Dec 25 Christmas in Punta Gorda

Dec 25


Merry Christmas from  Punta Gorda!!  At one point we only had reservations to stay here 3 days and were going to go anchor out for Christmas.  Then thought better of it.  The marina could accommodate us and we’re enjoying the town.  Plus, weather continues to be a bit unsettled with winds.

Unsettled weather continues

The area was initially founded by Juan Ponce De Leon during one of his subsequent explorations of Florida. After making landfall in St. Augustine he traveled most of the way around  Florida it in search of gold ultimately making landfall here.  He got into a skirmish with the local Indians and was shot with a poison tipped arrow which ultimately lead to his death.

Ponce De Leon statue at one of the waterfront park

The town never really was much of anything but a fishing village until the railroad extended their line down here in the late 1800’s.    Then it was a seasonal winter haven going through many of the  land boom and bust times before  it was developed in the 1950’s by digging out a series of  canals  in neighborhoods focused on drawing retirees.   So there’s a nice mix of a “historic” neighborhood closer to town and newer neighborhoods a bit further out.  The downtown area  was pretty heavily  damaged by Hurricane Charley back in 2003 so much of it is newer shops and buildings.

Pickelball courts in waterfront park - a serious sport down here

Brick paved street in historic district 

We had a rental car for 2 days and went driving around here and Port Charlotte across the bay.   We like Punta Gorda better.    Lots of open parkland on the waterfront with a good harborwalk stretching  for several miles north and south of town.   We’re staying at the municipal marina downtown  but there’s another marina  called Fisherman’s Village  about a mile south of us.   Part of a development with shops, restaurants and condo’s.   They decorate the heck out of it for Christmas. Supposedly well over a million lights. 

They also created a number of displays for picture taking.  We were walking around there Christmas eve with a big crowd  who were all taking pictures of each other. Here’s two of ours.

Christmas in the big town

The Nutcrackers keeping  watch over us

Funny story.  We decided to go to “midnight mass” at the local church.  It started at 9:15 with a very nice choral presentation of Christmas songs.  Mass started at 10 over by 11.   Priest explained midnight was just  too late for all the old folks  (and loopers too)!!