Home At Last

Well we arrived back in Punta Gorda yesterday after almost 6 months in California. I still haven't absorbed everything yet. What struck us immediately was the quiet. Orange County is always bustling -- traffic, notice, activity, and people everywhere flowing endlessly from homes, stores ,offices, schools etc. going and going. Suddenly we're deposited here again and it's oh so quiet and so much much slower.

Everyone is asking us what was the most noticeable change since we have been gone. Well we drove around and did notice that the SunLoft Building's Crane was gone and the building itself looked more finished -- but frankly I would have expected it to be completed and ready to open by now. We also noted that the hotel behind Deans had made progress but again we thought guests would have been checking in by now. The Event Center showed the most impressive progress looking quite determined to welcome conventioneers and other meeting goers soon. And we were also thrilled to see the beginnings of the new Hilton along the waterfront given that the matter of the permitting there hadn't been settled when we left. And the new Sacred Heart Church was a welcome sight--again from the outside looking very far along.

But the most noticeable change was the vegetation, i.e., how much more lush Punta Gorda looks finally after having been stripped of much of its greenery by Charlie four years ago. The city, the county, the various civic groups and individual Punta Gordian's have done much to bring new and restored beauty to this wonderful place. We took note of the medial strips along 41, and new planting near the various structures going up and the gorgeous flowering hibiscus, oleander, and allamanda highlighting the homes along Retta Esplanade and throughout Punta Gorda.

Great to be home.