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a mom and her 2 daughters play mini golf

Kara Matthews – Five Generations of Family Time in Fort Myers

Published: 06/16/2023  |  Updated: 04/28/2025

Longtime visitor Kara Matthews has been coming to the Fort Myers area since she was 5 months old, starting when she came to visit her great-grandmother. Nowadays, Matthews brings her two young daughters to visit her mother who has since moved to the area. 

“I wanted to share the Fort Myers area with my family because it’s an area I loved while growing up,” Matthews says. “We’re the fifth generation of women to come down here as a family, and I’m so glad my girls can come down here and see their grandma. We have special family memories together.”

While Matthews is most connected to the neighborhood in Fort Myers where her mother lives, she often brings her kids to a variety of places throughout the region. They might spend a day at Bonita Beach to play in the sand and have lunch, visit the Miromar Outlets to shop and explore the WINK Playland that offers some welcome shade, or put their putting skills to the test at PopStroke, a mini-golf course designed Tiger Woods. 

“My Fort Myers is spending quality time with my family, and of course we always get ice cream when we’re in town. It just tastes better down here.”

Matthews’ 10-year-old daughter, Kinsley, chimes in that she’s a big fan of riding in her grandma’s golf cart and collecting seashells on the beach — but swimming with her family every day probably tops it all. Her 7-year-old sister, Brynn, agrees!

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