Fort Myers Beach visitors embrace chilly weather

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. —

As temperatures drop near Fort Myers Beach, visitors from colder states are embracing the mild weather, while locals prepare for the chill.

Charlene and Mike Kesller, visiting from Tennessee, advise those unaccustomed to the chilly weather to "just bundle up, wear layers. And it's easily survivable."

Melissa Nelson, who arrived in January from Missouri, is enjoying the beach with her grandchildren from Ohio.

"You know, we got down here in January from Missouri, or I call it Mizzzzzzzoriiiii, but this is a lot nicer," she said. "So this is not cold to us because we saw below zero, and we had like ten inches in November. And so this is like paradise to us. But yes, we see people walking around with their coats on and their heavy fleece jackets, and I just have a lightweight jacket on today, but they don't."

Noah Vanlandingham, a Florida native, expressed his surprise at the cold.

"I have a puffer jacket at home. I have lived here my entire life. It is so cold. And, I just got a bunch of jackets, and I got a jacket on today. It's like 68 degrees out here today. I'm ready for the cold, Sunday morning and might be some snow in the Tampa area. That's insane," he said.

Despite the chill, Vanlandingham, who works at a snow cone truck along Fort Myers Beach, is ready to serve visitors.

Michael Agnew, preparing to return to Philadelphia, said, "I'll tell you the number one thing on my mind is the snow that's going to be piled on my car back in Philadelphia."

Donald McFarland and Dennis Shields, visiting from Michigan, are hopeful for a warm weekend.

"Well, hopefully we can, maybe even get in the water this weekend, play some golf. Yeah, who knows?" McFarland said.

Tiffany Clegg, from Indiana, shared her advice for dealing with cold weather.

"Oh, well, in Indiana, we just hit the automatic start and we let it run twice, which is a total of 30 minutes before it shuts back off. Then you get in it and it's ready to go," Clegg said.

Despite the cold, visitors and locals alike are finding ways to enjoy the beach and its attractions.

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