Punta Gorda

Wow!  A whole 5 WEEKS in one place!!  That’s a record.  We had only intended on staying a weekend so we could catch up with our friends on Lab Partners.  Staying a week was cheaper and it was a beautiful marina – so why not!  Then we discovered the weather was going to be too rough to travel the following week, and a month was cheaper than 2 weeks!  Beth and Rip on Lab Partners were already scheduled to stay for the month and we met new Loopers, Ethan and Tammi on Liberty that were also staying for the month.  Ethan and Tammi and Ethan taught us to play Pickle ball and we were in love   It is kind of a cross between tennis and Ping-Pong. It is played on a tennis court that has been modified to about a third of the normal size.  The ball is a whiffle ball and the paddle more like a large ping-pong paddle.  It’s not nearly as tiring as tennis but still works up a good sweat.
Between Pickle Ball, docktails, potlucks, and touring, 5 weeks flew by.  We had to say goodbye to Rip, Beth, and their dog Callie, when they sold Lab Partners.  They went home to North Carolina to buy a smaller, trailer-able boat and will continue their loop next year.  Hopefully they will be able to drive to Southport to celebrate crossing our wake with us!  We will miss their company and our daily walks with Callie.
While saying goodbye is one of the hardest parts of the Loop, saying hello to old friends is one of the best!  Eddy and Linda Johnsen on Spiritus arrived a few weeks before we left.  Linda flew out to help her mom through eye surgery so we had fun having Eddy over for dinner and teaching him to play chicken foot!  What a joy when Linda came back and the four of us had breakfast together. 
We rented a car a couple of times to tour other areas we did not take the boat to because of the weather.  Be sure and check out my blog posts on Ringling and the Everglades.  We also visited our sister ship – Frydaze in Longboat Key.  It is another Monk 42 and was so nice to see some of the different ways to use some of the areas of the boat.  Betsy and Dave are a lovely couple we will look forward to seeing again!  We also met up with Ed and Sue on Angel Louise in Ft. Meyer and went out to dinner at Ford Garage. 
We even rode bicycles while we were there!  The marina offers them for free – including helmets and a lovely path that follows the shoreline.  We rode a couple of times and while I’m not good – at least I didn’t fall off!  Sorry – no pictures!
Here are some of our highlights of the month:
Juan Ponce De Leon – the first Spanish explorer to arrive in Florida in 1513 near St. Augustine.  In 1521 he tried to settle Punta Gorda (Fat Point) but was chased off by the Indians.  He was struck by a poisoned arrow and later died of his wounds.


While Punta Gorda definitely has history from WAY back, it also has some fairly current remembrances.  Hurricane Charley hit the town pretty hard August 14, 2004.  The town built this memorial to the occasion: The bent tree symbolizes the wind which stopped the town clock at 4:29 PM, the tall tree represents the people standing tall to overcome.

The more current hurricane to hit was Irma, last fall while we were still in the rivers.  There is still a lot of damage waiting to be repaired.  Paper work that the city must jump through takes everything much longer to get things fixed.  Many docks as well as this sea wall are still unusable.  The damage here occurred when the high water that had topped the wall, was sucked back out to the bay.  The enormous pressure of the water behind the wall tried to take the wall with it!

These are the twin bridges going over to Port Charlotte.  We walked by these on the way to the Pickle Ball courts.

There is a terrific Scuba shop in Punta Gorda with prices better than Amazon!  We got all of our snorkel gear there including my face mask with corrective lens.  Everything is so much nicer than it was 40 years ago when we learned to scuba dive!


ONE of the outdoor bars/restaurants.  Notice the green thatched roof behind the smaller one (it turned brown while we were there) – its an open air building for events.  Our friends got to watch this one being built in only a few days.


There was a farmer’s market every Saturday.  Mostly craft/prepared foods but there were 3 veggie/fruit stands that were magnificent.  Oranges, pineapple, grapefruit, and even mushrooms (from the west coast ).
The trees were decorated for the holidays with fancy knitted scarves.



A unique shop here is the wine/chocolate shop.  They have wine tasting every Saturday and showcase a different company from around the world.


The chocolates are made right here and are a feast for the eye as well as the tongue!


One of the short trips we took was to Ft. Meyers where we visited the Manatee Park.  We didn’t see any up close other than this fellow.


We did, however attend a free seminar on the manatee and learned much new info on the “sea cow”.  They resemble physically, a cow (four stomachs), an elephant (trunk like nose), and their flipper bones look like a very large human hand!  They even have finger nails.  I wish our teeth grew like theirs.  As the molars wear down (you try eating your food covered in sand and shells!) they are replaced by new ones coming in from the back. It’s kind of like a conveyer belt!


We didn’t see much of the actual manatees in the water but did catch one’s nose coming up for air.

Spied this sculpture of Don Quixote in Ft. Meyers.


The social life of Punta Gorda was active. 
We had potlucks:


Celebrations (successful sale of Lab Parnters)


Pizza parties (Thursdays were 1/2 price!):


And dog walking (can you tell it was COLD????):

Beth and Callie from Lab Partners

With all the food (and docktails) it’s a good thing we learned Pickle Ball and bike riding or we would have gained 20 pounds!
Bob reminded me that this blog is not only for our family and friends as home, but it is our memories as well, so here are our Punta Gorda friends and their boats!

Beth and Rip Tyler on Lab Partners, so sad when they sold the boat but we look forward to their new adventures on Lab Partners 2.0.

Ethan and Tammi Barnett (she was at her mom’s when I took the picture – you owe me one Tammi ) on Liberty – our Pickle Ball instructors and we taught them Jokers!

