Charlotte Harbor Florida's Second Largest Gulf Coast Bay

Charlotte Harbor is the second largest bay in Florida after Tampa. Charlotte County was recently voted Money magazine’s best place to live in the south. Transport routes to this unique harbor and beach community are well established and once there you have access to 129 square miles of glistening waters and 12 miles of snow white sandy beaches.

Punta Gorda began life as a deepwater seaport in the 1880’s. Old mansions line the waterfront across from Gilchrist Park looking back to the heyday of times gone by. Art lovers will find an interesting collection of public art in Punta Gorda from walls decorated with extensive murals to small statues on the main street.

Babcock Wilderness Adventure runs Florida’s number one eco-tour, a 90 minute swamp buggy ride through the Babcock Ranch and Telegraph Cypress Swamp. Visitors can see panthers, bison, alligators along with the many wild birds and ranch animals that call south west Florida their home. Well-qualified guides create an enhanced experience for guests to the swamp.

Englewood Beach on Manasota Key again focuses on fishing and tourism to sustain its community. Join a charter or rent your own boat to fish for tarpon, the much sought after game fish. At its northern tip, Manasota Key hides a quiet bird sanctuary where a popular pastime is searching the sand for shark’s teeth.

Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park

Rumor has it that one balmy day in mid-summer a freak winter storm developed covering the Blizzard Beach area with a thick blanket of powder snow. Shortly thereafter, plans were underway for Florida’s first ski resort. Ski lifts were erected, toboggan runs create and an entire resort area was developed around the snow.

Unfortunately before the skiers could strap on their boots and head out into the new winter wonderland the weather changed again returning Florida to its normal climate. The snow melted as the resort owners saw their dreams flowing down the hillside with the melting snow. All was not lost as the slush cascaded down it gathered as pools of water.

Suddenly a yahoo was heard echoing from the mountain summit. As everyone looked up a playful alligators was zipping down the melting hillside, sliding to a halt in one of the pools with a tremendous splash.

All at once they knew they were back in business.

Cedar Key and Steinhatchee

In days gone by Cedar Key derived its income from harvesting the local cedar trees for pencil making but as the cedar forests were not managed sustainably the industry ground to a halt when there were no more trees to fell.

Cedar Key all but became a ghost town with a thousand or so remaining residents turning to the sea to earn a living. Slowly but surely, Cedar Key has reinvented itself and is well-known for its fresh seafood and restaurants. The gastronomic highlight of the year is the Seafood Festival sponsored by the local Lions Club in October. Another attraction is the Cedar Key Sidewalk Arts Festival which takes place in April.

The Cedar Key area lacks the sandy beaches found elsewhere but is made up of numerous shallow saltwater estuaries providing a varied habitat for many types of fish and aquatic life, particularly scallops and oysters.

Steinhatchee holds the title of bay scallop capital where the numerous charters are happy to take visitors out to catch their own scallops before returning to have them prepared in one of the many friendly local restaurants. For more information check out our vacation guide.

Travel back to the past when visiting the Apalachicola and Port St Joe Area

Travel back in time some 170 years to this quaint but thriving area of Northern Florida. Synonymous with cotton in the past, Apalachicola is now Florida’s oyster capital, producing 90% of the state’s oyster catch. The area boasts numerous antebellum sites, with more than 200 historic buildings including the 1912 Dixie Theatre which hosts the summer repertory group and the Jorrie Museum which commemorates the 19th century doctor whose ice-making invention eventually became modern air conditioning.

Located in the Panhandle, Apalachicola and Port St Joe’s beaches offer numerous activities from snorkeling, diving local wrecks and scalloping expeditions. Fishing is also a popular attraction in the area and chartered boats regularly set sail into the bay.

St George Island boasts the St Vincent National Wildlife Refuge, a former island hunting preserve where Asian samba deer live alongside the native white-tailed deer. At St George’s beachside, loggerhead and green sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in the summer months. The salt marshes on the bay side are home to a host of snakes, turtles and fish who make their home among the reeds.

Moving inland you come to Apalachicola National Forest where you can feel at one with nature in the stunning landscape. The National Forest abounds with opportunities for hiking, biking, canoeing and wild camping.

The neighboring town of Carrabelle claims to have the smallest police station in the world, the size of a phone booth. For more information be sure to check out our vacation guide.

Vacation / Trip / Travel Insurance

Most people who visit the USA from abroad would never think of traveling without Vacation Insurance. The main concern is that they will become ill and need some kind of medical treatment which could be very expensive.

That is probably the main reason people from the US never consider taking out Trip Insurance, as they hold medical insurance already. What people don’t think of is the money that they have already spent, airfares for a family of four could easily amount to over $1,000 and that does not include other upfront costs you may have had including vacation home rental, hotel deposit and car hire. What would happen if one of the family was to be taken ill the day before you were due to travel and you could no longer go.

You could loose all of your hard earned money. Travel / Trip Insurance is not expensive and something you may want to think about for your next vacation.

Halloween Horror Nights

Universal has just announced the theme for Halloween Horror Nights 17 and its going to be more terrifying than ever. For the first time in association with New Line Cinema, Universal are bringing together three of the most frightening characters in horror film history JASON, FREDDY and LEATHERFACE.

See them in the Flesh…… and Blood….. and Gore

Join the stars of “Friday the 13th,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” in the most intense Halloween Event ever at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights events in Orlando.

Halloween Horror Nights have been terrifying visitors for 17 years with Universal’s “scream team” of designers visitors are treated to a month-long fright-fest where they are confronted with their most terrifying nightmares. Specially designed haunted houses, thrilling shows, inescapable scare zones, and hundreds of street performers invade Universal’s theme parks on select nights throughout the months of October and November.

The haunted houses are a visual treat that can be absolutely terrifying if you are lucky enough to wander through them when it’s quiet, which does not happen often. It’s amusing watching grown men push their friends and girlfriends ahead of them as a fright lurks round the next corner.

Other than the haunted houses and the scare zones the highlight of the evening has to be the Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure, having seen this for the last four years it only ever gets better and better.

If you are in Orlando around Halloween this is one event you don’t want to miss. Halloween Horror Nights return to Universal Studios Florida for 23 select nights running from Sept. 28-29 through Oct. 4-7, 11-14, 18-21, 24-28, and Oct.31-Nov. 3. Check out the Halloween Horror Nights website if you dare.

Discover Naples the crown jewel of Southwest Florida and Marco Island the largest of Florida's Ten Thousand Islands

Nestled between the golden sands of the Gulf Coast and the sub-tropical Everglades, Naples offers a refined escape from everyday life. A center for the arts, Naples plays host to the Naples Philharmonic and Miami City Ballet as well as housing the stunning Naples Museum of Art. The town boasts numerous galleries selling everything from the contemporary to the Old Masters.

Shopping in Naples is particularly good. On Fifth Avenue there are numerous small boutiques offering exclusive ranges to tempt passers-by.

Naples’ environmental credentials are high. Sites such as the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center and the Naples Nature Center educate visitors about the area’s ecology.

Marco Island is the largest in a group of islands known as Ten Thousand Islands and is one of the access points in the backwaters of the Everglades.

Many people charter boats to explore the beautiful and diverse environment the Everglades has to offer and marvel at the many species of wildlife they encounter along the way. The lucky ones may spot dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, bald eagles and ospreys.

The Naples area claims to be another golf hot-spot with 90 golf courses for players of all levels, check out our vacation guide for more information.