Travel Challenge Month 7: Fort Myers Beach, Florida

By January/February in Minnesota, I would do just about anything to be on a beach, sun shining on my face, maybe having some skin exposed like an elbow or knee or something. By this time of winter, I’ve been wearing layers for a while and it’s only getting colder, it’s dark when I go to work, it’s dark when I leave work, and the joy of the holiday season has passed. Folks from the upper midwest, can I get an Amen? So for month 7 of my travel challenge, it was destination anywhere warm with a beach. My cousins Brittany and Jillisa took on month 7 with me, and little did we all know, it’d become a yearly tradition for the three of us to travel together (just another amazing gift this travel challenge gave me). We arrived at the Lani Kai resort in Fort Myers Beach (FMB), Florida on January 12th, 2022. Though they’re currently rebuilding after a devastating hurricane later that same year, once they are taking reservations again, I highly recommend Lani Kai to anyone traveling to FMB. Situated on a beautiful white sand beach, Lani Kai is located within a five-minute walk of Times Square, the heart of FMB. When you don’t feel like leaving, the resort offers several on-site bars/restaurants including rooftop options. The entertainment on the resort is also endless, including a beach side DJ, live music, and much more. And not that we spent much time there, but the view from our room was breathtaking. We spent our first partial day in FMB stocking our room with the supplies we thought we’d need and getting to know the resort. We quickly discovered that the first happy hour option at the resort started at 3:00PM at Island View bar. So we hit that up and shared a delicious flatbread pizza before heading to Sun Deck where happy hour started at 4:00PM. How efficient. We were officially on a happy hour/app tour at this point, and split wings and peel n eat shrimp (not my fave, but when in Rome). Since we were sitting outside at Sun Deck, we could see we were quickly losing daylight. I wanted to watch the sunset from the beach, so we ran, literally ran, to change and make it to the beach in time. We caught a breathtaking view of the sun going down and eventually Jillisa and I even took a dip in the ocean. We ended the night, or at least I did, at Lani Kai’s nightclub, Club Ohana, where they had live music playing. We drank fruity slushie drinks, danced, and chatted with randoms, including some Spanish speaking gentlemen. Eventually I decided it was bedtime and wandered back up to our room, while Brittany and Jillisa checked out the bar next door. I was awoken later when they returned, overhearing Jillisa (who is about ten years younger than Britt and I by the way), taking such sweet care of Britt, who had had a little too much sun and one too many adult beverages. It absolutely warmed my heart!

After tossing and turning a good chunk of the night, I woke up bright and early on the sofa (I had left the bed during the night when Britt kept trying to cuddle) and decided to venture out to the beach solo. I swung into the resort coffee shop to grab a fancy coffee and bagel. The barista there was so kind. He let me try a sample of a smoothie that was so dang good I nearly changed my order. Unfortunately, I missed the sunrise, though I still enjoyed my coffee while people watching on the soft sand. I think I sat there almost two hours before Jillisa called and we met back in the coffee shop before heading up to the room. I expected Britt to be in rough shape, and despite the fact that she wasn’t moving quickly, she was a champ. With a huge smile on her face, we spent some time chatting in the room, balcony doors wide open to the salty beach air. It didn’t take me long to realize I had left my clutch in the coffee shop when I met Jillisa there. Panicked, I raced down there, and the kind barista I had chatted with that morning had turned it into the front desk. People ARE good. We walked up to Times Square, a hot spot in FMB containing a stretch of bars/restaurants, shops, and a pier. We ate lunch overlooking a bay at Nervous Nellie’s. I had a daiquiri and it had real strawberry purée. We took a walk down the pier before stopping for a beverage at Pete’s Time Out (now permanently closed) and chatting about what else we wanted to check out now that we sort of had the lay of the land. We mentioned getting tattoos and had seen a shop within Times Square. So I called, and one of the employees gave me his number and said to text toward the end of the trip to set up an appointment, so we wouldn’t have to try to avoid the sun and water. We wandered back to Lani Kai and Britt decided she needed to rest for a bit. So Jillisa and I did a little shopping and took a walk on the beach, where Jillisa was approached by a boy who offered to buy her a drink. Oddly enough, he was from Duluth, MN (just can’t shut off those midwesterner vibes apparently). It was around then that Britt decided she needed some food. Not wanting to venture too far from the room, we ate a late dinner at the Sun Deck where there was a live musician playing. When we were done eating, I brought my unfinished beverage back to the room and drank it in bed. We called it an early night around 9:30PM, which was just fine for an early bird like myself!

Day three was my FAVORITE day in FMB. Not wanting to make the mistake of missing the sunrise again, I wandered out of the room bright and early. At the time, I was training for a half marathon (which unfortunately I would not end up running) so I had brought some running clothes with me and decided it was time for a “runrise.” I had never done a beach run before, so I spent two miles taking in the gorgeous Florida sunrise. I’m sure I ran even more turtle speed than I usually do, distracted by the amazing view. On my way back, I could see Jillisa waving to me from our balcony, the girls were up and ready to move. We headed back to Times Square to check out some little shops. I bought a coffee cup (at this point, coffee cups had become my signature souvenir while traveling) and Britt and Jillisa found some trinkets as well. We had breakfast and mimosas at La Ola Surfside Restaurant before heading back to the resort. The rest of the day was spent at the beach. It was 100% perfect. We alternated between grabbing beverages from our room, and splurging on fruity drinks from the beachside bar while a DJ had the tunes bumpin’ all afternoon. We scheduled tattoo appointments for the next day. One of the highlights of our trip was when Jillisa and I talked Britt into parasailing. She screamed THE. WHOLE. TIME. and then later said she’d consider doing it again! We stayed on the beach until we could no longer see the sun and employees were stacking the beach chairs. We took our time changing into our “fancy dresses” and then walked back toward Times Square for dinner at The Salty Crab. Live music played in the background while I tried a bite of Jillisa’s coconut shrimp (having discovered in Savannah that I quite enjoyed it). After a full day, we headed back to the room reasonably early (10:30ish) where we laid in bed chatting and listening to the DJ close out the night a few floors below us.

After the stunning view I’d seen the previous day, I was dying to catch the sunrise one more time before we went home. After chatting with that kind coffee barista who had been there all week, I enjoyed my coffee sitting on the beach. When the girls woke up, Jillisa and I took a walk in the opposite direction of where we’d been going thus far (not toward Times Square) while Britt was content lounging around awhile longer. We noticed a free tram so decided to hop on that to see where it’d take us. It took us through Times Square down to Lovers Key Park which was near the bay (that we’d seen a couple of days earlier from Nervous Nellie’s). It was there that I saw the first starfish that I’d ever seen in person. We also had a view of Sanibel Island, another tourist hot spot in the area. We picked up Britt and headed to Times Square for brunch at Pier Side Grill. We walked off brunch along the beach, and you could tell it was the weekend then, everything was significantly busier. We made it to our tattoo appointments, where Jillisa and I both got a small wave and Britt decided to opt out (which she’d tell you she now regrets). We celebrated our new ink at an establishment that overlooked much of the beach called The Whale. FMB would become the second location in my travel challenge that I’d later tell people I would consider traveling back to. From the much-needed warmth and sunshine to the adventurous parasailing and everything in between FMB was a hit!