Eddy (of Eddy’s Weather Wag – our go to guy for Gulf weather) and Linda on Spiritus.

The sweet thank you note Linda sent me (can you tell she’s crafty?) 

Angie and Gary Karges on Unruly – our dock buddies!

Tom and Connie Jo Rogers on rPad – an adorable 30 ft. motorcat.

Mike Hamilton on Tempus Fugit wasn’t a Looper but so much fun.  His was the first Rosborough we’d seen, which is the kind of boat Rip and Beth are buying (not Mike’s though)

George and Catalina organized a hot dog and beer party for Super Bowl Sunday. They are snow birds from up north.

George’s super bowl hotdog/beer party. (I made baked beans).


I didn’t get a picture of Mary and Mark on their boat but they are wanna be Loopers.  They come down to their boat every month for 10 days with their daughter who is in a wheelchair.  We pray they can make their dream come true some day, meanwhile, we were all happy to share our experiences and love with them.


We also had a nice visit from Audrey Chase (Olympia) who was here to visit her boyfriend, Dustin.


And I can’t leave out our friendly neighborhood Egret!


And we can’t leave without a COUPLE houses!


As the sun sets on our time in Punta Gorda we are sad to say goodbye but know more adventures as well as new and old friends await…


Docked in Punta Gorda – Laishley Marina – Dec. 20, 2017-Feb. 5, 2018

Ringling

Another side trip we took was to Sarasota to visit the Ringling Museum.  I’ve always loved the circus and this trip filled in a lot of history to what I’ve seen in person and in movies.  For those of you who may not know, there were 5 Ringling brothers who fell in love with the circus when it came to their town and they practiced different acts and musical instruments, putting on larger and larger shows as they grew.  They each developed different skills in running the circus as it grew larger and larger.  John Ringling became the advance man, arranging places to perform, advertising, arranging food for both people and animals.  During his life he purchased most of the traveling circuses in America, including Barnum and Bailey, and truly became “The Greatest Show on Earth”. As the circus prospered, John invested in railroads, real estate, and oil, eventually becoming one of the wealthiest men in the US. He and his wife, Mabel, loved Sarasota, and built their winter home there on the water.  They wanted to do something for the town they loved so they arranged to build an art museum to house their large collection for the town to enjoy.  Sadly, Mabel died only 3 years after their beautiful home was finished and the stock market crash in 1929 nearly destroyed John’s empire.  He died in 1936 of pneumonia and left his house, lands and museum to the state of Florida (they had no children). 

We were not allowed to take pictures in the house but here are some from the exterior.

The house was named Ca’D’Zan – or House of John in Venetian.  They loved the Italian style and built their home to match.  Mabel chose all the materials, decorations and furnishings herself.  It is a work of art.

The window panes were a variety of colored glass that would create a mosaic on the floor when the sun streamed through.

The deck.

The dock where their 125-foot yacht picked up their guests for a ride.

Statues grace the grounds of Ca’d’Zan throughout the estate.

Aside from the gorgeous home and extensive art museum, there is a circus museum that we could have spent a lot more time in.  There were actual cage wagons that carried the animals, a miniature of the entire circus, a room where you could try out some of the skills a performer used, and a film that explained John’s career.

When the circus started traveling by train, John had his own car designed for he and Mabel.  The circus took 100 cars to move the whole show.

They traveled all over the eastern US

The entourage consisted of not only the performers, but all the people to support the circus: cooks, animal handlers, musicians, blacksmiths, and even wood carvers, and artists to build and decorate the wagons. In the early days, advertising consisted of the a parade driving through town with a band on top of a wagon drawing attention to the animals and special acts.  The wagon weighed over 8 tons and was pulled by 40 black horses.

I think the most impressive part of the museum for me was the miniature circus.  Like a miniature railroad, everything is to scale with detail beyond imagination!

Here is a portion of the grounds.  The big top is out of sight to the right.

Practicing before their turn to perform.

The dressing tent – men on one side, women on the other and prop preparation in the middle.

Before we “enter” the big top, we see the side shows.

Check your bicycle here

The midway was truly that – midway between the side show – (separate entrance fee) and the big top. 

We finally get to enter the “Big Top”!

Well, maybe not!  First we go through the menagerie.

Almost there – but what does Mom always ask before you go somewhere?

Do you need to use the bathroom?

Finally – the Big Top!

Of course the biggest tent on the grounds, it took just 4 hours to raise: 6 center poles, 74 quarter poles, 122 sidewall poles, 550 stakes, and 26,000 yards of canvas. The pounding of the stakes involves a ballet of men each swinging their mallet with precision timing.  Heaven help the one who misses!

Performances inside the big top were amazing sights.  At any given moment you could see acts taking place in three rings, four stages, round the outside track, and in the air above the rings.  In 1926, the program lasted about two and a half hours without intermission (aren’t you glad you stopped at the bathroom?).  The shows included more than 800 artists performing in 22 displays.  You couldn’t possibly see it all!

The big top could hold up to 15,000 people.  If all the seats were taken they would spread out straw for the children to sit on.  These are the kids not lucky enough to get tickets.

A few other sites around the grounds – where the public were not allowed:

The headliner stars got to have their family with them in a tent.  Here is “family life” on the road.

Besides the show horses, the circus had about 400 work horses.  When the train arrived in town – around 3AM - the horses were used to haul the wagons to the chosen lot (usually adjacent to the railway), and help raise the tent poles and canvas.  Then they would rest while the circus preparations went on around them.  While the circus was performing, the horses would start their evening jobs – starting with pulling down the cookhouse and dining tent. Before the evening performance was done, these were loaded on the railway cars and were on to their next venue to start all over again!