Every regional library has its own merits. I enjoyed the quiet courtyard in my Marietta GA branch…read more Our library in Ardmore PA lends three-day museum passes (which I take full advantage of!) And the library in North Fort Myers has a section I love: "Read and Return." Unsure what this is, the librarian explained that they're books that one borrows without checking out. "Take as long as you'd like to read them," she said. "A good resource for snowbirds who may or may not bring the books back," she added. As a snowbird myself -- who returned books on my quick trip back to FL this week -- I'm a fan of this section. There are some good reads, and to keep the shelves stocked, I donate books that others might enjoy.

This is a lovely branch of the library. The facility is super modern with lots of places to sit,…read moreread, study and work. As one would expect, the library is quiet and there are multiple study carrels where you can set up a laptop and use their free wifi and power for a while. The wifi does not have any registration. The facility is roomy and airy with neatly organized shelves of books, magazines and other media. Masks are encouraged but not required. They also have a contactless pickup where you can reserve books online and the library will bring them out to you in your car. Note that you do not need to be a North Fort Myers resident to use the library. It is open to all, though only local residents can borrow materials. [Review 16780 overall - 1505 in Florida - 293 of 2022.]

Y'all. Support your local libraries. I've been scouring the internet for historical information…read moreabout the building we live in. I asked the librarian for help and we weren't able to find the exact document I wanted in the reference section. So I'm sitting in the back, looking at some other files. The librarian came back with an article he found and printed. In large text. Answering the exact question I asked. I could honestly cry. So grateful!

This library is clean and has a great selection of books and computers for people for use.read more

This blue box with the shingle roof is located in the Four Mile Cove Ecological Park and is next to…read morethe start of the boardwalk through the preserve. The box has a single door and two shelves. Mostly hardcovers today and the Patterson book was the one that caught my eye. Mom had never seen a LFL before and was amazed at the concept of leave a book / take a book. She took the "All the Light We Cannon See" for reading on the plane tomorrow. This is charter number 16938 and there is not a steward published. The online caption reads, "The bright blue Free Little Library houses books for all ages. The library is located in a beautiful ecological park which is also home to many military monuments. You can walk the boardwark through wetlands, enjoy the visitor center, pay your respects to veterans while you visit the monuments. Take a book, and share a book before you depart the park!" [Review 15831 overall - 1408 in Florida - 1335 of 2021.]

Southwest Florida Military Museum has been relocated from Cape Coral to Fort Myers Edison Mall's…read moreformer Disney Store. The space in Cape Coral was bigger but the new location will have more traffic and visitors. This store means a lot for those have served. Browsing or walking through the museum can take you back in time from Civil War to Afghanistan evacuation. The exhibit is little crowded but tell a big story. It is more than Korean War but all wars. The goal of the museum not just bring together the past and the present but honor those who served. Pictures of Recent service members killed in Afghanistan evacuation was on display. I enjoyed the visit and if you in Edison Mall, please stop by to give thanks and honor to those who served. The admission is free but give a donation or purchase some gift items to support this operation!

This marker is just south of the bridge as you enter Punta Gorda from Port Charlotte. There is…read moreparking nearby. It has the same text on both sides. It reads, "The Punta Gorda Bank was operating by June 1894 as a branch of the State Bank of Fort Meade. It was chartered by the state as a separate bank in July 1899, with a capital of $15,000 and Perry Wadsworth McAdow as president. McAdow had earned a fortune as the owner of the Spotted Horse gold mines in Fergus County, Montana, and decided to relocate to Punta Gorda after vacationing here with his wife. McAdow constructed a one-story, brick facade commercial building on this location to house the bank. The Punta Gorda Bank occupied the corner storefront, with Earnest Dry Goods, the Punta Gorda Trading Company, Wade's Drug Store and a community social hall known as McAdow Hall filling the remainder of the building. "By December 1912, the bank's assets had grown to $147,000, and a competing bank, The Merchant's Bank of Punta Gorda, opened in April of 1912. The Punta Gorda Bank underwent some years of uncertainty, and on April 23, 1917 was reorganized as the State Bank of Punta Gorda. The new bank assumed the deposits and liabilities of the old Punta Gorda Bank and was relocated to a new building." What the marker doesn't say outright is how deeply the McAdow family shaped the look and feel of early Punta Gorda. Perry Wadsworth McAdow arrived with serious wealth, but it was his wife, Clara, who left an equally lasting mark. She was an avid horticulturalist, and according to the Babcock Ranch historical timeline, she took it upon herself to beautify downtown Punta Gorda with plantings and landscaping that softened what had been a rough frontier town. There is no number on the marker. It was erected in 2008 by the Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners. [Review 1583 of 2025 - 2164 in Florida - 25133 overall]

