The Mound House, an island treasure

 

It sits at the end of Connecticut Street and is my favorite spot to take my coffee and journal to greet the day! No better place to catch the sunrise over the red mangroves on the back bay.

I took these photos this morning ahead of tomorrow’s interview with Events Coordinator Adam Knight at the Mound House. Being the highest point on Estero Island helped spare the 117-year-old property from too much saltwater intrusion. Most of the damage was taken by the underground museum portion, now under renovation.

The oldest home on Fort Myers Beach, its back portion, the Tudor-style villa was erected in 1906. But the shell mound it sits atop is centuries old, piled almost 20 feet high by the native Calusa people. This morning when I visited to take these photos, there was a lone fisherman pulling Spanish mackerel up onto the observation dock.

It’s a serene location to sip my coffee, gather my thoughts, meditate, journal and view the marine life. There is an active Osprey nest on a pole just behind the shoreline mangroves. I typically see a West Indian manatee or bottlenose dolphin when I’m back there.

Look for my article to appear tomorrow in the FMB Islander.