Punta Gorda – CountUp

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.

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.