"My Second Home" a Port Charlotte Travel Page by gaolei

I had a second house built here in 2004. This will be my getaway house and, eventually, a retirement home. The house is on a salt water canal in the Gulf Cove region. My boat is sitting in its lift behind the house, waiting for me to take it fishing.

Port Charlotte is typical of small American cities, it has no real identifying features. The city has all the usual stores, Wal-mart, two Home Depots, TGIF, Olive Garden, you know, all the chain stores. It is primarily a waterfront home to snowbirds, like me.

What it does have is good salt water access and fishing. It also has good weather all year, especially in the winter, when I would be freezing in RI. And, up until the last 3 years, it had nice homes for reasonable prices. The real estate market has driven prices up dramatically on waterfront property making them out of the average persons grasp.

My home is in the South Gulf Cove area. It is an area with many man made canals that allow quick water access for the homes on their banks. My home is one of them.

The local city advertises the area as the fishing capital of Florida. You can fish in the canal behing your home, the Myaka river, the Port Charlotte harbor, Boca Grande pass, and the Gulf of Mexico. This area is also the home to the Tarpon, one of the top game fish in the USA.

The canals have all kinds of interesting things living in them. I have seen sharks, alligators, dolphins, game fish and manatees behind my house. Swimming is not encouraged here. If you want to swim, go down to the Gulf.