Sixteen Major League Baseball (MLB) teams hold spring training in Florida in what’s called the Grapefruit League. The Texas Rangers trained in Port Charlotte between 1986 and 2002 and shifted their spring operation to Arizona’s Cactus League in 2003. The return of MLB action and quality of activities in the Port Charlotte area are guaranteed to attract thousands of Tampa Bay Rays fans.
Baseball fans vacationing in Port Charlotte and Charlotte Harbor & the Gulf Islands will find plenty to do when the Tampa Bay Rays aren’t playing ball. Activities range from a day at the beach to teeing it up on the golf course.
Life’s a Beach
Englewood Beach on Manasota Key is the area’s most popular beach and Stump Pass State Park, located on the southern tip of Manasota Key, is the ideal Florida beach for solitude and outdoor buffs. Fossilized shark’s teeth are commonly found sprinkled atop the beach’s soft sand.
Commune with Nature
Visit the Old Florida fishing community of Placida for funky art galleries, fresh seafood and outdoor adventures. Grande Tours (12575 Placida Road, Placida; Tel: (941) 697-8825) offers kayak rentals, guided trips, kayak fishing guides and interactive boating nature tours.
While in Placida, stop at the Fishery Restaurant for seafood dining and to see a bit of Hollywood. Scenes from Out of Time (2003) starring Denzel Washington were shot at the restaurant.
Boat cruises abound in Charlotte Harbor. In addition to Grande Tours, join a cruise with Punta Gorda River Boat Tours (based at Laishley Park Marina; Tel: (941) 380-6814) for a Historical Harbor Tour or Wilderness River Cruise up the Peace River. Learn about the area’s colorful history and enjoy the varied birdlife along with the occasional dolphin or alligator. For a different type of experience, take a cruise with King Fisher Fleet (Tel: (941) 639-0969) to Cayo Costa State Park, a pristine beach on a solitude barrier island and only accessible by boat. The cruise (and fishing charters) departs from the popular shopping and dining complex called Fishermen’s Village in Punta Gorda.
Come nose-to-snout with Florida’s wildlife on a swamp buggy tour at Babcock Wildlife Adventures (8000 State Road 31, Punta Gorda; Tel: (800) 500-5583). It’s common to see alligators, wild hogs and Florida cracker cattle during the 90-minute tour which traverses through the Babcock Ranch and Telegraph Cypress Swamp.
Fish. Fish. Fish.
World-class fishing is bountiful in Charlotte Harbor & the Gulf Islands. Hire a fishing guide for back bay fishing for redfish, snook and trout or go out on a deep sea charter to fish for shark, grouper and mackerel. There are dozens of fishing guides but try contacting the King Fisher Fleet first.
Go “Fore” the Golf
Close to two dozen golf courses can be found in the Charlotte Harbor area including the championship Riverwood Golf Club (4100 Riverwood Dr., Port Charlotte; Tel: (941) 764-6661 and Lemon Bay Golf Club (9600 Eagle Preserve Drive, Englewood; Tel: (941) 697-3729), an Audubon Certified golf course.
Masculine Museums
The Military Heritage & Aviation Museum (located at Fishermen’s Village; Tel: (941) 575-9002) is Southwest Florida’s only military museum and contains more than 30,000 artifacts dating back to the Spanish-American War through the current war in Iraq. Muscle Car City (opening in early 2009, 3811 Tamiami Trail, Punta Gorda), is a private collection of more than 200 vintage muscle cars collected from the 1950s through the early 1970s.
Port Charlotte offers baseball spring training fans a variety of activities ranging from world-class fishing to masculine museums. Whatever their pleasure, fans will easily find something to occupy the time between Tampa Bay Rays games.
Getting to Port Charlotte
Port Charlotte and Charlotte Harbor & the Gulf Islands are located on Southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast, less than a two-hour drive south of Tampa and an hour’s drive north of Fort Myers on Interstate 75. The closest airports are Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ).
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