My sister and I decided to visit my brother and his wife who live six months of the year outside of Arcadia, FL. A good friend of mine, Mary R., decided to travel with us so she could visit her parents in Port Charlotte, FL. I am just going to give the highlights of each day.
January 25: Long travel day because of taking a ‘not so direct’ route from Orlando to Port Charlotte; I will find a shorter route upon our return. We delivered Mary to her parents and journeyed to Punta Gorda where we checked into the Four Points by Sheraton, our hotel for the week. Bob, Edith, and I went to dinner @ The Oyster Bar in Fisherman’s Village (within Punta Gorda). Tomorrow we are going to going exploring.
January 26: Bob, Linda, Edith, and I went to an RV show during the morning and explored the flea market at Ft. Myers in the afternoon. In the evening, we had drinks on Bob’s patio and dinner at El Pirata Mexican Restaurant in Arcadia which had very good food. We drove back to the hotel around 9:00 pm.
January 27: Bob, Edith, and I walked the park in Arcadia this morning. All four of us went for a tour with Babcock Wilderness Adventures outside of Punta Gorda. This is 91,000 acres of farmland; we saw all the different environments and lots of animals. We started with the cattle and ranch horses and moved on to the wild turtle, turkey, deer and herons before several pools with a huge number of alligators. Great tour with an excellent guide who had a wealth of knowledge.
Friendly Alligator
Look at those horns!
Beautiful water creatures
Are we having fun yet?
We had a late lunch at Beef O’Brady’s so we made it back to our hotel in time to watch the sunset.
Cheers!
Gorgeous Sunset
January 28: We got up early for a nature cruise to Pine Island; Bob did not go with us. The lunch was excellent but we did not have enough time to eat and explore before we had to board our boat. Edith got notified by the animal shelter in Las Cruces, NM that her ‘Mama’ cat (who got lost early December) had been found so she spent time trying to make arrangements to bring Mama home. We had dinner at Bull’s Eye BBQ in Arcadia. It seems like we have been on the go since we arrived so the decision was made not to go shopping in Sarasota the next day.
January 29: After taking a walk, Edith decided to rent a car and go to New Mexico in order to retrieve Mama; she left around 2:30 pm. I walked to Fisherman’s Village (about 1.5 miles) from the hotel; went through the shops but did not see anything worth having. Linda & Bob came in for dinner; we ate at Whiskey Creek. Tomorrow we are traveling to the Atlantic Ocean.
January 30: On the way to see the Atlantic Ocean, we stopped and looked at campers. It was great to view the ocean; we walked along the beach and had fun watching Charlie (Bob/Linda’s dog) swim in the water.
Walking the beach
Charlie likes the water!
We ate at Lunker’s Sports Bar on our way back; it was very late by the time I got back to the hotel but did take the time to pack for my departure the next day.
January 31 and February 1: After checking out of the hotel, I met Mary plus her mother and sister for breakfast @ Perkins. After saying our good byes, we headed to Bobs’ where we printed out our boarding passes. Then we were on our way…heading to Orlando for an overnight stay @ Howard Johnson’s. It was an early night since we had to get up early the next morning. We were on the road to the airport by 5:30 AM. After returning the rental car and getting our bags checked, we ate breakfast. Got into Cedar Rapids by 10:00 AM and Joe, Mary’s husband, met us. Beauty and Cutie, along with myself, were glad I was home! Another good trip with great weather, lots of nice walks, and wonderful company.
