Although I’m a Detroiter at heart, I love love love to travel any chance I get. Recently, my girlfriends and I decided to take a last minute, post-heartbreak vacation to Fort Myers, Florida. Little did we know that this trip would change our outlook on life. Let’s be real here, breakups suck. They’re not fun and most of the time they cause us to drift further away from all the good things that life has to offer. So the trip didn’t start off well – we left crying and angry, to say the least.

Our plan was to enjoy ourselves and drink the entire week we were there. Which we ended up doing. Shortly after our arrival, we settled into our hotel and rode the bus into downtown Fort Myers. This is where the beach is, along with all the awesome shops and restaurants. We ended up stumbling upon a restaurant that had just opened up right on the beach, named Sunset Beach Tropical Grill & The Playmore Tikki Bar. This bar sits right on the beach – I mean right on it. We actually passed the place a few times, not noticing it was open from the street – it looked bare.

The bar across the street had told us to be sure to check out Sunset for happy hour. So we did, and we never left. All week we visited this bar, making friends with all of the bartenders as well as people from all over the world. We sang drunken karaoke and ate the best island food I’ve ever tasted. Happy hour here is every Monday-Friday from 3pm-5pm – and a happy couple of hours it was.

One afternoon, after we spent a couple hours walking along the beach, we stopped in for happy hour and a bite to eat. At this point during our trip, we had gotten pretty comfortable with the staff, and we walked around the bar barefoot, inviting people to drink with us, and ended up doing karaoke. This was the day everything changed for me. This was the day my eyes were opened to new experiences. This was the day I decided that I wasn’t going to mope around anymore – that I was going to make something of my life one way or another. And that’s exactly what I did.

Fort Myers – John the Bartender PIC: JJ

I’m sure the sight of good looking people had something to do with my epiphany. Particularly one of the bartenders, whose name was John. He was an attractive man. He was also very funny and kept giving us free drinks. I think  it was partially because my friends and I are very easy to serve when we go out, we know what we want and we keep ordering the same thing. Sunset being a pretty busy place, I think that he just kept refilling our drinks to keep things going smoothly. That, or because I was flirting with him the entire time I was there.

Fort Myers – Beach Food PIC: JJ

In this picture you’ll see my Mango Habanero Island Chicken Wings complimented by my Rum, Pineapple, and Cherry Juice. What beach bum doesn’t love rum? It’s my go-to beach drink! I must say there was more drinking at Sunset than eating, but both were very satisfying. Satisfying enough for us to stop in every single day for seven days straight. Not to mention they have really attractive bartenders (Shoutout to my new friend Jessie!)

Fort Myers – Beach Bum PIC: JJ

All in all, I would say that this was a trip well taken. I left not really wanting to go, and returned loving myself more than ever. I learned new things, tried new things, experienced new things and met new people. That to me is the best part about traveling. When you actually get to meet new people, expand your knowledge of the world and learn about local culture, like Florida artist Matt C Godwin. There’s so much more to life.

Fort Myers PIC: JJ

I have grown so attached to Fort Myers since my last visit. I encourage everyone to go there if they get the chance. It’s a wonderful place to adventure and escape the day-to-day tribulations that life can throw at you. The people here are more than friendly and the sun is always shining, what more could you ask for?