Punta Gorda

It's all my parents' fault. They went on a long Caribbean cruise, followed by an even longer stay in a condo in Punta Gorda, Fla. And because they were there for the better part of a month, and because they happened to have some extra bedrooms in the condo, and because they were there over Presidents' Day weekend, I just had to find a way to sneak down and soak up some sunshine.

So I did. And I took Noah with me, since he just might have a love affair with the beach and the ocean. Plus, he didn't have to worry about finding time off, like David.

So off we went! It's fun for me to think that Noah has already been on more than a dozen plane rides, and he's not even four. He's such a good passenger that I don't mind one bit. Here he is jazzed about our first takeoff.

Grandma & Papa took us to their favorite beach, about 30 minutes from Punta Gorda. It has amazing, white sand and millions of beautiful seashells to add to our personal collection.

The water was freezing—maybe 60-something degrees. Noah didn't care, and I heard the declaration, "Mama, come in with me!" more than once. I didn't oblige. Wuss.

The pool at the condo was quiet and warm—at least on a few of the days we were there. As it turns out, the heater ran out of propane and was freezing later in the week. That time, I had to suck it up and climb in. After all, you can't be in an outdoor pool in Ohio until, what, Mayish?

I'm all about the playground we went to. Instead of mulch or recycled tires for "cushion," it had powdery sand. And though you can't see it, the gulf bordered one side of the lot, which gave us a great view while Noah took on this purple dinosaur.

Sunset before our pier dinner.

Our dinner was a bit of a disaster (nothing like an hour+ wait for your food!), but certainly not because of the setting. Plus, I was happy to wait since there was an ocean breeze and ice cold beer on tap.

We went to Busch Gardens one day too! The last time I was at Busch Gardens, I was a teenager. But I did remember the flamingos, so I had to snap them this time just for posterity.

There was a brand-new Sesame Street land that Noah could easily have spent the entire day exploring. Here he's walking across the rope bridge over to the 3-story bounce house/play area combo (and also the parent stress area... he just disappeared in there faster than my eyes could follow him!).

Mom had the great idea to stop and feed the Lorry birds. I admit, that was a brilliant idea. For your $5 tablespoon of nectar, they flew right up on you to perch for a drink. And how stunning too!

 

One of my favorite rides was Rhino Rally. I dug the off-road jeep experience mixed with zoo-animal spectating. Nifty.

We took in a 4-D pirate adventure film too, which was a first for me. It's one of those deals where the movie's in 3-D, then they spray you with water and vibrate your seat to make everything a tad more realistic. Gotta say, it's effective!

On our way back to the airport, we had a 10-minute picnic lunch at this unbelievably gorgeous rest stop (!!) in Tampa. Seriously, what a view! Made it even harder to leave, as if we weren't dragging our feet enough.

I told Mom that we'd be pre-booking our week next year. We're ready to go back!