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Published: January 25th 2008
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Hi everyone, just to update you all on our latest travels, this time staying with our friends Susan and Tom in their fantastic home in Punta Gorda, Florida.
We left Manchester, UK and flew with Delta via Atlanta due to it being winter and the possibility of snow disruption if we had flown via New York or Boston. However, upon arriving at Atlanta it seemed they too were having their own weather problems with the snow, albeit minor and so all flights on the day we were transiting through had to be de-iced by the airport staff. This now meant we had to sit on the tarmac for around 3 hours. However, whilst sat on the aircraft, the powers that be decided that as the weather was beginning to warm up somewhat, all aircraft didn’t need to be de-iced, so we were soon on our way again. Its amazing how a supposedly 90 minute flight down to Fort Myers can be done in just over 60 minutes to make up lost time when they can try it huh?
Anyway, our bags came off and Susan and Tom greeted us which was nice. I think they were beginning to wonder where
we had got to as were some of the last off the aircraft for a couple of reasons, but lets just say Graham had ‘bathroom needs’!!
We had our bags and we were soon on our way to Punta Gorda, and a nice touch they did for us was to give us a flask with a hot drink in it……hot chocolate with mint schnappes. Wow……this perked us up after our long journey. Anyway, we were soon at their home and swiftly retired to bed to try to re-adjust our bodies to the time difference.
The morning after we felt a little more refreshed and found ourselves chatting and catching up on things since we last saw them which was September 2005. After breakfast we ventured out to take in the sights of Punta Gorda. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t being as kind as we all had hoped and it didn’t materialize to our expectations all week, but we made the most of the time we had with them.
An aim of ours while in Florida was to do some shopping and to take advantage of our great exchange rate and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in one
of their local shopping malls. We took a trip down to the Edison Mall near Fort Myers where Tracey begun her mission to find some ‘Guess’ shoes. It’s a long story which ran all week with the shoes ( as it usually is ), but eventually she picked up a couple of new pairs by the end of the week. I think poor Tom has succommed to Tracey’s shoe buying habits and after chatting realized once and for all that the following formulae applies : “shoes + women” = International habit.
We also found a NIKE outlet store not too far from Fort Myers where prices of trainers, t-shirts really is 75% off prices that we have in the UK. We soon filled several bags of all sorts of goodies and the whole lot came to £70, absolutely unbelievable. Next door to this store was a ‘GUESS’ outlet store and again, prices are horrendously cheaper than in the UK. This was generally the case wherever we shopped at and made a nice change than feeling ripped off as we generally feel in the UK.
On one of the days, we were lucky enough to be taken by Susan
and Tom on their boat out into Charlotte Harbour via the local mangroves where there is an abundant of wildlife with birds a plenty. Pelicans sitting on marker posts everywhere which was fantastic to see in all their glory. After cruising the mangroves, we had lunch at Harpoon Harrys at the Punta Gorda ‘Fishermans Village’ which is great to look around. Its best described as having small independent stores which sell unusual things that malls do not stock. Our lunch at Harpoon Harrys was excellent with a great atmosphere and a wonderful view across the water. Even at lunchtime this large restaurant had no empty tables so we had a small wait before we sat and ate. I can highly recommend the grouper fish here…yumyum.
Another restaurant we ate at was the Tarpon Lodge at Pine Island, and again food was top notch but is a more refined dining experience. Not to be missed for an amazing sunset dinner. The waitress was so friendly and helpful and this has seemed to be the case for most people we have come across in the Punta Gorda area. Pity some people in the UK cannot take a leaf out of their
book when it comes to being polite, helpful and friendly.
Susan and Tom took us on a trip down to Captiva Island, and once again we visited another restaurant called ‘The Mucky Duck’. Its actually an English themed pub where you can eat outside next to views across the beach. Afterwards we drove to Sanibel Island and collected shells in the sea and chilled out for a couple of hours before heading off again.
Lucy the cat wasn’t taking too kindly to us being in her home and made it known when Graham was petting her, and was soon on the receiving end of her hissing, unhappy cat.
Apart from a near-death experience with Lucy, our trip has been wonderful, which is perhaps an under-statement. Susan cooked some delicious meals for us and they both made us feel extremely welcome during our stay. Nothing is too much trouble for them and we couldn’t thank them enough for inviting us into their home for the week and for taking care of us.
p.s. Graham’s addiction to Reece’s peanut butter cups is yet to subside.
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