main road by our house. I would consider our neighborhood a concrete jungle.

We did find a little bit of wildlife. In my backyard I saw a bee, a butterfly, and many lizards. Across the street at my neighbors house there was a Great White Egret. So, there is some wildlife, but like I mentioned before, it would be very hard for any wildlife to survive with so many cars and so much traffic. 

The one thing that was truly disturbing is all the trash on the side of the road. In a 10 foot radius this is what trash I found...



Pictures taken by Kayla Bjerke.

#5 Corkscrew Swamp

The Corkscrew Swamp trip was a very interesting field trip. I really enjoyed how the walk started from the pine flatwoods and slowly turned into a Bald cypress swamp. Even though it was extremely hot, there was enough shade to keep us out of the sun. It was very peaceful for the exception of the power washer that was cleaning the boardwalks. 

A few of the ferns we identitified.

The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it. 

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was really interesting learning about the Living Machine. I had never heard of such a thing. We walked into the bathroom area, and I thought it was odd that a little screened-in garden was in front of the bathroom. Then, our class was told that our waste is contributing to the living machine. I think the living machine is very unique and sustainable.

This can better describe how the living system works.

I also enjoyed learning about the plumes. Even though the plumes were almost wiped out by hunters, they still survive and the Audubon Society helped to protect them. We didn't see any out on the boardwalk, but the pictures of them in the gift shop were amazing. I would love the oppurtunity to be able to catch a glimspe of one in it's natural habitat.

Some of the pictures I took on the field trip.

The picture of the Living Machine came from... ttp://www.corkscrew.audubon.org/Information/LivingMachine.html.

The picture of the Plume came from...http://www.birdingintaiwan.org/gallery/long-shin/index.htm

The quote came from...http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/ralph_waldo_emerson.html