Week 9 Estero Island

I thought Estero Island Cottage was really cool! Jo, our host was a very nice, sweet, older woman.  It was amazing to see how concerned she was with the island and with the previous and potential hurricane damage.  It seems like the last devastating hurricane broke up the island greatly and created many canals.  The story about the bird Iggy was really neat to hear.  Way back in the day Iggy the bird would come right up to the house for treats and if the owner wasn’t home Iggy would go across the street for a treat!  It really shows you how close the people used to be with nature.  Even today sometimes you will see birds come right up to the back of people’s houses that live on the water.  You might even see a bird walking across the street.  Another cool thing Jo told us about was the manatees.  You used to be able to feed manatees in your own backyard! I thought it was hilarious that you had to be careful how much you fed the manatees so they would not sink!  Unfortunately, times have changed a lot though.  There is no longer as much of a small town feel to Estero.  I grew up in Lake Forest, Illinois and I am very fortunate to say I was able to visit last summer. The town has not changed much at all!!  There was still a very small town feel to it, especially when walking around downtown.  I would not take any developer’s offer to change my childhood home into condos, no matter how much I was offered!