Florida SouthWestern State College

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 4 months ago I was at Florida SouthWestern State College (#FSW) in Fort Myers – specifically at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. It’s 1 of the 2 main venues (along with Hertz Arena) where Southwest Florida goes to attend events, shows, and concerts. I’ve been to 8 concerts at the #BBMANNPAH since 2011. It’s a nice place to enjoy an entertainer.

Well now there’s a 3RD main venue to go see a show in #SWFL. Located within eyesight – literally the next big parking lot over – is the newish (built in 2015 and 2016) Suncoast Credit Union Arena. It can hold up to 3,500 people during basketball games. This past weekend I attended my very first show there. It’s a nice arena. I sat in the front-most section (116) to the right of the end-stage.

Leaving the parking lot was a massive confusing debacle with more than a thousand vehicles all pulling out of their respective parking spaces and trying to squeeze out onto the main roads all at the same time. Naturally I parked in an awkward parking space. It’s a miracle that I managed to slide out of it. Otherwise I would’ve waited for a long while. (Some did just that. They just sat in their car and watched the endless parade of vehicles crawl out of the parking lot.)

The Fort Myers area is about 100 miles (2 hours) away from my new home inland near Sebring. I’ll continue to look southwest for shows that I wish to attend; although, I am scaling back the number of concerts that I’ll be purchasing and attending in order to cut expenses overall in my new life as a soon-to-be retiree.

Next #TravelThursday – Let’s take the 80. Let’s keep traveling together.