Port Charlotte, Florida.

Cindy, Izzy (pictured, snoring in my left ear) and I left on Monday to drive to Florida. Cyndy got the worst of the first days drive with snow squalls on the 401, south of London. There was no lineup at the Windsor border crossing and the customs stop was smooth sailing.

 The first night we spent near Cincinnati and the second near Macon.

Photo by Cyndy

 We took turns driving, 2 hours on, 2 hours off. Aside for some slow traffic in the cities, the drive went well. We just stopped for gas and to give Izzy  brief walks. 

Photo by Cyndy

The hotels provided breakfast and fruit and bagels for lunch. We arrived in Port Charlotte by about 4pm on Wednesday.

The first evening was spent unpacking the car, cleaning (Cyndy was last here in August), turning the heater on for the pool, small grocery shop and supper (along with a celebratory bottle of Prosecco).

Thursday morning we went to the outdoor market in Englewood.

Fresh quacamole being made. We bought a selection of fruit and vegetables, scallops, olives and dips. I found both the grocery store and the market to be more expensive than home (prices higher than at home and then the conversion from US dollars makes it even more)

We walked down to the water and found that some, newer homes, were unscathed but there was extensive hurricane damage. Photo by Cyndy

On the way home, a bigger grocery shop to get things not available at the market. The afternoon was spent doing aquafit (about an hour)  and reading by the pool. That is our plan, if we want to do something we will do it in the morning, home for lunch and afternoon by the pool. Cyndy walks Izzie in the morning and I walk her in the afternoon.

Friday morning we went to the Warm Mineral Springs.

The Warm Mineral Springs is a water-filled sinkhole located in North Port, Florida, a mile north of U.S. 41. The primary water supply is a spring vent deep beneath the pool's water surface. Warm Mineral Springs is the only warm water mineral spring in the State of Florida. It is an important geological and archaeological site containing Native American remnants. The site was operated as a spa from 1946 until 2000. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November 28, 1977. The springs re-opened for swimming only in 2014.

 Warm Mineral Springs is a sinkhole formed in carbonate rock by the collapse of the roof of a cavern 30,000 years ago.In 1996-1997, a group of diver explorers conducted an underwater survey of the site resulting in the mapping of two warm water vents ~97 degrees F and two cool water vents ~76 degrees F. (from Wikipedia)

The area had been damaged by one of the hurricanes and the main buildings were closed and there was a temporary entrance ($20us each) and washroom/changeroom. We had come already wearing our bathing suits and walked in, across the stream that empties out of the pool, and grabbed a couple of lounge chairs.

It smelled strongly of Sulphur when we first arrived but we quickly got used to it.

 It was not crowded, we easily swam around (on pool noodles we had bought with us) without interfering with anyone. There were small groups and couples, mostly middle European from the sound of the languages being spoken. Supposedly the healing properties of the water require a 45 minute soak so we swam, tread water and made our way around the edge and then in the middle, for about an hour. It wasn't very warm, not like hot springs I have gone to but then it is only called a Warm spring. At one point Cyndy saw a large fish breaking the surface near her and received some ribbing about the "Kraken" or "Nessie", until I saw it too. We later learned that there were some Tarpon in the water.

We read for a while while drying off and then changed and left.

 Picked up bird food on the way home and then another afternoon of reading by the pool.