My field trip to downtown Ft. Myers was absolutely my favorite field trip of my University Colloquium class. I have lived in Naples, Florida my entire life and I have visited downtown Ft. Myers many times; however, I have never learned as much about Ft. Myers' history until this field trip. I learned about the ships Nina and Pinto (yes, the ones Christopher Columbus sailed on) and got to see replicas of them. Here are some pictures I was able to take of them:
I also learned some more about Thomas Edison, the man of the
millennium who had a winter home in Ft. Myers. For instance, did you know over
the course of his lifetime he collected 1,069 patents? Crazy, right! He patented
everything after his idea of a stock ticker was stolen from him right out from
under his hands. Among his many patents are his inventions of the light bulb, phonograph,
and movie. Also, he was surprisingly friends with Henry Ford, the founder of
the Ford Motor Company, and Harvey Firestone, the godfather of tires. The
Uncommon Friends statue resides in Centennial Park representing the camping
trips Edison took with his unlikely friends.
My favorite statues in Centennial Park is the statue of the
buffalo solider Sgt. Claymore. It is my favorite statue because it honors the
African Americans that fought during the Civil War at Fort Myers. They
sacrificed their lives so that their kin could gain freedom. At the time it was
uncommon to honor African Americans and I think that is what makes the statue
so beautiful and inspiring. Also, I think it is funny that the artist decided
to name the buffalo solider Sgt. Claymore because he said that the statue continuously
required more and more clay. Here is a picture of Sgt. Claymore:
There were many things I enjoyed about my field trip to
downtown Ft. Myers but my favorite thing and by far the most delicious was the
pizza we got at the end. Unfortunately I do not have picture of it because it
was gone before I thought of taking one! Yummy!
Word Count: 360
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