Our Trip to Port Charlotte To Visit Family + What We Did
In March of 2021, we booked a spontaneous flight to go visit family! We spent a week down in the Gulf soaking up some much needed sun and swimming in my Grandmother’s pool. If you live in a dreary city in winter, which Metro-Detroit can be, then getting some sun for Spring Break is a necessity. For the first half of our trip, we stayed with my grandparents in Port Charlotte. Then, we went to visit my other grandparents in Weeki Wachee which you can read about: here.
I had a few goals for this trip: sunsets, swimming, and enjoying time with family. So while we were in Port Charlotte, we mostly stayed at my grandparent’s beautiful house! But we did go out a few times for a sunset cruise, to look for sharks teeth on the beach, and a little trail hike.
Day 1
Our first day was a day of rest and relaxation. My husband really needed to get used to the schedule and distractions that come with a change of work environment. So we spent the day swimming, helping grandma with her garden, playing with chalk paint, going for our daily walks, and chasing lizards.
Day 2
The second day, we were ready to get out and explore after finishing my grandma’s normal routine. I also love how light and airy her spare bedroom is, so of course I had to photograph it! After my husband clocked out for the day, we headed to Tippecanoe Environmental park for a quick evening walk. There wasn’t too much wildlife when we went, but the surrounding scenery was absolutely stunning!
Day 3
Waking up and starting our day in the pool is a complete vibe. I wish we had a screened in porch with a heated pool, but instead we have 6 feet of snow! We were successful in catching some lizards today and we saw a tree frog!! After work, my grandpa loaded up the boat and we hit the water in search of dolphins. We didn’t quite see any, but we did see plenty of other fun marine life!
Day 4
We had a little extra fun this day because Charlie took half the day off for his birthday! While he was working in the morning, we prepped a lunch box, dinner, and his birthday cookie cake (per request). Then we headed to the beach! The water was quite chilly at first and it was too rough for Evelyn. She was quite content to sit and dig in the sand the whole time and definitely did not want to leave. But we had to head home to pick up our dinner bag if we wanted to make it to the sunset cruise on time! To our surprise, Evelyn fell asleep and woke up just in time to watch the sunset. We saw Pelican island and one dolphin!! Then we finished the night with cookie cake, an overly sugared toddler, and cuddles.
Day 5
This was our last day in Port Charlotte and I still wanted to take one last swim before leaving, so I borrowed one of my grandma’s bathing suits. My grandma made an amazing St. Patrick’s day dinner and we stuffed our faces before loading in the car and heading to northern Florida.