SHIFTING POLITICAL WINDS AND DEVASTATING HURRICANES HAVE FAILED TO DAMPEN SPIRITS IN THE FLORIDIAN CITY OF FORT MYERS

SAYS BEN MITCHELL

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“THIS was a cow town, imagine the saloon doors swinging, the dusty streets and imagine the smell, boy, the smell, thankfully it’s a bit tidier nowadays.”

Ray Sarracino of the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau is showing me around downtown Fort Myers, a calm pastel-coloured city centre sitting on the Caloosahatchee River, a giant waterway which runs into the Gulf of Mexico - or Gulf of America depending on your political persuasion since President Trump’s recent order to rename it.

Walking down the palm tree-lined streets, I am struck by the lack of big brand chains, apart from the odd famous coffee shop.

The streets are full of independent restaurants and bars, a long way from the cliché of corporate America.

Along the main street, the city’s heritage stands tall with the old bank building on one side, followed by the faux-classical grandeur of the old post office, a giant pillared building which is now an arts centre.

At this end of town previously stood the fort that was built by the US military in 1850, to protect against the Seminole Indians during one of the longest and deadliest conflicts in American history.

Ray takes me to one of the newest ventures in town, the Swamp Cat craft brewery. It recently opened in an unused church thanks to the enthusiasm of ex-navy officer Chris Gutierrez.