Punta Gorda

We decide to spend the weekend in the Wyvern Hotel in downtown Punta Gorda. The town has the highest proportion of over 65 people in Florida (44%).

Next door to the hotel is the "South of the Border". They have great rock that lasts until 11PM. The old folks come to dance and eat. At 11 the bands change to heavy metal and the old folks leave and youngsters show up.

 The view from the top of the hotel.

 They have a band on the roof...it keeps us awake until midnight....we don't care... we came to listen and dance...

 Sunset in Florida...

 The bikers have the typical silver ponytails and tattoos...they clear out at 11 when the heavy metal shows up...

In the morning we explore Punta Gorda...everyone lives on a canal and has a boat...

 Next time we'll go the Fisherman's Village on Saturday night and listen to that band..

Ginnie Springs

North Florida- September

'We wake up early on Saturday and take the old camper van 200 miles North to Ginnie Springs.

We have a lot of happy memories of camping and swimming and partying this place over the years. The Santa Fe river is edged with beautiful clear springs that pump out 20-30 million gallons a day of clear water...visibility hundreds of feet..

It's full of college kids...they hoot and holler and play loud music until 3 AM and later...We find an isolated camping spot and watch the skies as darkness falls...Mars and Saturn are up...the skies cloud over and we amuse ourselves with a smart phone app that shows us the invisible stars.

All the college  kids have tubes and floats...Mrs. Phred and I are the only one actually swimming in the river to the get out point...it's a little cold...but we love it...

I forgot my C-card so I don't dive the caves or caverns...I do have all my SCUBA gear...but I really came up to just float...in the caves, they don't like you to have flashlights unless you are cave certified...I'm a Dive master, but I've never cared for the underwater cave concept...three lights...a safety line to follow in and out...go in with 3,000 PSI...start out at 2,000 PSI..yada..yada..what's the point? You came out and you didn't die? Duh!

The water is really high because of all the summer rain...many of the campsites are underwater.

I cook salmon and warm up cans of spinach and  beans on the charcoal grill...we sleep in the van..

The Santa Fe disappears underground for three miles...this area is relatively unspoiled It's Old Florida at it's best. If you read Trip Advisor you get some really bad reviews by people who show up on the weekend and get pounded by obscene music all night long by drunken college kids...the trick is to pick a remote campground away from the river and watch the stars and wild turkeys.

All My Hats Look Goofy

Englewood Beach

When I walk seven miles down busy  Fruitville road in the 95 degree heat, I like to wear a hat. But I'd like to find a hat that didn't look quite as  goofy as the ones that I own now...

There are some interesting birds here...Mrs. Phred wants to go to the  Wyvern Hotel in Northport and spend the night...what a wild woman!

We went to Ybor city for crepes and classic coke last week...There is a SCUBA place near here called Blue Water Explorers...they claim to do a two tank dive daily...maybe I will show up at their boat about 7AM and test that claim...

We got an invite to crew on a sailboat trip from Saint Lucie to Sarasota. The cruise is across Florida on a canal. That will be November 1. Later in November we are taking a cruise to Roatan, Belize, Coasta Maya  and Cozumel...All of these are great places to SCUBA...

We found a really cool pub on the water down in Englewood...it's called the White Elephant.. We'd like to spend a weekend here...it's a nice beach...We also want to take the boat from Fort Myers to Key West and rent a sailboat (docked) for a weekend.

Mrs. Phred likes raw  oysters...I stick to dark rum and coke...