Port Charlotte, FL

While in Port Charlotte, we planned to visit with a Connecticut friend and her husband who are retired and now living in Port Charlotte. Unfortunately, she had to leave Florida unexpectedly to attend a funeral, so, we had to cancel our plans to get together. We also planned to visit with Pete’s cousin, Cynthia and her husband who live in Venice, Florida which is a short drive from Port Charlotte.

At about 7:30 AM on our first morning in Port Charlotte, the wind began to blow wildly and within moments our motor home was battered with heavy rain and raging wind. Hail the size of ice cubes pelleted the roof. The wind was so strong the motor home was rocking and before we knew it our 13 ft. awning (which was rolled up along the edge of the roof and secured) was ripped from the side of the motor home and hurled onto the roof. There were metal posts dangling on both sides of the motor home.  A plastic dome that protects one of the air vents on the roof cracked when it was hit by the awning. The rain was coming down so hard and fast we could only see a couple of feet out the windows. As quickly as the wind came up, it ceased, but the rain continued for a few more hours. We immediately contacted our insurance company who told us not to touch anything and wait for an insurance adjuster to arrive. We found out that more bad weather was on the way and decided to take pictures and get the awning removed from the roof so it wouldn’t cause more damage or possibly injure someone. Other people in the RV resort had damage to their motor homes and had called an RV service company. When the service company drove by our site and saw the awning up on the roof, they stopped and Pete had them help him get the awning off the roof. This incident was even scarier than the lightning in North Carolina!

Later that day, the clouds parted and the sun came out. That evening, we went out to dinner at a restaurant called JDs that had a fantastic jazz quartet. It was a nice diversion after a very stressful day.

The insurance adjuster came out the next day and all of the damage is covered on our policy, so now we need to get the awning replaced! Fun, fun, fun!!!

Day before the storm

After the storm

We had a wonderful visit with Pete’s cousin, Cynthia and her husband, Bill. They gave us a tour of Venice, FL and then cooked a delicious dinner for us. We enjoyed the time we spent with them and it ended our visit to Port Charlotte on a positive note.