 |
Mention Florida and thoughts of glitz and glamor, Walt Disney
World and bikini-strewn beaches come to mind. The Sunshine State
has places to go and things to do from dog racing to horse racing;
from race cars to alligator wrestling; from scuba diving to sailing;
from lift-offs to languid nights; from theme parks to thespians:
That's Florida! But is it? Does any of "old Florida"
still exist? Has the entire state succumbed to the lure of the
vacation dollars that come from around the world?
Not if you come to Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Islands. It's
pure Florida.
Nestled along the Gulf Coast between Sarasota and Ft. Myers,
these islands offer a respite from overcrowded and busy-as-a-bee
vacations, an escape from expensive resorts, a welcome change
from the pressures of everyday life. Community leaders boast that
life is easier, slower, friendlier and more relaxed and they aim
to keep it that way.
Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Islands consist of Punta Gorda,
Englewood Beach, Port Charlotte, Gasparilla Island, Placida, Don
Pedro Island, Boca Grande, Manasota Key, Palm Island and Cape
Haze Peninsula.
The pace is slower, the waters cleaner, the sky bluer and the hospitality is as warm as sand in the sun at any of these delightful destinations. Charlotte has a different geographic and psychographic composition from its neighbors in Sarasota or Lee Counties. Nothing here is contrived.
There are no high-tech amusement complexes; just places to relax and get to know the family better in an ecologically outstanding setting. Which isn't to say that there is nothing to do in these pleasant places. All kinds of activities are available but they come at a slower pace.
Wildlife flourishes in this peaceful setting
It isn't only the residents of the area who believe their way
of life is worth preserving. Money Magazine for two years in a
row recognized Punta Gorda, the county seat, as the best small
community in America in which to live.
Charlotte Harbor
With 219 miles of unspoiled, natural coastline, Charlotte Harbor
and its surrounding Gulf Islands is an oasis for the travel-weary
vacationer. From listening to dolphins in their natural habitat
to mountain biking with a herd of 80 bison in a wildlife setting,
it is a perfect place for a family of explorers. Charlotte Harbor,
officially explored by Ponce de Leon in 1513, was settled by the
English in 1775 and named after Queen Charlotte Sophia, wife of
King George III.
Charlotte County has 859 square miles of land and sand and water
with a population of 136,773 and a median age of 51.8.
At the confluence of the Peace and Myaka Rivers, the harbor is home to one of America's largest protected marine estuaries.
Punta Gorda
Founded in 1885 by Colonel Isaac Trabue, Punta Gorda is the county
seat for Charlotte County and was originally named Trabue simply
because the colonel wanted a town named after him. It became Punta
Gorda in 1887. Its booming turn-of-the-last-century economy included
the farming of pineapples, oranges, lemons and guava. As the county
seat, the only incorporated area in Charlotte County, Punta Gorda
boasts a population of 13,646
Some of Florida's oldest homes have been restored here. On the
Punta Gorda Historic Walking Tour you will hear many stories of
the adventures of early settlers as well as view historic sites
such as the Trabue Land Office, the Rebekah Temple where a pulpit
stands in the lodge as mute testimony to when the building was
a church.
The Goulding Home is also a favorite spot. Pete Goulding was
the accountant for the Punta Gorda Fish Company and he brought
fishermen from North Carolina to settle in the new town when fishermen
were needed.
One of the most eclectic collections of coconuts in the world
is housed in the beautifully refurbished Holiday Inn Harborside
at Punta Gorda. The collection is used for the three annual International
Coconut Races held at the Inn during the spring and fall seasons.
A course of two pool lanes is set up along the riverbank. The
object of the race is to have your coconut drift along the river
track in the quickest amount of time. Ah, yes, living is easy
in the county seat.
The town boasts four golf courses with six more across the river
in Port Charlotte.
Boca Grande
Englewood Beach
Home to thousands of sea turtles that come to pure Florida to
nest, Englewood Beach is a startling stretch of sand on Florida's
west coast. After dusk during the breeding season, female loggerheads
- turtles - nest on the beach. These large, air-breathing reptiles
inhabit tropical and sub-tropical seas.
They come ashore during the months of May and October and dig
up to seven nests and lay an average of 100 eggs per nest. The
rest of their lives are spent at sea. Members of the Turtle Division
of Charlotte's Coastal Wildlife Club (CWC) monitor these activities
and organize sea turtle nesting patrols.
Englewood also has three excellent golf courses and several wonderful
tourist inns.
Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande
A short boat ride from Captiva or Pine Island and only an hour-and-a-half
drive around Charlotte Harbor is Boca Grande, a charming turn-of-the-last-century
town on Gasparilla Island. Part of the island is in neighboring
Lee County. It was, at one time, a safe port for the rich and
famous. Founded by the wealthy Dupont family in the late 1880s,
Boca Grande is now a sweet little southern town replete with many
shops, cozy restaurants, waterside accommodations and beautiful
beaches. It has resisted change and has managed to maintain its
quaint fishing village atmosphere, despite a surge of development
around it. Members of the Boca Grande Tarpon Guides Association
provide anglers with all that is necessary for a successful day
fishing for the big ones on the wonderful waters of Charlotte
Harbor and the Gulf of Mexico. Many of the guides are third and
fourth generation local fishing captains.
Historic sites on Boca Grande include: the Gasparilla Inn, built in 1912 as a stylish resort for the upper class; Fugates, a department store owned and operated by the same family since 1915; the Old Theatre Arcade, an intriguing structure built in the 1920s to raise money for a medical clinic; Banyan Street, an enchanting street lined with the tangled limbs of banyan trees which were originally planted by founder Peter Bradley and provide a huge, leafy, airy, natural tunnel along the avenue; and the Coast Guard Lighthouse near the southern tip of the island.
Accommodations vary from an inn built on stilts over the water to rustic cottages on State Park land to RV parks to tropical island waterfront settings, some accessible only by boat, and all situated where white sand beaches stretch along shores lined with exotic seashells.
Don Pedro Island
Don Pedro Island is also part of the extensive chain of barrier
islands extending along the Gulf Coast. The island has a mile
of sandy beach that has been acquired by the state for recreation,
typical of the philosophy in the entire area which is to preserve
the natural beauty of Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Islands. Don
Pedro also has loggerhead sea turtles coming ashore to nest. The
beach provides year-round swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, sunbathing
and shelling. The elevated sand dune is covered with protected
sea oats on the Gulf side while the bay side is bordered with
mangrove trees.
Docks are available for boating visitors on the bay side via a
channel from the Intracoastal Waterway south of the Cape Haze
powerline crossing. Don Pedro Island is accessible only by boat
or ferry.
Dolphin expeditions in Charlotte Harbor include an underwater microphone attached to a long cord, an adapter and an amplifier so you can actually hear dolphins "conversing." You will learn that they don't just chatter like Flipper but articulate with an astounding number sounds. In the Babcock Wilderness Adventures area, a wildlife habitat six times the size of Manhattan Island, you can actually cycle down a trail and gaze at a herd of buffalo. It is like entering a time warp back to the wild west of the 1800s. You can cycle or horseback through a variety of habitats from open prairies to pine flatwoods, see oak hammocks and cypress swamps.
This is Florida in its natural state, unhurried, unspoiled and undeniably beautiful, where alligators, bisons and panthers still roam the cypress swamps and untouched wilderness, where osprey and bald eagles soar along the white sand beaches, where pinewoods and red mangroves fringe waters teeming with tripletail, redfish and tarpon.
This is Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Islands
.