Posts Tagged With: Punta Gorda FL

Charlotte Harbor from the back of the Island Star

Punta Gorda, Florida. March 27

We are on the Gulf Coast of Florida, about 100 miles south of Tampa. This trip, 3.5 weeks long, will likely be slower paced, more relaxing than many of our trips. Today was an excellent example of that slower pace.

One shot of the feeding frenzy on the way back

We took a 2.5 hour cruise on Charlotte Harbor out of Punta Gorda to Cabbage Key, had a two hour lunch break, and returned on the same 2.5 hour cruise. So pretty much the entire day was occupied by the cruise. The water was relatively smooth and we just relaxed and enjoyed the ride and the view. I admit I might have even dozed off a few times. This was not a manatee or dolphin spotting cruise, although one dolphin did race alongside us, perform three jumps and then disappear. There was also a feeding frenzy of birds evidently attacking a school of fish. Otherwise it was just taking life easy.

Map of Charlotte Harbor with Fisherman’s Village at upper right and Cabbage Key at lower center.

Charlotte Harbor is fed by the Peace River and the Myakka River. It is shallow, usually 6-12 feet in depth. Boaters have to be careful to avoid sandbars. Part of the journey to Cabbage Key is through the Intracoastal Waterway which is dredged as necessary and marked by buoys and channel markers.

Island Inn restaurant at Cabbage Key with dollar bills hanging from the ceiling

Cabbage Key has a resort and restaurant, partially made famous by Jimmy Buffett. It also has dollar bills hanging from the ceiling of two rooms of the restaurant. Legend has it the tradition began with one customer taping a dollar bill to the ceiling way back when so that he would always have money to pay his tab. The practice has grown over the years. The ceiling in the two rooms are covered with dollar bills (of various denominations) and when they fall, they are collected and given to charity.

Several cruise boats (about 30-80 passenger size) from up and down the area land here for lunch at staggered times to spread out the business and reduce waiting times. Many of the wait staff live on the island and from overhearing one of them, the tips are very good and the isolation is well offset by the pay.

Our boat, the Island Star from King Fisher Cruises, leaves and departs from Fisherman’s Village, a combination shopping, marina, and resort. It was built on an abandoned wharf that used to house fish packing factories. Nowadays it hums with people, particularly it seems with grandparents and their grandchildren here on visits during spring break. We ate at two restaurants, had popcorn and ice cream but did no shopping.

Some of the murals in downtown Punta Gorda

After the harbor cruise, we went to downtown Punta Gorda. The city has a new Harborwalk and the community has installed about thirty murals on the walls of various buildings downtown. On our walk, we met the artist responsible for many of them as he was working on a new installation on the slanted wall of the Harborwalk underneath a highway. Murals are not his only artistic endeavor, he also paints and does digital photography.

We had also stopped to see one of his murals on two walls of the bays of the PG Fire Department. Our Evergreen hosts had specifically mentioned this location; the husband knew several of the firefighters from supervision classes he had taught at the local college. At the Fire Department offices, they said just go and look, so we did. Sure enough, the firefighter we met inside the bays knew our host and asked after him. Reinforced that knowledge that staying with Evergreeners gives you a greater local flavor of the community.

Punta Gorda was hit by Hurricane Charley in 2004, a Cat IV hurricane with winds of 150 mph. It destroyed much of the town. In effect, it was instant urban renewal. While many people suffered, particularly those in mobile home parks, 15 years later, the city has seen an influx of new housing and re-built public buildings and infrastructure. Many of the homes that were damaged, versus destroyed, were re-built. Thus, walking downtown presents a view of buildings, sidewalks and street in good repair.

We had arrived in south Florida Tuesday and landed at Fort Meyers Regional Airport. After getting the rental car and picking up a few odds and ends, we spent the balance of the afternoon at Fisherman’s Village. They have a small military history museum there, staffed by volunteers. It was heavy on uniforms and weapons but we found two different but similar interesting facts we had never previously known.

WWII playing cards with hidden escape route.

During WWII, the Red Cross was allowed to ship a very limited number of items to POWs. Playing cards and games were allowed items. The US made special playing cards that when steamed, separated to reveal an escape route map printed on the inside. Putting together the various pieces created a detailed route that could be used to reach Allied territory. The maps were created and sent to specific POW camps. On display at the museum was one such map.

The British created speical Monopoly pieces that had similar information on a silk like material that could handle being folded multiple times without tearing and fold into a very small, hideable item. Monopoly pieces also had foreign currency and a tiny magnet hidden into the board pieces. Only certain sets of Monoploy had the tools, marked by a tiny red dot on the “Free Parking” space. This ruse was not revealed until 2007. Both of these two maps were successfully used by thousands of escapees; it is estimated one-third of the escapees used the Monopoly maps.

Charlotte Harbor

Ed and Chris. March 28