We used to drive to Ft. Myers to visit family at least once a year. My mother had a Pontiac station wagon, and I loved to sit in the very back and to bury myself under the back seat, folding it down on top of me like it was a coffin. Heh. Anywho, I remember the first time we drove over that bridge after the accident. My mother, who was very big on driving all the way from Jackson to Ft. Myers without stopping to sleep, made it to that bridge and made my teenaged brother drive over it. She rarely to never allowed anyone else to drive her. But she did this one time. I buried myself in the back and prayed. It was the middle of the night and foggy just as I imagined it to be when the accident occurred.
We drove over the remaining bridge other times, and I have been afraid of bridges ever since. When my mother and I made the long drive to Ft. Myers in later years, we would take 75 in order to avoid the bridge and the zillion stoplights between st. Pete and Ft. Myers. I will never forget the drop off at the top of that bridge. I will have nightmares now after reading and responding to this thread. I did drive over that bridge alone one time when I was on Christmas vacation from Bama one year. It was very late, and I prayed the whole way over. Lol. Obviously, I made it.
Hubby makes fun of me for my bridge phobia. We went to Mackinaw several times, and that bridge is no fun when the wind is 35 to 54 mph gusting. We had to drive over at 10 or 15 mph. /shiver
“the zillion stoplights between st. Pete and Ft. Myers.”
I recall it used to take 7 hours to go from Tampa to Naples via that route.
I’ve never been across it. Maybe I should make a trip down there just for the hell of it. I wanna know what it’s like.