Fort Myers Offshore Overcomes The Gray For Turkey Day Fun Run – Speed on the Water

From watching college football with a turkey sandwich in one hand and a cold beverage in the other to braving aggressive Black Friday shopping crowds, almost everyone has a post-Thanksgiving Day tradition. For the members of Fort Myers Offshore group in Southwest Florida, that means a late-morning lunch run to Village Brewhouse on Fisherman’s Island in Punta Gorda.

And that was exactly what 32 members of the nonprofit, scholarship-fundraising organization and their friends did last Friday while recovering from their mild L-tryptophan-induced lethargy.

Conditions weren’t ideal for the 2023 Fort Myers Offshore Turkey Run, but 32 club members and their guests made the best of it. Photos by Rudy Torres copyright Exotic Motive.

But the fun was almost over before it started as their destination became something of a gray area the night before the run thanks to the upcoming Saturday Michigan versus Ohio State football game.

“We had a bit of a scare the night before the running with the restaurant claiming they thought we would arrive at 11 a.m. and not noon,” explained Tim Hill, the president of Fort Myers Offshore. “Citing a ‘big football game’ on Saturday, we were told they could not reserve the inside bar and restaurant. But within a few hours we had that worked out.

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Enjoy more images from last Friday’s Fort Myers Offshore event.

“There aren’t many places left after Ian Hurricane with enough dock space for 20 boats, much less 50 to 100 boats,” he added. “So the Village Brew House at Fisherman’s Village has been a saving grace for post-Ian Fort Myers Offshore events.”

Equally gray on the morning of the run were the skies, which were accompanied by a steady Northeast breeze. Yet the group opted to run outside rather than in the protected waters of the Intracoastal Waterway. Despite whitecaps broadsiding the fleet in the Gulf of Mexico, everyone made it to Village Brewhouse unscathed.

Despite what first appeared to be a significant hitch in the club’s Turkey Day Fun Run plans, Hill again praised the venue for its flexibility and hospitality.

“The Village Brewhouse has been a longtime supporter of Fort Myers Offshore,” he said. “They are looking forward to welcoming us back for our Holiday Fun Run on Saturday, December 30.”