When Dr. Robert Andrews first proposed that a series of historically accurate, educational murals be painted on downtown buildings in Punta Gorda, Florida, some residents opposed the idea, insisting the murals would be nothing more than “graffiti.” Business leaders, on the other hand, loved the idea. They formed the Punta Gorda Historic Mural Society (PGHMS) in 1994 and successfully lobbied the City Council for permission to paint the first one on a large blank wall of a former shopping center located on U.S. 41 Northbound. Once the first mural was completed, others quickly followed, and residents who had initially opposed the idea began taking guests around town, proudly showing off the works of art.

Cattle Drive Down Marion Ave, 1903

Over the next ten years, more than 90 murals were painted at 20 different sites. Then disaster struck. On Friday, August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley roared onshore at Punta Gorda as a category 4 storm with sustained winds in excess of 145 miles per hour (to get a sense of the destruction, check out this post on the TampaBay.com blog; click on each photo to see the same scene, as it looked immediately following the hurricane). In one short hour, 11,000 of the city’s 16,000 homes were totally destroyed, along with six schools and six fire stations. About 300 businesses were leveled. And half of the mural sites were gone.

FEMA Photo

Five years later, the occasional vacant lot is still visible, but buildings that were damaged beyond repair have been torn down and debris has been carted away. In their place, new facilities have sprouted. Downtown has colorful new shops, luxury hotels, and a new convention center. Schools and fire stations were rebuilt with state-of-the-art facilities. The murals, too, are slowly being recreated. Read the rest of this entry »

When John Audubon first visited the Punta Gorda area on Florida’s Gulf coast in the early 19th century, he wrote that wading birds were so numerous that thousands flying overhead transformed daylight into darkness. Yet less than 100 years later the profligate population had been decimated. In small part, the decline was caused by homesteaders moving in by the droves and spoiling habitats. Far more destructive, however, was the quest for plumage to decorate ladies’ hats. Hired by fashion houses in Paris, New York and London, poachers and hunters slaughtered millions of birds in their quest for white nuptial feathers of the great and snowy egrets. By the early 1900′s, only an estimated 500,000 wading birds remained.

In 1918 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act became law and these birds were finally protected. By the 1930′s their numbers had increased to 1.2 million and since the 1970′s they have made a significant recovery. Today, standing on the shores of the Peace River in Punta Gorda, Florida, birds are abundant: egrets, herons, ibis, spoonbills, and wood storks are among the species easily spotted. Yet wading birds, reptiles, and mammals who inhabit the area still face serious threats from mankind. Discarded plastic bags, six-pack plastic rings, and lead sinkers and fishing line lost by fishermen can cause serious damage to animals when swallowed or snagged. Collisions with cars and trucks are a major problem for endangered species such as Florida black bears, Florida panthers, Key deer, American crocodiles, indigo snakes, red-cockaded woodpeckers, and brown pelicans.

Fortunately, Peace River Wildlife Center is there to help. The nonprofit organization, which occupies a small corner of Ponce de Leon Park in Punta Gorda, is dedicated to the rehabilitation, preservation and protection of Charlotte County’s native wildlife. With the exception of a few paid employees, the Read the rest of this entry »

Trinkets and souvenirs rarely interest me when I travel, but I find it almost impossible to pass by a farm stand selling local honey. Each of the half dozen varieties lining my kitchen shelves has a particular use: a thick, full-bodied Blackberry honey from the Virginia hills is best drizzled over fresh fruit, while scarce honey from Sourwood tree blossoms found in the mountains of North Carolina is perfect on toast. However my most recent acquisition, Babcock’s Wilderness Nectar, had remained unopened since I purchased it from the gift shop at Crescent B Ranch in south central Florida.

Smaller alligator suns on a swamp log

I’d gone to the Crescent B to take a Swamp Buggy Eco-Tour of the ranch’s 90,000 acres of oak hammocks, pine woods, pastures, wetlands, and swamps, all located within the Babcock Wilderness Area. Swamps have always conjured images of black water, boot-sucking mud, and alligators submerged to their eyeballs, patiently waiting to chomp on a passing leg. To me these dank, dangerous places were devoid of beauty and to be avoided at all costs, thus it was with some trepidation that I boarded the old Bluebird school bus, long since painted in a khaki and olive drab camouflage, for my hour and a half tour.

Old Bluebird school bus grinds along rough sand tracks throughout the ranch

Our driver forced the rattletrap bus into gear and lurched onto a rough sand track. A moment later we sighted our first alligator, a foot long baby perched on a waterlogged branch in a drainage ditch. We rumbled across a brilliant chartreuse pasture and ducked into an unspoiled stand of moss-draped longleaf pine and Sawgrass Palmettos. On the other side, the forest opened onto a broad plain where cracker cattle Read the rest of this entry »

Just six of the 720 parking spaces were occupied when I pulled into the lot of Muscle Car City. I surveyed the squat building before me. Despite a fancy black and white checkerboard paint job, it still looked every inch a converted Wal-Mart. Inside the only sound was a hushed conversation between two elderly gentlemen sipping coffee in the Muscle Car Diner. Even the two employees standing behind the front counter were eerily silent. But when I stepped through the door separating the sterile gift shop from the museum, my world reeled. Vintage neon signs cast electric colors on long walls. Car wax and engine oil scented the air. Row after row of highly polished muscle cars stretched out before me, their hoods propped open like alligators waiting to chomp down on their prey. Was I really hearing deep-throated engines revving up at the starting line, aching to drag race, or was it just my imagination, conjuring up memories from my youth?

Row after row of classic cars

This 99,000 square foot museum, which contains more than 200 classic cars and hot rods spanning 35 years of makes and models, is the culmination of a lifetime of collecting for owner Rick Treworgy. Its extensive inventory of GM Performance cars includes Z-28 Camaros, 396 Camaros, SS Chevelles, SS El Caminos, big block Impalas, Pontiac GTOs, Oldsmobile 442s, and one or more Corvettes for each year from 1954 through 2006, making the museum one of the largest muscle car displays in the nation.

Look at that gorgeous Chevy grillework!

Treworgy doesn’t remember the exact moment when his hobby became a business. “I was young and working in the construction industry, and I knew there would be no pension for me down the road. At some point I realized that the muscle cars I had been restoring were my retirement.” His obsession had Read the rest of this entry »