Tag: Arcadia

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Venice + Nokomis Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my morning drive from Sebring to downtown Arcadia, and then from there down to the end of U.S. 17 in Punta Gorda to visit the Military Heritage Museum. And the trek continues on that Tuesday in June.

I headed north via Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) out of Punta Gorda, across Charlotte Harbor, through Port Charlotte, out of Charlotte County, and into Sarasota County.

My next stop was the Venice Museum, and it was a second-time visit. My first visit was 6 years earlier in May 2019. This time I actually talked museum business with the friendly docent at the front desk. I revealed myself as a fellow museum volunteer, Social Media Director, and on the Board Of Directors. We had a good discussion about things that are working, and things that are not working. They have a modern museum there with lots of fun bells and whistles. Like my museum – they are open 3 days a week – Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays – from 10 AM to 4 PM. During the busier Fall, Winter, and Spring seasons they are also open on the 1ST and 3RD Saturdays of the month from 11 AM to 3 PM. They are owned and operated by the city of Venice Florida.

My next stop was my hotel for the next 2 nights in Laurel Florida – an unincorporated census-designated place (UCDP) adjacent to Nokomis – another such UCDP. My hotel and the hotel across the street both had Nokomis street addresses and Nokomis in their name, so for the purposes of this blog – I spent 2 nights near Nokomis. (Both Laurel and Nokomis have rich histories that date back to settlers in the late-19TH Century.)

For dinner I headed a couple of miles south back into Venice to Darrell’s Restaurant – which I also ate at 6 years earlier in May 2019. The place was busy and getting busier. The service was good. The food was great. I ordered a sweet tea with the “Pulled Piggy” – a half-pound of hand-pulled pork with two sides of my choice. I chose mashed potatoes and gravy and collard greens. Cornbread completed the meal. And it was a hearty meal, but not too big that I couldn’t handle; although, it took some time to enjoy it all. Any future trip to Venice will include another visit to Darrell’s.

After dinner I headed west to the beach – where I spent a lot of time when I vacationed across the street from the beach 6 years earlier. I thought to myself while walking on the beach that it was perhaps my favorite beach in the world. (It used to Fort Myers Beach.)

Sunset was at 8:28 PM that night (the latest of the year), but there was little to no chance that a visible sunset would actually appear on the horizon due to leftover thunderstorm clouds in the sky. I spent 35 minutes on the beach, and then I headed back to my hotel near Nokomis. After all – “America’s Got Talent” would start at 8 PM.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about Casey Key, Siesta Key, and Sarasota – including my fascinating ride on the trolley. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography Military Travel

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.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Commerce Driving Food Geography History Home Shopping Travel

Arcadia Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It’s Equinox Day – the Spring Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere and the Autumnal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. It occurs at 0501 U.S. East Coast Time / 0901 UTC. The Sun crosses the Equator at that precise moment on its trek northward to the Tropic Of Cancer.

Last week I wrote about my fun trip over to Arcadia Florida – 43 miles away from home. I visited the historic John Morgan Ingraham House Museum of the DeSoto County Historical Society. I also enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the cozy and quaint The Yellow Deli.

And this is where the story continues. After lunch I took a stroll down historic Oak Street, and I visited numerous antique stores. The historic district known formally as “Arcadia Main Street” is mostly antique stores, and they all appear to be thriving. Some stores even have multiple locations. Arcadia is informally known as “The Antique Capital Of Florida”. I don’t buy antiques, but I actually enjoy visiting antique stores just to see the 20TH Century memorabilia on display and for sale. Antique stores are like mini museums. On many visits to the Wichita Falls Texas area to hang out with my family there we often went on short road trips around the region to visit antique stores.

There were a lot of cowboys and cowgirls walking along Oak Street, as well as full tour buses unloading near The Tree Of Knowledge (a small downtown park with an old oak tree as its centerpiece). It didn’t take me very long to figure out that this was a special event weekend in Arcadia. In fact – it was Rodeo Weekend. Specifically – it was the start of the 4-day “97TH Annual Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo“. My timing is impeccable. I picked the perfect day to be amongst hundreds of tourists along Oak Street. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Historic Downtown Arcadia was vibrant with life on that Thursday morning !

This was my first visit to Arcadia. I had driven through a few times previously along U.S. 17 and Florida State Road 70. Both roads actually split into one-way roads through downtown Arcadia. It’s a nice small town with a fun historic pedestrian-friendly Main Street. I’ll be sure to visit again and again in the future. The coffee smelled really good as I walked by The Florida Farmhouse Coffee. Next time I won’t be walking by. I’ll be stepping in.

It’s back home to Sebring – and a first-time visit to our newest museum – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography History Home Travel

Arcadia Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I finally made it to Arcadia Florida last Thursday. I left home – up in the Poconos of Florida – (more on that in a future edition) – and I arrived 43 miles and less than hour later in the historic district known formally as “Arcadia Main Street“.

I parked my car in one of their many public parking lots, and I walked a block down Hickory Street (Florida State Road 70 westbound) through lots of road construction over to residential Monroe Avenue – straight to the John Morgan Ingraham House Museum of the DeSoto County Historical Society.

I greeted the docent on duty – Kathy Bryce – and then she greeted me. She gave me a nice guided tour of the historic “Florida Cracker” house from the late-19TH Century. John Morgan Ingraham – a Florida Congressman – lived in the house from 1919 to 1980. (He lived 97 years.) The house is included on a 3,400-acre parcel of land that is on the National Register Of Historic Places.

The house includes original equipment, furniture, and artifacts. Nearly everything is identified and labeled uniformly. I took-in many mental notes during my walk-through. I also met and enjoyed a brief conversation with one of their Directors – Carol Mahler. She knew a few of our leaders at the Sebring Historical Society. I left their Museum with lots of great ideas for our own similar historic house Museum.

They are open 6 or 7 days a month on Thursdays and the 2ND & 4TH Saturdays of the month from 9 AM to 1 PM. They close for 3 months each Summer. I hope to visit the Museum again before they close for the Summer to walk around on my own and talk more with Kathy and Carol. They are doing a lot of good things over there with lots of events. I’m looking forward to hearing more about them. They are preparing for their upcoming annual celebration known as “Pioneer Day”.

After my visit to the Museum I walked over to The Yellow Deli to enjoy an early Lunch. Their official web site lists 33 locations worldwide in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Their Arcadia location is one of the highest-rated online in the city. Several reviewers stated that they enjoyed “the best Reuben ever”. Since the Reuben is one of my favorite sandwiches I decided to give it a try. It was good, but not the greatest ever. I prefer my Reuben to be between well-toasted rye bread. The bread was not toasted at all, but surprisingly it wasn’t too soggy. I’d actually order it again. It came with potato chips and a nice-sized dill pickle.

Time to walk off my Lunch, but I think I’ll continue my Arcadia Main Street adventure – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp