A trip to Downtown Fort Myers

Visiting downtown Fort Myers was a really cool experience for me, especially seeing the side that our Professor showed us. I really enjoyed walking through the museum and seeing the side of history that went down in Fort Myers. I had no idea there was so much historical information and different culture and lifestyles in the city I presently live in. I really thought it was so interesting because it was like walking along a life like time line and learning facts about everything that happened during each period. I saw some things in that museum that I had never even seen before or ever learned about. One thing in particular that caught my eye was the tools made by the Indians and other settlers to defend themselves. They would take strong sticks and tie large pointed shells to the end and it was a resourceful tool and weapon. The museum also had on display some of the spears the settlers and Indians made and successfully used as weapons. I always read about objects like this in different history classes but actually being able to see a real one was really neat, it really brought the history to life. Our colloquium professor knew so much about all the history and the tour so he taught it to us from a perspective we would understand and relate too so he could keep us interested. Another really cool artifact I saw while in the museum was called an “Iron Lung.” I didn’t really know what it was but it was nothing I had ever seen before so I googled some information on it. An iron lung is a machine that enables a person to breathe when normal muscle control has been lost or the work of breathing exceeds the person's ability. It is a form of medical ventilator that was first used back in the 1920’s. 

As our trip was coming to an end, and we were walking our way back to the bus, we find out that our bus has broken down and another bus would arrive in about 30 minutes to pick us up. I was sitting with a couple of my peers at the picnic tables when one of them pointed out a hawk that had swooped down and picked up a baby bird. Talk about watching a live food chain, it was so cool to see the predator just come down and take its prey. Overall it was a great trip and learning experience. I definitely want to go back to downtown and see more of it, and visit the Thomas Edison house. Isn’t it cool to know Fort Myers was once home to somebody really famous who invented so many useful things? I think it’s something to brag about. 

 

Hawk with Prey

 

 Thomas Edison's Fort Myers Home

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_lung