This marker sits quietly at the edge of the Isles Yacht Club parking lot, tucked between the modern…read moremarina and the curve of the Peace River, and it does a good job of reminding you that Punta Gorda's waterfront once looked very different. Before the canals, before the yacht slips, and long before the city became a boating community, this shoreline was the terminus of a railroad that pushed as far south as any tracks in the United States at the time. The Florida Southern Railway chose this spot because deep water came close to shore, making it one of the few places on the lower Gulf Coast where railcars and steamships could meet without elaborate dredging. The marker reads, "On this site, in 1887, ended the southernmost railroad trackage in the U.S. Florida Southern Railway's narrow-gauge tracks ran out on a 4,000 foot "Long Dock," where connections were made to New Orleans, Key West, and Havana steamers of the Morgan Line. Sailing schooners and paddle wheelers were a common sight. Governor Albert Waller Gilchrist, then a young civil engineer, was in charge of construction. The railroad was extended South in 1904." It is marker number F-114 and it was erected in 1964 by the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials in cooperation with Punta Gorda Isles, Inc. Today the dock is long gone, but standing by the sign you can still imagine the clatter of railcars rolling out over the water and the steamers waiting to carry Punta Gorda's cargoes across the Gulf. [Review 111 of 2026 - 2232 in Florida - 25301 overall]

Visiting friends and made this stop to pay tribute. This is an incredible free historical…read moreremembrance and is worth the time to visit while in Cape Coral. The facts and events are provided in the signage and various items at the site.

If you have ever visited Cape Coral it is likely you have seen this majestic memorial to the United…read moreStates Marine Corps. You can find the Iwo Jima Monument also known as the U. S. Marine Corps War Memorial as soon as you cross the Midpoint Memorial Bridge that connects Fort Myers to Cape Coral. It resides on the southern edge of Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve. Iwo Jima is a small island located 660 miles south of Tokyo. During WWII it was the site of a fierce 36 day battle between the United States and Japan. The monument is a 20-foot statue that depicts five Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman raising the American flag on 560-foot Mount Suribachi, the highest point on Iwo Jima during the American victory over Japan in WWII. The statue is one of three originals that were created by sculptor Felix de Weldon. He was moved to create the sculpture after viewing AP photographer Joe Rosenthal's Pulitizer Prize-winning picture of the actual flag raising that took place on February 19, 1945. After creating the mock up for the sculpture, he shared it with then Vice President Harry Truman. In September 1954 the same statue was installed outside the Arlington National Cemetery on the southern shores of the Potomac River. The Cape Coral monument created in 1964 is one third the size of the one in Arlington Cemetery. The Iwo Jima Monument is made out of concrete pouted over rebar and steel. It depicts Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon, Pfc. Ira Hayes, Pharmacist Mate Second Class John Bradley, Pfc. Harlon Block, Sergeant Mike Strank and Pfc. Franklin Sously. Block, Strank and Sously died within days of the flag raising in combat on the IJM 5 northern end of the island. De Weldon sculpted them using their photographs and measurements. Hayes was was wounded but survived a mortar attack. Also surviving were Gagnon and Bradley. The monument stands in tribute to all Marines who have died in action since 1777. The Cape Coral Monument was commissioned by Gulf American Corporation for the Rose Garden, Cape Coral's first tourist attraction. Julius and Leonard Rosen who owned the Gulf American Corporation were the developers for Cape Coral. The Rose Garden had 40,000 rose bushes, animals, statues, landscaping, and shows to attract people to visit and hopefully buy homes in Cape Coral. The attraction closed in 1970 and the statues including the Iwo Jima Monument were left abandoned. A bank took possession and hired noted local sculptor D.J. Wilkins to restore it. In 1998, the statue was moved to its permanent home in the Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve. Wilkins and his team did another extensive restoration on the statue on 2011 after it was damaged by Hurricane Charley in 2004. The monument was re-dedicated on February 25, 2012, the first Saturday following the 67th anniversary of the actual flag raising on February 19, 1945. In front of the monument is historic marker F-836 erected in 2014 by The City of Cape Coral and the Florida Department of State. Today the statue is in like new condition and is a source of pride for the veterans and those who honor them in the community.

The Ponce de Leon marker in Punta Gorda sits quietly inside the park that shares his name, a small…read morehistorical pause tucked between the shoreline and the steady flow of visitors heading toward the beach. The nearby statue, dressed in stylized conquistador armor and feathered plumage, feels like an artist's attempt to give shape to a figure who exists more in legend than in certainty, and it adds a bit of theatrical flair to an otherwise simple presentation. The brief marker reads, Juan Ponce de Leon. Born - San Tierra de Campos, Palencia, Spain - 1460. Died - Havana, Cuba - (probably Mid-June) - 1522. Interred - Entombment beneath the high altar of the Dominican Cathedral of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Epitaph to Ponce de Leon 'Beneath this stone repose the bones of the valiant Lion whose deeds surpassed the greatness of his name.'" What makes the stop interesting is the contrast between the local setting and the truth. Visitors might assume that a park named for Ponce de Leon would also be his resting place. His tomb is in the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Standing there among the palms and the soft Gulf breeze, the marker becomes less about claiming him and more about acknowledging the long arc of his story, grounding a familiar name in its real history. [Review 109 of 2026 - 2230 in Florida - 25299 overall]