Arcadia + Punta Gorda Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. For 6 weeks in May into June I wrote a 6-part blog series on my 5-day visit to Texas – and my brother’s 5-day visit to Florida during an unusual span of 10 out of 19 days together. That blog series was so much fun to write, as I essentially got to look back and electronically reenact it all. It actually inspired me to plan another vacation, so that I could write about it in another multi-blog series. I looked to the Atlantic beaches, and I thought about Vero Beach. I was last there on vacation 4 years ago in June 2021. I decided to look west instead of east – over to the Gulf beaches.

I knew that I wanted this vacation to include a lot of new places, and so it began a couple of weeks ago on a Tuesday morning. From my neighborhood I headed north on U.S. 27 – and then west on Florida State Road 64 – and then south on U.S. 17.

My first stop was the historic district of downtown Arcadia – a revisit from 3½ months earlier. On my stroll along historic Oak Street back in early-March 2025 – I walked by the Oak Street Deli (after enjoying lunch at a different place around the block). I thought to myself that on my next visit I’d eat there, and so I did for an early lunch. I ordered one of their specials – a grilled Reuben (my favorite sandwich) with a side of my choice (potato salad) and a brownie and sweet tea to drink. The Reuben was pretty good; although, it should’ve stayed on the grill for perhaps a couple of minutes longer. The bread was actually grilled nicely. It did not turn soggy like many Reuben sandwiches do from many restaurants (unfortunately). The potato salad was plentiful and definitely homemade. So was the brownie. And so was the sweet tea. The short return visit / pitstop in downtown Arcadia was definitely worth it.

After that nice meal I continued my trek southward along U.S. 17. I’m not so sure that I had ever previously driven along that southernmost 25-mile stretch of U.S. 17 between Arcadia and Punta Gorda. I actually reached and kept on going past the southern terminus of U.S. 17.

Fun Fact: U.S. 17 runs for 1,206 miles through 5 states from Winchester Virginia to Punta Gorda Florida. Both ends are at other major U.S. routes (U.S. 11 in Winchester and U.S. 41 in Punta Gorda).

My 2ND stop was in Punta Gorda at the Military Heritage Museum for the first time ever. I had been following them via their Facebook page for awhile, and I’ve always wanted to check them out. Their two-story museum is quite extensive and very modern. I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes there looking at all of the exhibits and talking to a few of the volunteers. They were fairly busy for a Tuesday afternoon in June. I can imagine that they are hectic on weekends and especially during the fall, winter, and spring seasons.

I did talk a little bit of museum business with the main lobby volunteers, but I did not reveal myself as a fellow museum volunteer / board member. They were actually busy with a steady flow of new visitors at the time.

Time to head north out of Punta Gorda and Charlotte County and into Sarasota County via Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41). Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about Venice (including Venice Beach) and Nokomis. Let’s keep traveling together.